[1][2] The game is set in German-occupied France during World War II, and follows Sean Devlin (based on William Grover-Williams),[3] an Irish race car driver and mechanic,[4] who joins the French Resistance to liberate Paris after his best friend is killed by Nazi forces.
Players can make use of a variety of weapons and abilities to fight enemies or explore the environment, such as Sean's parkour skills, which allow him to climb high buildings in seconds to facilitate traversal.
While it was praised for its visuals, sound design, setting, amount of content and entertaining gameplay, many criticized its repetitiveness, the storyline's execution, various technical issues, and the general unpolished feel.
Germans in these areas will not be completely evicted but Sean has a higher chance of escaping them since they will no longer be so ubiquitous, and will primarily be centered on military bases, barracks, checkpoints, HQs, and other strategically important sites.
Throughout the game, Sean can upgrade his abilities and arsenal via "Perks", such as improving accuracy with a sniper rifle, ammo count for all weapons, damage, and more.
Perks are gained through actions, such as evading high-level alarms, sniping targets or demolishing a set number of German installations or vehicles with a certain requirement.
The player also has the ability to scale buildings and run across rooftops, where sometimes British supply boxes can be found, or to reach a good sniper's view of the ground beneath.
[6] Sean Devlin is a hard drinking Irish race car driver and mechanic, who emigrated to France to escape his criminal past.
During his stay, Sean meets up with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Skylar St. Claire, and starts a rivalry with Kurt Dierker, an infamous racer and champion of the Nazis.
Sean is talked into joining the resistance by Luc, and is tasked with disrupting Nazi operations by killing high-ranking officers, and destroying military installations.
Luc, not wanting to expend resistance resources to save one prisoner, denies Sean's request for an organized raid to rescue Veronique.
While Sean is successful in fighting them off, Luc is found to be half-buried under debris, forcing Veronique to kill him so he doesn't get taken alive when the next Nazi attack occurs.
After sharing a passionate kiss with Veronique, Sean tracks down Dierker to the Eiffel Tower, where he is found to be executing his men for failing to subdue the civil uprising.
[7] Areas that were cut from the game late in development include a giant Nazi missile silo built into the side of a mountain, called Valhall; Pandemic concept artist Jason Hazelroth spent three years designing the project.
[33][34][35] IGN praised the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions for their sound, black and white visuals, and "cheap thrills", while criticizing their unpolished gameplay and somewhat silly animation.
[22] The game was praised for being fun, although the site criticized the choppy voice acting, varying graphical quality and the unpolished end product.
X-Play praised the same console version's unique look and setting, and the variety of gameplay, but criticized its poorly executed story, enemy AI, and various glitches.
"[40] The Daily Telegraph gave the same console version seven out of ten and called it "a highly enjoyable game in its own right and it succeeds at being pure, rollicking entertainment.
Players who are prepared to look past its derivative gameplay will find its silly characters [and] ridiculous plot and even some of its technical flaws may just be part of the reason they continue playing it long after the first couple of hours have passed by.
"[31] Wired, however, gave the same console version six stars out of ten and called it "a big game best taken in small doses: An hour or two of clamber up the side of a building, snipe some guys, drive like hell, lather, rinse, repeat was plenty.