The Saboteur: Paris comes to life as public morale lifts

This is the story of a rogue Irishman helping resistance fighters strike blows for freedom in Nazi-occupied France. All it needs is a nun, a horse and a chicken, and you've got the makings of a first-class joke.

War is no laughing matter, of course, and the subject matter of The Saboteur is the deadly serious business of helping the French survive the home front horrors of World War 2.

In this third-person action-adventure game, you assume the character of Sean Devlin, a hard-drinking Irishman (there's a surprise) who likes tinkering with cars and blowing up Germans.

After seeing his best friend, a French bloke called Jules, get executed, Sean devotes his energy to helping the resistance fight back against their oppressors.

It's a run-drive-shoot adventure that feels very similar to both Godfather games - also made by Electronic Arts - but with more swastikas.

The gameplay is fine, if unexceptional.

Sean moves a little awkwardly at times and the lack of a decent aiming structure is frustrating, but missions are nicely spaced and never too difficult.

A nice touch is the use of colour to indicate the level of public morale.

Wide swaths of Paris are cloaked in black and white, but colour comes back once you've completed a few quests in that area.

Plenty of upgrades, authentic weapons and new vehicles add variety and the incentive to push on when things start to get a bit repetitive.

There's nothing massively new here but The Saboteur at least provides a small twist on a World War 2 gaming market saturated with Call of Duty and Medal of Honour titles.