Posted September 28, 2014
(It doesn't fit into character limit on review page, so I'm posting it here.)
Zach, they're here
==================
- Time to beat: 20 hours
- Graphics: 4/5
- Sound: 5/5
- Gameplay: 3.5/5
- Production quality: 3/5
- Artistic component: 5/5
- Overall: 5/5
*Deadly Premonition* is an atmospheric action/detective/horror game similar to *Alan Wake*. An FBI agent comes to a small town to investigate the murder of a young woman. In doing so, he reveals dark secrets of the town's inhabitants and confronts evil forces hiding in surrounding forests.
The game alternates between 'detective mode' when you're searching for clues ('profiling') and 'action mode' when you're shooting monsters. Neither is particularly difficult: I think I ran out of health only once during the fight with the final boss; all other deaths were sudden due to quick time events. There are occasional puzzles (just as easy) and dozens of side quests. Although gameplay is relatively repetitive, you never really get bored because there is a lot of change of scenery: you walk (or drive) from one place to another, switch from detective mode to action and back, talk to multiple NPCs and complete their quests; you even catch fish or play as a different character. Despite popular hate for QTEs, I believe they also contribute to gameplay diversity (except when they are really of press-button-not-to-die kind, which, sadly, the game has plenty of).
Production quality is sub-par. You absolutely have to install the patch, if only to decrease loading time. Even having patched the game, I encountered two major bugs: the launcher exited without any indication of an error (solved by installing an additional DirectX version) and the game crashes at random points. Because of that you quickly get used to always running towards a phone in every new location to save the game. (Fortunately, you can never lose much progress because save spots are frequent and because of how easy the game is.) Speaking of which: you only get one save slot, so back up the file once in a while if you want to be able to get back to a previous state (for example, to complete a side quest). Graphics looks quite old: you can frequently see polygons and artifacts, and there are no configuration options whatsoever. I haven't encountered other issues, although I didn't try a controller.
But what the game lacks on the technical side, it makes up for in story line, atmosphere and style. *Deadly Premonition* is an accurate, admiring, almost fanatical tribute to *Twin Peaks*. I'm not even going to try listing references to the cult series, simply because there are so many, including minute details such as a picture of Snoqualmie Falls in York's bedroom. Characters, scenery, plot elements look exactly like David Lynch would shoot them. Overall, the game is styled as a TV series, and you see much more montage and camera work than you may have used to. (For example, in some scenes the frame is split into 2-4 windows, each of which represents a view from a different camera angle.) Combine that with top quality music that pays *homage* to Angelo Badalamenti without repeating him (GOG, where's the soundtrack when you most need it?!) -- and you get lost on a highway, driving through Greenwale surrounded by forests, wondering *where should we go now*, completely immersed in the game world, even if you know nothing about the town of North Bend, better known as Twin Peaks.
(There *is* a fly in the ointment, to tell you the truth. I feel like designers went too H. P. Lovecraft towards the finale, making some scenes comical rather than scary. And I don't mean Lynchian-weird comical, I mean grotesquely ridiculous: just look at the final boss! Well, it *is* a game by a Japanese studio, after all...)
If you played *Alan Wake*, by now you must have been asking the question: how does *Deadly Premonition* compare against it? There are many similarities, and if you liked one game, you'll probably like the other one. Being a postmodernist piece of art, building upon multiple sources, *Alan Wake* looks more self-contained. *Deadly Premonition* leaves an impression of a tribute work; however, it has a much richer story line and an open world. In short, I am completely convinced that the cult following of *Deadly Premonition* is well deserved.
One final piece of advice: don't skip through the ending credits. And remember: they're always here.
Zach, they're here
==================
- Time to beat: 20 hours
- Graphics: 4/5
- Sound: 5/5
- Gameplay: 3.5/5
- Production quality: 3/5
- Artistic component: 5/5
- Overall: 5/5
*Deadly Premonition* is an atmospheric action/detective/horror game similar to *Alan Wake*. An FBI agent comes to a small town to investigate the murder of a young woman. In doing so, he reveals dark secrets of the town's inhabitants and confronts evil forces hiding in surrounding forests.
The game alternates between 'detective mode' when you're searching for clues ('profiling') and 'action mode' when you're shooting monsters. Neither is particularly difficult: I think I ran out of health only once during the fight with the final boss; all other deaths were sudden due to quick time events. There are occasional puzzles (just as easy) and dozens of side quests. Although gameplay is relatively repetitive, you never really get bored because there is a lot of change of scenery: you walk (or drive) from one place to another, switch from detective mode to action and back, talk to multiple NPCs and complete their quests; you even catch fish or play as a different character. Despite popular hate for QTEs, I believe they also contribute to gameplay diversity (except when they are really of press-button-not-to-die kind, which, sadly, the game has plenty of).
Production quality is sub-par. You absolutely have to install the patch, if only to decrease loading time. Even having patched the game, I encountered two major bugs: the launcher exited without any indication of an error (solved by installing an additional DirectX version) and the game crashes at random points. Because of that you quickly get used to always running towards a phone in every new location to save the game. (Fortunately, you can never lose much progress because save spots are frequent and because of how easy the game is.) Speaking of which: you only get one save slot, so back up the file once in a while if you want to be able to get back to a previous state (for example, to complete a side quest). Graphics looks quite old: you can frequently see polygons and artifacts, and there are no configuration options whatsoever. I haven't encountered other issues, although I didn't try a controller.
But what the game lacks on the technical side, it makes up for in story line, atmosphere and style. *Deadly Premonition* is an accurate, admiring, almost fanatical tribute to *Twin Peaks*. I'm not even going to try listing references to the cult series, simply because there are so many, including minute details such as a picture of Snoqualmie Falls in York's bedroom. Characters, scenery, plot elements look exactly like David Lynch would shoot them. Overall, the game is styled as a TV series, and you see much more montage and camera work than you may have used to. (For example, in some scenes the frame is split into 2-4 windows, each of which represents a view from a different camera angle.) Combine that with top quality music that pays *homage* to Angelo Badalamenti without repeating him (GOG, where's the soundtrack when you most need it?!) -- and you get lost on a highway, driving through Greenwale surrounded by forests, wondering *where should we go now*, completely immersed in the game world, even if you know nothing about the town of North Bend, better known as Twin Peaks.
(There *is* a fly in the ointment, to tell you the truth. I feel like designers went too H. P. Lovecraft towards the finale, making some scenes comical rather than scary. And I don't mean Lynchian-weird comical, I mean grotesquely ridiculous: just look at the final boss! Well, it *is* a game by a Japanese studio, after all...)
If you played *Alan Wake*, by now you must have been asking the question: how does *Deadly Premonition* compare against it? There are many similarities, and if you liked one game, you'll probably like the other one. Being a postmodernist piece of art, building upon multiple sources, *Alan Wake* looks more self-contained. *Deadly Premonition* leaves an impression of a tribute work; however, it has a much richer story line and an open world. In short, I am completely convinced that the cult following of *Deadly Premonition* is well deserved.
One final piece of advice: don't skip through the ending credits. And remember: they're always here.
