Aggro Reviews #1

[Agro]

I'm making this cause Mako said I could use his format and I had a game that needed reviewing. So here we are. The game I'm reviewing is:


[b][size=7]Deadly Premonition[/size][/b]
[b]Consoles: Xbox 360[/b]
[b]Developer: Access Games
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Released: February 23, 2010[/b]

[b][img]http://gamesareevil.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Deadly-Premonition-11.jpg[/img][/b]

Every year we as gamers find ourselves face-to-face with piles upon piles of new games. Granted most of this is crap and we don’t want to play them. The highest marketed games are usually the ones talked about most as games people want to play, and when it comes to Game of the Year season, undoubtedly you’ll hear something along the lines of Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, any one high profile game from Nintendo and probably some fan-boy raving about Call of Duty. Game of the Year is an award that is very diverse, since almost every single news outlet picks their own, and usually they revolve around the same games. But there comes a time, every now and again, that a new, unheard of game, comes out of nowhere and takes the cake. In 2010, one game did that for several outlets. That game is Deadly Premonition.

If you’ve even heard of this game before, consider yourself lucky. Deadly Premonition started at retail for about $20, meaning hardly anyone batted an eye when they saw it on store shelves. Outside of the US, it goes by a different name; “Red Seed Profile.” It’s by luck and most likely work that many of those who review games have ever played it, and it’s their work that sprung this game it’s own fan base.

I first heard about this game from a friend of mine at college whose friend and him had played the game a few times. They suggested that they show it to me, and I surrendered, however unwillingly, to their eager expressions. What followed might have possibly been the greatest two hours I’ve ever wasted simply watching a video game.

[size=6][b]Story[/b][/size]

The game opens to a small cutscene. The characters in the game are rendered beautifully, though they do hold some characteristics that I tended to find a little creepy. Two children and their grandfather are walking down a forest path, apparently just out for a stroll. It’s at this point that you begin to look around and realize: the graphics on anything other than the people look like they’re from the early part of the twenty-first century.

The trio keeps walking and comes upon a corpse tied to a tree and slit through her stomach. Yes people, this game is one of those games. The game’s opening credits play over this scene, and you’ll see this scene every time you turn on the game if you don’t wish to skip it.

After the credits end, you’ll meet the main character. Agent Francis York Morgan, who introduces himself to [i]everyone[/i] as, “Agent Francis York Morgan. Just call me York, everyone does.” He’s driving in his car in the pouring rain towards his next assignment, the murder that was shown in the first scene, and is talking on the phone to someone named Zach. Through this conversation we learn a little back-story about York and the information he was given for this assignment. It’s all fine and nice, until you realize he doesn’t have a phone.

If this game sounds horrible to you, don’t worry, it gets worse. As you’re driving, you suddenly see a red-hooded man in the middle of the road with glowing eyes and an axe and quickly swerve away to avoid him and end up falling off the road. After a small tumble and almost hitting a bunch of squirrels that make monkey noises, you crash in the forest.

Did you catch that? The squirrels. They sounded like monkeys. And I don’t mean the “Oo-ah-ah.” I mean the “MAKAAH!” sound when they get scared. If you’re thinking straight still: this game is made by a Japanese developer for the Xbox, which explains why they may not have that noise quite right.

So now York’s lost in the forest, searching for a way out and happens upon a sign that [i]clearly[/i] says, “Welcome to Greenvale”. York reads it as “W----M- -O G---N----“ As you keep walking you find a woman, one who slowly lurks away into a building, but as you enter, SURPRISE! She’s not there! As you turn around however, there she is looking away from you.

As he takes a step forward, she turns around… and she has black pits for eyes and a wide gaping black mouth that stretches across her face. Realizing the danger York pulls out his gun and shoots at her, it takes a few hits to get her, which she spends slowly walking at you like a zombie… backwards… bent over so her head is looking at you upside down.

[img]http://wgtccdn.wegotthiscovered.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/deadly-premonition.png[/img]

A friend of mine was playing this game alone and got to this point. He immediately quit because it was just “So bad…”

I’m sure you’re thinking this too, but probably in a different way. You see, if ever there was a game that personified the idea of “so bad, it’s good,” it’d be Deadly Premonition.

You want proof? Well how about this: I spent 16 hours with five of my friends watch [i]one[/i] of us play through this single-player game. I doubt you can find [i]any[/i] sort of game you’d be willing to do that with.

Now you’ve reached this point, you only have to escape the forest, run 2 miles down one road with no obstacles and meet some townspeople before you realize the most important quality of Deadly Premonition. Breakfast.

Ah, I bet you don’t believe me, so I’ve brought a video to show you. This is what I’m telling you about, pay very close attention to everything. Beware of spoilers, you might want to see this first when you actually play the game:



It’s at this point that you finally realize: maybe they did it on purpose. The music rising louder and louder as they find it harder to hear, the constant whipping out of the cigarette no matter the situation. You question whether it’s even [i]possible[/i] for someone to do something that badly.

The creator of this game’s name is SWERY. Yes, you read that right, and no, it doesn’t stand for anything. That’s about all you need to know about him. Problem? Too bad.

After this one scene, every single detail, every mishap, every note, every word needs to be analyzed to understand and appreciate what’s really been done here. This game didn’t have a giant budget, it didn’t have big names backing it up. This game got to this point on effort and genius.

Eventually, playing through the story will stop feeling like a terrible Twin Peaks rip off (which is what this game is actually based on, if you weren’t informed) and gains its own wings with interesting and spectacular plot twists and events.

[b][size=6]Features[/size][/b]

Unlike Left for Dead, a similar type of survival horror game idea, there is no multiplayer in Deadly Premonition. It’s a strict one-player experience. That isn’t necessarily a problem, the game plays around 11-16 hours long depending on the experience of the player. With a remarkably large amount of easter eggs and side quests thrown along, that time could very well double.

[b][size=6]Gameplay[/size][/b]

You’d be surprised how much gameplay is spent actually hoping for another cutscene. It’s not that the gameplay is poor, it’s more that the cutscenes are just remarkably better. The gameplay itself is actually split into two parts. For half the game, you’re outside in the very large, openworld town exploring and completing objectives and sidequests. The second is where the horror side of the game takes place. Acting almost like dungeons, at certain points, York will enter buildings alone and enter into what feels like another world. It’s these types of places where you’ll run into these “zombies” and in most cases the axe murderer who you ran into before.

Fights with the murderer are probably the worst part of the game in my opinion. During these encounters, the screen splits to show you yourself and the murderer, and the frame rate in these instances drops drastically. There are two parts to these fights: 1. Hiding; 2. Running. The first part is actually funny because you’re not sure how you didn’t get found out half the time and the second part is a nuisance since you have to repeatedly beat down the joysticks to run from him. That’s right, when running from him, you’re on a rail, you just focus on getting the f*ck out of there.

The majority of the fights with the zombies themselves are just gunfights. Sometimes they even shoot back. These types of battles are repetitive, but the urgency and fear never diminish no matter how many times you’ve faced them.

The only times in the over-world parts of the game where you will feel like you’re having a hard time is driving and… dare I say it… I’ll tell you after I explain the driving.

Driving is like GTA or L.A. Noire with the top down view. The controls are fine after you get used to them, but for the most part, you’ll be fairly agitated with them. As for the other thing… well let’s just say you better prepare to yell “STAAAAAIIIIIIRRRRS!”

[size=6][b]Graphics[/b][/size]

I think I’ve already noted on this. The Graphics are poor, this is mainly attributed to the amount of money that was put into this game. The good news about this is that it’s what makes a lot of the game appealing. What was a simple wallpaper in scene 1 turns out to be a fully ebbing river in scene 7. Quite the change.

The character models are much, much better, but you can’t shake the feeling that they’re trying to weird you the f*ck out.

[b][size=6]Overall[/size][/b]

This game is almost impossible to truly explain. The amount of enjoyment one can get out of this game immeasurable and the replay value is very high. In my humble opinion, it’s best played in a group, merely two will suffice. It’s intriguing how much entertainment you can get out of it, but you’ll never truly understand Deadly Premonition appeal until you’ve played it.

[size=5]The Bad
- voice acting that leaves you confused
- poorly rendered graphics
- gameplay that can be difficult at times
- interestingly written script[/size]

[size=5]The Good
- voice acting that leaves you confused
- poorly rendered graphics
- gameplay that can be difficult at times
- interestingly written script
- squirrels that make monkey noises
- “Life is Beautiful”[/size]

[b][size=6]Over all score:
[size=7]9.5/10[/size][/size][/b]

[size=5]I truly believe that this was one of the best games to come out in 2010, it will be well worth you’re money to purchase it.[/size]

[.Rai]

9.5 sounds biased, false and stupid. interesting. kinda. okay, only slightly. And what do you mean, not backed by big companies? Rising Star Games is pretty big as a publisher. It's basically a parody game and nothing more. Good at what it does, but that's not enough in the world of design.

Also, feel free to fix the name from Deadly Premonitions to Deadly Premonition. Not pluralized.

[Agro]

[quote name='.Rai' timestamp='1326835305' post='5768683']
9.5 sounds biased, false and stupid. interesting. kinda. okay, only slightly. And what do you mean, not backed by big companies? Rising Star Games is pretty big as a publisher. It's basically a parody game and nothing more. Good at what it does, but that's not enough in the world of design.

Also, feel free to fix the name from Deadly Premonitions to Deadly Premonition. Not pluralized.
[/quote]All reviews are biased, because all reviews are based off of opinion. Have you played the game?

And it had 3 different publishers for 3 different parts of the world, meaning they each didn't put money behind getting it made, only published.

[.Rai]

I've not personally played it, but I know a bit about it. Reviews should be taken from a neutral view, even if you're not a fan of that genre.

The genre in this is basically comedy horror/survival which is hard to do, and they do it to a decent level. But decent's not good enough, even if you're being somewhat innovative and original.

[Agro]

I'm not a fan of the genre, I'm a fan of the game. I hate survival horror, I hate horror genres in general. I loved this. I'd never seen anything quite like it. My opinion came from playing through and experiencing the game. I can't take a neutral view on it after that or the scores would always be 5/10.

I suggest you play through the whole game. The comedy and entertainment is nice, but you can't come to appreciate it until you fully comprehend the story and the craziness that is the full game.