Whether or not you enjoyed The Saboteur, it could've been a lot better. Some newly unearthed concept art reveals some pretty awesome stuff that didn't make it into the full game.
Pandemic concept artist Jason Hazelroth revealed in a blog post that he worked for "at least 3 years" on a mountain Nazi base called Valhall. "It had to have a missile silo for firing the Nazi's WMD's and a large number of rooms for the construction of missiles," Hazelroth wrote. "It had to house faculty and administrators. It had to have a generator room for power, a jail cell, and a medical facility. A control room to fire the rockets, a gandola to approach the base, and a Nazi castle on the mountain surface."
Given the scope of the project, it sounds like Valhall would've been the site of one of Sean's last missions. Unfortunately, it was cut from Saboteur late in development. It's unfortunate considering how anticlimactic the ending of the game is. Plus, Valhall looks pretty awesome. Reminds me of that old WW2 movie Where Eagles Dare.
Hazelroth revealed in a different post that he had designed an experimental Nazi jet called the XJ-05 that would've served as a boss encounter. The idea seems to be that you'd attempt to destroy the jet while it was still docked but the crew would attempt to fight you off. It might have taken place in Valhall but it's not clear.
"I took a traditional flying wing design and sleeked it out with integrated engines and an extended tail design," he wrote. "I also added a bunch of manned gunner balls that you would have to take out before you could easily approach the plane. As well as dealing the guns, periodically the rockets would fire so you could never be in their path."
If not for another cut, you'd be doing more than fighting airplanes. After providing some drawings of the JX-07, a smaller jet, Hazelroth adds that "I only wish that planes hadn't been cut so that I could have could cut loose with it in the game." Well, that would've cut down on the annoying commutes.
Sample pictures of Valhall and the airplanes are below. I highly recommend you stop by Hazelroth's online portfolio to check out the full collection, though. It's great-looking stuff, though it's a bit depressing to think how much untapped potential the game had.
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