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The Saboteur's main story will take 12-18 hours to complete photo

I left The Saboteur E3 2009 demonstration impressed by Pandemic Studios’ commitment to making its open-world action title different. There aren’t any mutants or a twisted protagonist. The city isn’t a wasteland or a knockoff of a metropolitan city. And there isn’t a lot of brown -- the game’s monochrome visual flair eliminates it.

But how long will I be playing The Saboteur? Speaking with me via e-mail, Pandemic’s Thomas French told me that main story will take anywhere between twelve to eighteen hours to complete -- and that’s if I’m hoofing it the whole time.

“It’s honestly tough to say exactly how long it would be for someone to do everything,” French told me via e-mail. “We’re shooting for the player that just plays straight through the main story to be between 12-18 hours depending on how much the player is sprinting.”  

“There are a bunch of side missions as well that are easy to get distracted from the main thread going down their path,” he continued. “So add all those things together and you have, well, a lot of game. I’m sure we’ll get some speed runs that will min-max the entire game and find a faster way through.”  

If I skip the frills I could still get up to eighteen hours out of the game. Sounds like The Saboteur will give people plenty of bang for their buck. You agree, right? Or are eighteen hours too much?








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18 comments | showing # 1 to 18
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Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 17:45
Darren Nakamura
It's a funny thing. That seems too long for me, unless I'm really, really into the game. If I enjoyed it enough, 12-18 hours is just right.
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 17:51
Holyetheline
I think that's a good amount of time to spend with the game. I'll probably spend twice that on it anyway because achievements always prolong the playability of games.
HarassmentPanda's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 17:54
HarassmentPanda
That's just about the upper limit of time I have to dedicate to a single game these days. Looking forward to this one.
tgammet's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 18:00
tgammet
Always half what the PR say. So it's more like 6-9 hours. Which seems reasonable.
Thedudemjp's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 18:17
Thedudemjp
For what is strictly a single-player game, especially one that is part of the open world action/adventure genre, I sort of find that a bit short. I could quickly change my mind however if it's a memorable experience but from what I saw at E3 it seemed a little lackluster. I really want The Saboteur to be good so I'm willing to look past the limited amount of time that I saw it and I guess hold on to blind faith in the uniqueness of it.
El-Sveppi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 18:32
El-Sveppi
I've been looking forward to this game for a long time :) Hope it'll be worth it.
sohnvonben's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 18:36
sohnvonben
I really hope all the optional side quests aren't just mundane "go grab ten of these and come back to me" quests or I will......well, I'll probably get the game anyways so, whatever!
Pushtrak's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 19:06
Pushtrak
Considering the price of games, I'd be wanting a chunky length of gameplay. That, and/or a high replay value.
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 20:13
HiddenAHB
Pandemic games usually have a lot of side missons to do, so i imagine that the complete game will gave a few more hours than those.
Zeno's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 20:14
Zeno
18 hours too much? Has the ADD taken over? Have you all no shame?

I remember the days when 40-hour games were plentiful... These are sad times.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 20:58
Darren Nakamura
@Zeno: Back in the day, when we were allowed two to three games a year, and we had a lot more free time on our hands (what with not having jobs and whatnot), then the longer the better.

These days, we have jobs, so we have money, so we can buy new games once a month or more. That said, we have a lot less time to play them, and we appreciate when a game respects our time. I want to experience all this medium has to offer, and I can't do that if I were to dedicate myself to any one game for an extended period of time. Hell, my backlog of games is already near twenty titles...
Xhumation's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 21:39
Xhumation
My interest in this game has risen.

I hate it when I pay 1000 pesos for a game I finish in 6 hours, this way I feel like I'm getting some bang for my buck.
Braumeister's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/11/2009 23:46
Braumeister
I honestly don't know anyone who doesn't do at least a few side missions for items, experience or power-ups. Infamous was quoted at 20-25 hours, and I've played at least that many just missioning and opening up the 2nd island.

Maybe we ought to start comparing games by 100% completion times, because 12-18 hours for the main story thread tells me very little.
Dr Terror's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/12/2009 00:04
Dr Terror
@Zeno
Too true. I remember getting Secret of Mana on the SNES with an absurd claim of gameplay length on the box - That was actually true! Nowadays the 20hr PR claim includes the time it takes to get the "10 000 kills" achievement *waggles cane in disgust*.

@Dexter
Dude nao, moar game = moar win. I got the full time job & band & girlfriend & all that & Im about to replay FF7 - Its about making time (& total neglect lol). Seriously though, nowadays its more like "Loved the 10hr campaign? Then buy the 5hr DLC!".
wfolse1's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/12/2009 02:22
wfolse1
I totally agree with Dexter. I'm constantly buying new games (as well as older titles) and I really enjoy being able to finish an experience in a reasonable amount of time. I hold absolutely nothing against a longer game, but in my opinion, 15-20 hours just feels right for most games. For me, this also improves the replayability of a game. I like the fact that I can play a MGS game over a long weekend. Anyway, Dr Terror proves that we all have different tastes. I'd rather every game be 6 hours long than ever slog through FF7. ugh
akathatoneguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/12/2009 13:19
akathatoneguy
I second Dexter- I'd rather have a game not jerk me off with meaningless extension of the main campaign, so that I could have that time to enjoy a whole new game experience elsewhere. Even if the game is 10 hours, if it was fun all the way through, it was worth it. Those short games are nice too, because you will eventually want to replay them again. No way am I ever going to go through all the main and side quests of Oblivion again, as much as I loved it the first time.

I've been buying games like a madman lately, and I'll be buying X-Men Origins: Wolverine when it goes on sale next week, largely because it's supposed to be fun and it's not too long. At this point, I just couldn't justify adding another 40+ hour game to my collection. Sorry, Disgaea 3!
Tomas Zinkevicius's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/25/2010 15:52
Tomas Zinkevicius
yeah ive just completed in 18:32 but was running around alot and leaving my xbox on with game
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