The Saboteur

History and videogames have been intertwined since at least the early ‘80s, but at best it’s been a shaky relationship. Until fairly recently, concepts like “realism” and “accuracy” weren’t often a consideration, and they tended to be thrown out the window if a cool explosion or giant monster was judged more beneficial to gameplay. As technology has progressed, however, more of these games have been trying hard to be true to their historical roots – and, predictably, a lot of them don’t do so well...

Let's get this out in the open. We're all sick of nature. Yes, it's trendy to cry about saving the panda and preserving the precious rainforest, but secretly, we've had enough of plants and animals getting in the way of our lives. Wouldn't it just be easier if we could take a golf club to the face of every panda we see gurning at us from behind their ill-gotten bamboo shoots? Of course it would!

Right about now the rest of the internet is tripping over itself to crank out the “definitive” end-of-year list. Well, they can stop. We already did it. Over the next few pages our unquestioned expertise will identify the coolest, most important games of 2009 with zero room for error. Yeah, it’s that big of a deal. That’s why they’re basking in the dazzling radiance of a Platinum Chalice.

THE INFO BOX
Post date: December 11, 2009
T-Dar 81 length: 02:07:16
Intro song by: Anamanaguchi
Visit TalkRadar on: Twitter | iTunes | TalkRadar Archives 

Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Uncharted 2 made 2009 a year of epic sequels. Too bad none of the studios in this feature will be releasing any sequels, ever… at least not in their original forms. 2009, like 2008, was a rough economic year, and lead to the demise of multiple influential and promising developers.

Every copy of The Saboteur ships with a special card that contains a code to turn on The Midnight Show, which removes the bras and pasties from some of the dancers in the Moulin Rouge.

The end of summer means the beginning of the game season, and today is the last Friday before the game industry’s big holiday push. Publishers jam the fall with games to challenge the true worth of your credit card – a double dog dare in the uncertain economy of 2009.