Review: Deadly Premonition (360)
Deadly Premonition is a budget-priced title for the Xbox 360 from Ignition Entertainment. The game retails for a mere $19.99, but I had more fun with it over the last 20 hours than with many $60 games combined.
If you’ve been following the critical reception for this game then you know that it’s getting wildly different scores from reviewers. And for the most part, that’s fair. Certain people play certain games for certain things. Some are all about the graphics and gameplay, others are more into story, atmosphere and the overall experience. If you’re part of the former category, yeah, you’re probably not going to like the game’s last-gen graphics or control scheme. I fall into the latter though, and I love this game so much because the story is amazing. Batshit insane, but amazing.
And let’s go ahead and get this out of the way right now. Without the groundbreaking 90s TV show Twin Peaks, this game would not exist. I’m not saying that just because everyone else is mentioning Twin Peaks in their write ups, but because there’s no bigger Peaks fan than this guy. I’ve watched that show from start to finish at least 10 times now, and there is little doubt it’s what inspired almost every aspect of this game, right down to the look of the trading cards that you can collect as you investigate through town. And at first I thought I was going to be a little upset that it was “ripping off” my beloved show, but as I played on it’s actually what helped me love it even more.
Papa Jawa was not happy that his kids sold R2-D2 and C-3PO so cheap.
I have always maintained that no matter how outrageous a story is, as long as it plays by the rules of its own universe and is believable within said universe, then it works. If you tried explaining the ending of Deadly Premonition to someone who had never heard of it, they’d look at you as if you were speaking Klingon. But when you get there it won’t feel absurd at all. By then you’re fully engrossed in the game’s bizarre universe to where even the most outlandish bits mostly make sense. Mostly. It was almost unfortunate that towards the end there are two boss battles that fit perfectly in a video game, but within the context of the story seemed a little too silly.
You play as FBI agent Francis York Morgan, investigating the murder of a young woman in the quiet Pacific Northwest town of Greenvale. But just as in that other sleepy town in the Pacific Northwest, nothing is always quite what it seems, and there’s an undercurrent of evil flowing through the city. It’s an evil your character has encountered before as well, both professionally and personally. Oh, and did I mention you seem to have a split personality, as you’re always talking to someone unseen named Zach?
Peaks connections aside, this is both a great setting and premise for a video game. You have the entire town to explore, plenty of quirky characters to investigate, puzzles to solve, fish to catch, 90 dollar turkey sandwiches to purchase, and every so often you seem to slip into a parallel dimension where you are attacked by some truly terrifying zombie creatures. How does that not sound awesome?
I mainly play games late at night, and with headphones on, so for me this game definitely delivered on the creepy factor. First it’s unnerving as all hell that when the creatures you encounter see you and start approaching they say “Yaaaay!” in a very slow, eerie voice. And they have a tendency to move ala The Ring. It’s not a constant motion, but one second they’re far away and then the next they’ve speed up super fast and are suddenly right on top of you. Then once you start damaging them they tend to cower like little kids, saying things like “I don’t want to die” again in a slow, creepy as hell voice.
Speaking of damage, one thing I initially hated about the game but quickly became indifferent to was the power of your weapons. It can take 8 or 9 headshots from your handgun to put a creature down, but only one swing from a rusty pipe you picked up off the ground. It also takes up to 10 shots to break a crate. Makes perfect sense. Later you get a submachine gun that might as well be shooting spitballs. I could swear that by the end of the game I was firing at least 100 shots into each zombie before they’d finally die.
Another level where the game totally clicked with me is the dialogue, especially the bits during driving scenes where you kill time by talking to your alter ego. You have conversations with “yourself” about movies like Deadly Spawn and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Hell, the bar in town is named the Galaxy of Terror. As a bad movie aficionado, these references were nice touches and really helped flesh out the main character as well.
The game is certainly not perfect though. While I adored much of the music (10 incidental tracks of which are available for download or streaming for free at the game’s official website), the sound design itself leaves much to be desired. The audio mix is all over the place, and many times the music will drown out the dialogue entirely. Luckily there are on-screen subtitles at all times.
But it’s the game’s usage of sound effects where the low budget becomes painfully obvious. Any door you open in the game produces the same creaking, wooden door sound. Jail cells, fence gates… everything. Screeching brakes sound exactly like that one sound effect you’ve always heard in cartoons for decades. And your footsteps… for the love of God the same loud footstep sound over and over and over and over…
As I said, I finished the game in about 20 hours, but that was without doing dozens of the available side quests. I’m normally not opposed to doing these kinds of bonus missions, but the main storyline was simply so compelling that I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I continually found my mouth agape from surprise at the latest plot twist or bizarre visual sequence.
Deadly Premonition is only 20 bucks, so if you like a great story and some creepy survival horror, pick this one up. Even if you’re still slightly dubious, just play through it on Easy, collect some achievement points and enjoy the storyline. Some the best regarded games available today can’t manage to tell a story worth a damn, so mix things up a bit. Give a title a shot that tells an insane narrative amazingly well.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch Twin Peaks again.
Good review.
As a fellow Peaker (what, can you think of anything better?) I must ask: Does the game borrow mostly from Season 1, or does it dare to references events from Season 2?
I wouldn’t say it borrows from Twin Peaks specifically, it’s more of an overall vibe. Plotwise, aside from a young girl brutally murdered in a Pacific Northwest town and tied to past cases, that’s as specific as it gets. There are elements though that are clearly from Twin Peaks. There’s a Deputy Andy-ish character. A log lady-esque character. There’s a bar similar to the Roadhouse, complete with sultry singer. That kind of thing.