Saboteur
A man's best friend was never quite as valuable as this.
IGN Staff
By IGN Staff
Updated: 21 May 2012 5:54 am
Posted: 25 May 1999 6:00 pm
The friendships between humans and canines dig deep into both folkloric and modern literature, but few if any videogames have coupled the two. Sonic has Tails and Batman has Robin (OK, cheap shot, he's not a dog per say). Perhaps Sega's Shadow Dancer (arcade, Genesis) was the best offering of this category. It starred a ninja and his canine companion whom he could send into battle. Given this knowledge, it's no wonder Eidos' Saboteur is so refreshing.

After seeing and playing the one-person PlayStation game (it was cancelled on the PC), the rich, complex gameplay and interesting group of features sets Saboteur in a place all its own. The most prominent example is that Saboteur takes the third-person perspective action/adventure game and adds in the new component of a dog sidekick.

Set in the urban environments of modern Japan, Saboteur tells the story of a young man named Shin, a contemporary ninja, who must rescue his sister from a monolithic corporation, CyberGen Co. At Shin's side are a number of excellent assets, including Shiro his dog. Shin is able to exercise a number of athletic skills, such as walking, running, climbing, hanging, swimming, crawling, performing hand-to-hand combat, fighting with weapons, and piloting several kinds of crafts (including a Kawasaki motorcycle). Shin uses a fully 3D combat system in which to battle, and can go hand to hand as well as use a ninja's best tools, ninja stars, swords, mystical bombs, and some hand weapons with which to fight. Apparently, shooting is not a part of Saboteur's lineup. However, his central weapon is stealth. Shin must sneak around in the shadows, using Shiro as his eyes and information system when he's at his wit's end.

Shiro is helpful in a number of ways. Essentially he follows Shin around, shadowing his every move. When Shin climbs, Shiro hops up on the same ledge. When Shin fights, Shiro takes part in the combat - and all automatically. He's almost completely computer controlled. And - according to Eidos -- he'll never die. But wait, there's more, much more: Shiro performs tasks humans can't. When faced with a new large environment, Shin can send Shiro to scout the area to prevent an enemy's mass attack. Shiro can be commanded to sneak into structures (such as buildings or rooms) via crawl holes or pipes, for instance, that a human couldn't fit into, and then open the doors from inside using his paws. To command Shiro, players will hold down L1 and use X to scroll through his abilities.

Last but not least, Shiro can fight and take out enemies, when they attack in packs. This last feature is incredibly useful in preserving your life meter in the later stages of large levels, and adds a certain unique quality to the title. With a large landscape of 20 levels in which to fight, solve puzzles, and explore, Shin and Shiro have quite a large adventure ahead of them.

Using contemporary Japan as the backdrop, developer Tigon has a enormous cast of ancient and modern icons, skyscrapers, and park settings from which to draw. Additionally, the environments are worth exploring for two other reasons. First, the settings are filled with puzzles to solve. Second, much of the landscapes are interactive. Windows can be smashed, and doors and other openings can be altered.

At E3 in mid-May, I saw a demo and played the game. The graphics are predominantly made up of Gourard shadings, colorful blends of colors that add to an otherwise flat surface. For the PlayStation this is a useful technique to slim down or even eliminate data-heavy textures that might be used in other places, such as environments. It may also increase the frame rate, which is certain to hit stutter points with more than three characters on screen. Both the main character and his dog moved fluidly across the screen, and motion capture features looked early but were coming along well.

From what I saw, Saboteur may be one of the sleeper hits of the year. It's a good-looking game with a comfortable blend of action, stealth, and puzzle solving. And in just the few short minutes I played, Shiro was awfully charming. For the longest time, I just played with him, learning his abilities and watching him run around. In a year filled with sequels and rehashes, it's nice to see a game like Saboteur. There's nothing quite like it.

Douglass Perry