There is a slight twist. It’s WW2, Paris is under German occupation and you’ll have to talk with an Irish accent! What? Ok let me explain. Saboteur is the new World War 2 based action title from Pandemic. Any similarity to Call of Duty, however, ends there. For in Saboteur, rather than playing as a soldier you assume the role of a civilian out for revenge. Surprisingly, though its set in France, the character is called Sean and, yes, you’ve guessed it, he’s Irish (it makes no sense to me either)! Another big difference is in the graphics. Saboteur takes full advantage of a stylized black and white color scheme. Your job is to roam around Paris and the surrounding countryside and cause mayhem and confusion for the occupying Germans (presumably when they start to wonder what a vigilante Irish man is doing in Paris). Here the game’s color scheme adds another in-game twist. If you can take out Germans in parts of the city that are displayed in black and white, you’ll restore color to the city and the residents will be happy. Neat trick. A release date of December 8th has been set for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC owners.

So I just spent the weekend delving into the Xbox 360 1943 Pacific download. Laugh? My neighbours, concerned at the noises emanating from my house, nearly called emergency services twice. Somehow I don’t think Activision had the game down as a straight comedy. I must admit, it’s not a straight comedy—I found it veering from hilarity to extreme frustration in a matter of minutes.

Overall, the comedy seemed to eradicate the in-game frustrations, which was quite handy. I fired my Thompson SMG point blank into the back of an enemy soldier (who thought he was successfully hidden in a copse of trees)—I know, sneaky of me—but he turned around and offed me with a samurai sword, which was a tad annoying. Minutes later I was roaring with laughter as another enemy soldier tried to spike me with a bayonet, but I dodged sideways and watched as he continued forward over the cliff behind me, never to be seen again. Then there was the time another enemy and I ran into the same small shack at the same time to chuck grenades at one another. Somehow we both survived; the building didn’t. The funniest for me, though, was the enemy who obviously thought he was a reincarnated “Mad Max,” ripping through roads in his jeep, squashing all who dared stray into his path. He tried the same with me, but he failed to spot the destroyed bridge section in the road directly behind me. I can still hear his yell of victory turn into a wail of despair as he and his vehicle plunged into the surf below.

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It was to the sounds of much gamer wailing, weeping and teeth gnashing that Take Two recently announced that BioShock 2 will miss its Fall ‘09 release. Take Two chairman, Strauss Zelnick, said the company “concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product. We believe the result will be a more compelling consumer experience and a better performing product in the marketplace.” The game sequel is now not expected until sometime in the first half of 2010, leaving many gamers left to fill a vast time void. Take Two CEO, Ben Feder, added that they “felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.” Black arm bands will be worn in the meantime to denote our silent suffering.

Mothership Zeta, the latest in a chain of downloadable content for Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic epic Fallout 3, has been given a release date and pricing. In this download the Lone Wanderer (not that alone really or we would have a more Myst-like game) is abducted by the Galactic Wanderers (no not a basketball team from Harlem – but Aliens in this case) and taken on board their spaceship. Obviously this invites you to escape, and as you wander through the alien mothership, you will find two new weapons, the “Alien Atomizer” and the “Drone Cannon”. As usual, you’ll also be able to ally yourself with new NPCs while you make your bid to escape. Be prepared to be beamed up on August 3rd which will set you back 800 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360. Maybe pack a video camera too – as when you get back to earth odds are that no-one will believe your story!

With EA’s FIFA 9 footie (sorry ‘soccer’) game still just behind the number one selling game (Wii Fit) – you might have thought the soccer gamer had been catered for. Not so, it would seem. EA will soon be releasing FIFA 10 and if that wasn’t enough to make the keenest soccer fan dribble with delight – Konami will also be releasing Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 soon. FIFA 10 will be available internationally on October 2 and will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, and PSP. EA claims to have reviewed 275 million online games played in FIFA 09 in an effort to improve the new game. One improvement will be a new 360-degree dribbling system which even old David ‘golden balls’ Beckham would be proud of. It would seem Konami is still playing in a different league. Orange segments at half-time anyone?

I just wanted to say ‘hello’ from the little island state called Britain. I have been invited to contribute to Avault and am excited at the prospect. I have been providing the odd news announcement over the pass few months. While I am typing this I have half an eye on 1943 which is downloading from Xbox Live – thought I might give it a go this afternoon. In fact for maximum effect I am going to combine four shots of expresso with my first few 1943 missions…apologies if I join one of your games – I’ll be the one running about like a headless chicken shooting at my own shadow…if I am on your team then I might prove a distraction to the enemy and if I am on the opposing team then I will provide an erratic target! Anyway, my aim on this site is to continue contributing to the news for Avault and also to involve you all in some interesting (hopefully) discussion and research…ok enough speak…off to the coffee altar…

Review by: Shawn Quigley
Published: October 14, 1997

Only every once in a while does a title that truly wraps a player into a story without all the graphical glitz and glamor arrive on the gaming scene. Last year, Circle of Blood came close to giving gamers a true adventure that combined a good graphics engine with a relatively deep storyline. This year in response to the first title, Circle of Blood, Virgin Interactive is releasing a sequel under the name Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror. Broken Sword builds on the main character base from the original, but takes the adventure to new levels of sophistication. ( read more… )