Sentinels of the Multiverse
Card Game
Publisher: Greater Than Games
Players: 2-5
Play Time: 30-60 minutes
Ages: 8+

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative card game for 2-5 players set in the fictitious universe of the equally fictitious Sentinel Comics. Comic book fans will recognize tropes and archetypes, but – in terms of world building – there’s a nice blend of borrowed and original material here. With character cards that look like comic book covers and flavor text quoting from invented issues, it’s easy to believe you’re playing a licensed product.

To its credit, this first game from the startup Greater Than Games is fast, fun and easy to learn. Most modern games have me running to BoardGameGeek to figure out the right way to play – and that’s after studying exhaustive, overwritten manuals. The gameplay in SotM is streamlined – events in a round are clearly spelled out and it was rare that I needed to consult the manual to figure something out.

The players choose their characters, pick the villain and decide where the battle will take place. With 10 heroes, 4 villains and 4 environments (578 cards in all), there’s already great variety even before possible expansion sets. Then the game begins: the villain plays a card, the players play their card and then the environment plays a card.

In our game, Baron Blade was quick to summon his minions and use tech against us. The Mighty Ra countered with fire blasts to take out the henchmen, the Indestructible Bunker used his Omni-Cannon to do massive damage against the Baron while the Inhuman Tempest addressed environmental dangers (velociraptors and lava) with flash floods. The cooperative nature really came through and led to us role playing our characters.

Some additional elements really make SotM standout: if a character falls in battle, the player can keep playing by using incapacitated abilities to strengthen other characters; villains take on second forms, example: Omnitron flips between being a robot factory and a renegade robot itself; and there’s a nemesis mechanic which takes place when a hero meets their archenemy.

If you’re looking for an exciting card game, I strongly recommend Sentinels of the Multiverse. It’s fast paced, challenging without being convoluted and the depth of backstory along with high quality card art will have you convinced you’ve discovered a new line of comic books.

Splatterhouse
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PS3)
Released: Nov 23, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 7.0/10

In this remake of the 1988 arcade game, Jennifer Willis goes to West Mansion to interview Dr. West about necrobiology for the Miskantonic University paper. Boyfriend Rick Taylor tags along in the role of protector, but he’s soon bleeding out while West drags Jen towards a distant sacrificial altar. In his last moments, Rick sees a skull-like mask which calls out to him. This is the Terror Mask, an evil relic which resurrects Rick and infuses him with demonic strength and abilities.

Splatterhouse is a third person brawler with some side-scrolling sections thrown in for nostalgia’s sake. Rick’s primary weapon is his new muscleman body and he heads into the action fist-first. An extensive set of moves lets Rick perform punches, grapples and tackles with names like “Pimp Hand Strong” and “Meat Shot.” Conventional weapons like nail-studded 2x4s, cleavers and chainsaws are scattered around levels, but you can also rip off enemy limbs and heads and wield those. Ultimately though, you’ll want to unleash the power of the Terror Mask by entering a berserker mode, transforming your arms to scythes or laying down the Splatter Smash.

You’ll need this arsenal to face off against the Corrupted and West’s creations. The Corrupted are monsters ranging from standard zombies to giant eyes, tentacled demons and fire breathing clowns. Each monster type has its own set of behaviors. Some are hit and run attackers, others flank you, while others still exist just to provide buffs for the creatures you’re combating. Of course the goal of all of this is to get through them to save Jennifer, but you’ll also want to kill them as bloody as possible since blood is the in-game currency used to level up your abilities.

Brawlers typically feel repetitive, but upgraded moves, varied enemies and distinctive levels keep Splatterhouse fresh. While chunks of the game take place in West Mansion, Rick will have to also fight his way through a twisted carnival, a postapocalyptic setting and West’s necrobiotic laboratory. Each level is memorably disturbing and coated with gore.

Less impressive are the game’s controls. Rick looks unwieldy and occasionally handles the same. Collision detection can be a bit wonky and the precision required in some of the side scrolling levels is a bit more than the big guy can handle. The game is also marred by a few slowdowns and I experienced one freeze.

I can only hope that Splatterhouse’s soundtrack gets an official release at some point. If you’re ever facing off against an army of demons, you’re going to want to listen to Goatwhore and Municipal Waste. Aside from the metal, the score is impressive and fits each of the disparate settings. The game has decent voicework, but the star is the Terror Mask. Jim Cummings creates a sarcastic, misanthropic character which is both meta-aware and hilariously inappropriate.

Beyond the main game, Splatterhouse also has survival arenas and the three original Splatterhouse games as unlockables (but not Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti). Diehards will want to invest more time to find all of Jen’s hidden softcore photos and – with the game’s many horror movie references – it’s worth taking the time to find Chucky’s body or Freddy’s sweater and glove.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Developer: LucasArts
Publisher: LucasArts
Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PS3, PC, Wii and DS)
Released: Oct 26, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 6.6/10

Despite its flaws, The Force Unleashed was a compelling entry in the Star Wars canon. This entry feels like an add-on, and one that’s as apocryphal as any of the Dark Side DLC which has been released. But aside from the improbable fact that the most powerful Force user who ever lived is never mentioned in the original trilogy, even after meeting Leia and Yoda, it’s hard to write this game off.

The Force Unleashed II is fun. Not as much fun the original game, but there’s something to be said for grabbing TIE Fighters out of the air and flinging them at buildings, fighting a monster that eats Rancors for breakfast and crash landing a starship. That plus the myriad of ways to kill Stormtroopers (enhanced in this entry with a second lightsaber, the new Jedi Mind Trick Force Power and the ability to lop off heads and limbs) recaptures the original game’s tech demo on steroids feel.

Force Unleashed II benefits from an improved camera system which adds the ability to lock to an enemy, streamlined Force and lightsaber upgrades, which are now handled on the pause screen instead of hiding behind epic load times and improved targeting – although some Force throws still go willy-nilly.

The biggest faults of the game –aside from intermittent lag — are its unbelievably short length and overall lack of variety. Average players should be able to complete this game in five hours spread across a scant three locations. Achievement hunters and other diehards will no doubt invest more time to hunt down hidden Holocrons (unlocking new costumes and lightsaber crystals) and revisit levels with amped up powers.

Extra time will be spent trying to complete the new Challenge mode. These ten levels test your lightsaber skills, your ability to move over dangerous terrain, avoid snipers and take down multiple enemies all while under the pressure of a clock (and an easily disappointed Vader). Since this mode lets you compare your skills against your friends list, it’s the closest the 360 version comes to having a multiplayer component.

Like most Star Wars games, Force Unleashed II has incredible sound (the benefits of pulling from Ben Burtt and John Williams’s respective libraries) – which doesn’t diminish composer Mark Griskey’s work here, but you know what you hum to yourself. Voice acting is similarly impressive, with Sam Witwer’s Starkiller delivering Anakin Skywalker-type dialogue with Han Solo’s delivery. Cully Fredricksen’s Kota sounds even more grizzled and Matt Sloan’s Vader is efficiently meancing.

Graphics-wise, Unleashed II is stunning. The level of detail in Cato Neimoidia’s architecture makes destroying it seem almost sinful. The spray of rain on Kamino, dodging debris while hurtling in freefall, or close ups on grapple kills where Starkiller grabs an opponent and impales them on his lightsaber add to the cinematic quality.

My biggest complaint about The Force Unleased II is that the core component could have easily been packaged as a budget priced add-on ala Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening. I can’t imagine any Star Wars fan seriously explaining how this works into the franchise or even how it furthers the original game’s storyline – let alone how either of this game’s endings could possibly work. The tweaks are nice, but there’s nothing new to convince me Starkiller’s story wouldn’t have been better off as a done-in-one.

Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials
Developer: MumboJumbo
Publisher: MumboJumbo
Platform: Windows (available on many other platforms)
Released: June 13, 2010

MumboJumbo describes their games as “Premium Casual” which is an excellent way to think of Salem Witch Trials. I normally wouldn’t be interested in a hidden object game, but I was intrigued by the game’s setting and adventure game elements. Not only was I thrilled with the game, it’s also gotten me to read The House of the Seven Gables.

Playing mostly as a first-person point-and-click adventure, Salem Witch Trials takes you through a variety of spooky locations where you’ll have to get past locked doors, avoid wolves and outsmart ghosts. Your travels will lead you to hidden object screens — those types of puzzles where pick out items from an improbably overstocked pantry, campsite, office, etc – where you’ll find much needed items.

Most of the game has a lower difficulty level, but some of the puzzles requiring you to combine items can be tricky. More time will be spent on the hidden object screens which are packed and well-detailed. Most of the items are clearly labeled, but there are a few tricky descriptions (remember, saws have teeth) and there’s randomization which gives the game a boost when it comes to replay. Completists will also want to keep an eye out for hidden ravens and clovers to unlock hints and bonus options.

For me the game’s strongest selling point was the narrative, which elevates Salem Witch Trials above your typical casual game. The story weaves between Hawthorne’s life (specifically his political connections), the events in The House of the Seven Gables and the Witch Trials. The narrative quickly becomes convoluted –never enough to lose my interest – which may players referring back to the well-written in-game journal kept by the nameless, faceless, genderless main character. I’m still not clear on some of the details, but the creators obviously did their research.

The other thing you get with a Premium Casual game is wonderful artwork brought to life by subtle animations, given depth by strong audio. Though there’s no voice work, ambient effects create an eerie atmosphere bolstered by moody music. While never scary, Salem Witch Trials does have some unsettling moments aided by judicious use of animation.

Additional notes:
Salem Witch Trials is the second in the series (following The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy), but plays as a standalone title. A Collector’s Edition adds a strategy guide and extra gameplay.

I did run into a problem where the game wasn’t saving my progress. MumboJumbo’s helpful tech support said instead of double clicking the shortcut to start the game, right click it and select “Run as Administrator” which corrected this.

Alan Wake
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: May 18, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 8.9/10

Alan Wake is a survival horror game broken into six episodes. Each episode brings Alan a little closer to discovering the truth behind the events on the lake and a little further from reality. Like Silent Hill, the small town of Bright Falls has a malevolent duality. During the day, its residents are busy preparing for the 68th Annual Deerfest, but at night people and objects are possessed by Darkness — and they’re after Alan. Fortunately Alan is well equipped, has steadfast friends and supernatural assistance.

If there’s a gimmick behind Alan Wake, it’s that light is a weapon. Flashlights burn away the darkness shielding enemies leaving them vulnerable to gunfire. Controlling Alan from a third-person POV, this works really well with the left trigger amping up the flashlight’s power and the right trigger firing Alan’s weapon of choice. In a smart move, Alan has the flashlight and gun equipped at the same time with the light acting as the gun’s reticle (take that Doom III!).

There are other sources of light: flares, flashbangs, work lamps and pools of light created from streetlamps which are called safe havens and work as the game’s checkpoints. The variety of light-making tools leads to some inventive kills, which helps when you’re surrounded by a handful of axe-wielding psychos, attacked by a flock of birds or chased by possessed farm equipment.

While Alan keeps finding himself alone in the woods, there are plenty of non-combat interactions with the town’s citizens which not only flesh out the story but add to the sense that Bright Falls is a real working town. A quick trip to a cafe, for instance, finds an Alan Wake fangirl, two senile rock stars and woman obsessing about light bulbs. Later in the game, Alan is actually joined by two characters making this a refreshing change from the typical dour, lone protagonist.

I should mention the graphics. Even as far back as the E3 2005 trailer, Alan Wake was a gorgeous looking game and the final product is amazing. The highpoint would be the dynamic lighting and related effects, but what stood out the most for me were the woods. You’ll spend a lot of time walking through the woods, but there’s never the cookie-cutter effect. There’s also nothing artificial about level design. I’ve played countless games where I was surrounded by lovely forests, but confined to a narrow path. Here everything feels organic and while the levels are technically linear, there’s still tremendous freedom to explore — which you’ll want to do to find the game’s numerous collectibles.

I’ve heard people say Alan Wake is a short game, but I’ve spent hours climbing up fallen trees to find weapons caches, inspecting shacks to listen to radio broadcasts, looking for TVs playing the brilliant Twilight Zone-esque “Night Springs” (which is surprisingly done in live action), and searching the woods for missing manuscript pages. Speaking of radio and TV, the level of voice work is impressive as are the number of speaking parts. Actually, it’s almost too much at times with Alan’s hint-based narration taking some of the puzzle-solving out of the player’s hands.

Early on in the game, I told my friends Alan Wake was a game I enjoyed while I was playing, but not one that I missed when I wasn’t playing. Alan Wake doesn’t bring anything new to the survival horror table. The Silent Hill franchise has a lock on the strange town with mutable reality (and Alan Wake benefits from similarities to Silent Hill 2). 2005′s ObsCure was centered around the forces of Darkness being tangible darkness and flashlights as weapons against them. Alan Wake even trods similar ground covered by the excellent 1998 adventure Sanitarium.

Then I hit the halfway point and became obsessed with the game. Until then, Alan Wake feels like it’s getting by solely on its outstanding production values, but in the fourth of the game’s six episodes, the town’s history and mythology come to the forefront resulting in gameplay which no longer feels like a series of contrivances to get Alan into the woods with a flashlight.

Finishing it I replayed episodes, played “The Signal” add-on and watched the Bright Falls webisodes. I’m now eagerly awaiting the next DLC and considering going for another playthrough.

Metro 2033
Developer: 4A Games
Publisher: THQ
Platform: Xbox 360 (also PC)
Released: March 16, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 8.0/10

The Metro is also home to the Dark Ones – monsters that could either be mutants created by radiation, the Metro’s original inhabitants or something worse. They’ve gotten bolder in their attacks and Artyom, the player character, must travel to the main station at Polis to petition for help. Doing so means crossing enemy lines and traversing areas overrun with Dark Ones. His journey will also take him to the ruined surface, where a working gas mask is all that stands between him and radioactive death.

Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter, but don’t approach it with a run and gun mindset. If you’re looking for a straight up shooter, there are better options out there, but if you’re looking for an immersive experience played out over the barrel of a gun, this might be the game for you. I say this as someone who felt like they were playing the game wrong for the majority of it.

To get the most out of Metro 2033 – to really appreciate it – you have to take on the role of Artyom. This means exploring areas, talking to people, and paying attention to the various tour guides you encounter in the Metro. My second tip is to consider whether violence is the necessary answer. Artyom has a very deliberate character arc which is easy to miss if you treat the game as a standard FPS.

But this is complicated by several factors. Metro’s morality system (it does have one) is hidden from the player so it’s not always easy to understand the results of your actions. And while many levels have a stealth option, Metro’s stealth mechanics are poorly implemented – one false step and suddenly every enemy in the area knows exactly where you are. Pure rage-quit material.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t times to simply open fire and Metro has a full arsenal ranging from slapped together assault rifles to silenced pneumatic spear guns. You’ll spend a lot of time scrounging for guns and ammunition, but dealers in the Metro station have better equipment if you’re willing to part with high-quality bullets, the game’s currency. And you’ll definitely want to have spare health kits and filters for your gas mask.

The art design in Metro 2033 shows a lot of thought put into what such a subterranean existence would look like. The various stations look appropriately ramshackle and they are populated with characters who aren’t clones. Level design is similarly impressive ranging from series of twisty passages to the ruined city above. There’s even nice differentiation between types of Dark Ones. My only complaint would be how dark some of the levels are, even with my fully-charged flashlight.

Audio is similarly impressive. Ambient music is haunting and in-game effects, like the howls of the nosalis or the sudden spray of gunfire are chilling. Best is the voice acting which is Russian accented without sounding like Chekov impressions.

To its detriment, Metro 2033 requires a lot from its players. As mentioned above, stealthy approaches can be infuriating and even basic combat can be frustrating. It didn’t take long for me to kick the difficulty down to easy and – even then – I saw my share of reload screens. However, playing through the game and replaying specific levels led me to truly appreciate what 4A Games has done here. In the end, I’d rather tough out an original game than play through a highly polished retread.

And I fell in love with the setting so much that I imported the original book by Dmitry Glukhovsky (translated). So look for that review next month.

Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platform: Xbox 360 (also PC)
Released: April 27, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 8.1/10

Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper plays like a composite of two games: a standard adventure game and an eerily accurate investigation into the Ripper killings. Arriving in London’s East End, Holmes checks in with the police, but Constable Humphries has misplaced an important pouch. Finley the landlord knows where it is, but he’s being troubled by The Captain. And so on. But just as you feel mired down in the “favor trade,” something connects back to the murder. You’ll hear troublesome rumors about a Dr. Tumblety, meet the disquieting Walter Sickert, or listen to complaints about a “Leather Apron” menacing the local streetwalkers.

And that’s before you hit the first crime scene.

Holmes at the crime scene.

Adventure games draw heavily from the mystery genre, but the usual mechanic of collecting inventory items and figuring out where to use them seldom feels like you’re solving a mystery. By the end of Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper, you’ll feel like you’ve solved a mystery. Beyond the Deduction Board mentioned above, you’ll also plot timelines based on eyewitness testimony — which is often conflicting — conduct experiments and rule out red herrings.

Every possibility must be investigated.

The Xbox 360 version is a port of a 2009 PC game so the graphics haven’t aged, but there are apparent budgetary limitations. Luckily the East End of London lends itself to the Silent Hill method of masking draw distances with fog and the reuse of character models allows for a bustling, living London. That said, environments are downright impressive – authentic details (Cat’s Meat, anyone?) have been captured, making the landscape appropriately filthy – and foreign to our modern eyes. Nighttime sections, where dim alleys are lit only by lone bull’s-eye lantern, are chilling.

A grim waterway.

And Then There Were None
Developer: AWE Productions
Publisher: The Adventure Company
Platform: Wii (also PC)
Released: February 8, 2008
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 6.0/10

This point-and-click adventure game elevates the boatman from the oft-retitled Agatha Christie thriller and makes him the main character. A bit of invented backstory finds Patrick Narracott filling in for his brother Fred, who needs to avoid one of the guests. The subterfuge backfires, stranding Patrick with the others and — as the odd man out — he’s either the perfect person to investigate the mystery of Shipwreck Island or the prime suspect in a growing series of deaths.

As an adaptation, And Then There Were None strikes a balance between preserving the integrity of the original story and muddling it enough to keep Christie fans on their toes. The classic characters are all here, be they judgmental spinster, befuddled general, or alcoholic doctor, while new elements like eve of war intrigue and the house’s history keep things fresh. Unfortunately this attention to narrative can’t overcome poor puzzle design, primitive graphics and frustrating controls, resulting in a subpar adventure.

Easily 75% of the game involves talking to everyone about everything. Whole chapters fly by simply by finding all the characters and clicking on them until they stop talking. This would be fine if the game was dialogue-driven, but progress is only triggered once you’ve exhausted all conversation options. The end result is that you feel like you’re just making small talk while waiting for something to happen. The other 25% of the game is puzzle-based, most of which are designed to make you as annoyed as possible.

I accept that I’m playing a 2008-Wii port of a 2005 PC game, but the puzzles feel like throwbacks to mid-1990s adventuring. You’re the stereotypical adventurer wandering around stealing as much as you can, crafting Rube Goldberg devices and rubbing random objects against each other to see what happens. At one point I had over fifty items in my inventory including a wheel of cheese, a ladder, a raft and a shovel!

So let’s take the turkey baster I have and fill it with flour. Okay, now I have a DIY fingerprinting kit straight from CSI: Culinary School. With this in hand, I’ll enter people’s rooms and dump flour on their stuff looking for prints.

*sigh*

The problem isn’t that this works, it’s that it works and I can’t do anything with the clues. I’ve found some compelling — nay — incriminating prints, but I can’t use them to affect the story. As it turns out, I don’t need to do this at all. This, like so many of the puzzles, is just extraneous padding. At best solving them might squeeze an extra line of dialogue out of a character, but it won’t prevent any murders.

There’s a central confusion surrounding the main character. Are you trying to help your brother, escape the island or stop the unknown Mr. Owen from striking again? This unclear motivation results in a passive experience with Narracott clinging tightly to the story’s rails.

I mentioned the age of the game earlier, but even by 2005 standards the character models are appalling. Hands and clothing show no attention to detail and there’s no effort to lip-synch the dialogue –glaring in a game with so much conversation. And it’s a shame too, because voice acting is rather strong. Philip Clark voicing Judge Wargrave and Carolyn Seymour as Emily Brent particularly stand out.

Where graphics improve is in the house’s décor and surrounding environs. The house has a Frank Lloyd Wright aesthetic and each of its many rooms is distinct. Outside the house the island is ominous, with waves crashing against craggy rocks and grey clouds hovering just overhead. Completing the grim mood are strong ambient sounds which add texture to largely static screens and a haunting melody playing in the background.

What have been changed since the original PC release are the controls. Most of the time, you’re simply moving a cursor around the screen trying to find something to click on. The cursor is context sensitive so you won’t have to switch between PICK UP or LOOK AT prompts. In the inventory menu, Patrick can combine or separate items as needed and he also has a separate collection of notes, books and other clues he’s collected.

However the game takes a huge misstep by implementing motion controls. You don’t just click on a door; you click and twist to open it. And that’s the easiest motion control to figure out – the game thinks it’s fun to make you guess how you should flail about. As someone who has trouble with combination locks in the real world, have to unlock one via wiimote was just painful. Only one motion control gesture came naturally. It helped that I was already doing it mentally.

SAW
Developer: Zombie Studios
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Xbox 360 (also PC and PS3)
Released: October 6, 2009
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 7.0/10

SAW follows the events of the first movie, with players playing as Detective Tapp, knifed, shot and nursed back to health by the Jigsaw Killer. Tapp’s reckless pursuit of Jigsaw led to his partner’s death and Jigsaw wants him to face this truth, and more. Locked in the asylum, Tapp will have to survive a series of traps and fellow inmates seeking the exit key surgically implanted in Tapp’s chest. Tapp will also face those whose lives he’s impacted, and – ultimately – decide whether to finish his hunt or walk away.

SAW is probably most reminiscent of the Condemned series – dark interiors, unreliable lighting and brutal combat conducted with makeshift weaponry. You’ll be beating inmates with pipes, stomping people to death with your bare feet, or performing quick kills with successful (and graphic) counter attack quicktime events.

Would you like to play a game?

Scattered throughout the asylum are tripwires attached to shotguns. Expect to see your head blown off many many times. It’s hard to call these cheap instakills because the tripwire is visible, but the third-person perspective means your body may block your view. Luckily enemies are never cautious, so disarming and rearming traps works to your advantage.

As the game progresses, you’ll have the ability to create your own traps: stun, gas, and explosion, but at the same time Jigsaw’s tests become more rigorous.

One of the results of Jigsaw sitting the director’s chair is that the game has great pacing. Frequently you’ll be racing against a timer, surrounded by explosives as you try to solve a puzzle – or a room will fill with choking gas giving you less than a minute to find and close the valve. Even the slower moments will have you sticking your arm in a barrel of acid or fishing around a toilet bowl full of syringes looking for a key or puzzle part.

Puzzles. It would be easy to dismiss SAW as a compilation of deadly minigames, especially since three puzzle types keep popping up, but SAW excels with some well designed puzzles based on observing your surroundings, toggling lights around you, or figuring out the right place to stand. I have to admit, some of the puzzles would be worth serious picarats in a Professor Layton game — Obi 5-6 for example, which combines multiple hacking games with explosives, a gas chamber, crushing walls, a brute with a nail bat and a too-short timer.

Tobin Bell returns as the voice of Jigsaw, which is all you need to nail voice acting in a SAW game. Detective Tapp doesn’t sound like Danny Glover, but he doesn’t look like him either – and while his voice should be raspy, there’s little enough dialogue anyway. Ambient noise, effects and music are all reminiscent of the movies and work too damn well in establishing the asylum’s atmosphere.

When it comes to graphics, character models could use an upgrade, but the environments look great. There are some smart touches, like rats running from light sources and dust falling down from footsteps overhead. Corpses in various states of disrepair, pig carcasses and sinister medical devices deliver the expected disturbing visuals.

Disturbing images abound.

Deadly Premonition
Developer: Access Games
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: February 23, 2010
Test Freaks’ Freak Score: 6.6/10

One of the joys of PC gaming was that I could buy a game I’d never heard of for $20 and have a fun gaming experience. However, development costs for consoles make budget titles a rarity. When I heard a survival horror game was coming out for the Xbox 360 and it would only cost $19.99, I was sold. Deadly Premonition is a quirky, compelling and scary horror game, held back by PS2-era presentation and a few odd design choices.

Agent York

33% of Deadly Premonition is an adventure game – its strongest element. Greenvale is an open world, letting you explore the town, visiting suspects at work and home – and peeking in the occasional window. Citizens keep to a schedule, so you’ll learn when they go for a morning hike or head home from work. But there’re some nuances: Emily goes to the bar after work, except on rainy nights when she stays in to make dinner. While not Oblivion’s Radiant AI, this system creates a living world.

The core of the adventure element, and Deadly Premonition’s most compelling feature, is its wide cast of characters. There are at least 30 voiced characters and Agent York will have meaningful interactions with all of them – either in scripted events or during one of the optional side quests (which are essential to appreciating the game’s narrative). It’s a small town so everyone knows (or is related) to each other, but what really comes across is how these people are connected to each other – and how, what becomes a series of deaths, truly shocks them.

33% of the game is survival horror. Mirroring Silent Hill, Greenvale takes on a nightmarish façade with red vines suddenly overgrowing parts of the town. Monsters – somewhere between ghosts and zombies – rise up from inky pools, and Agent York can either gun them down (with a growing arsenal) or sneak past them while holding his breath. Greenvale’s undead are disturbing humans who grotesquely contort their body seeking to ram their arms down York’s throat while moaning, “I don’t want to die.” The survival horror sections are eerie, but their effectiveness is undercut by having the best scares take place during cutscenes instead of in-game.

Zombie Attack

To its credit, Deadly Premonition plays like you’re living in this town. With day/night cycles, weather effects and an in-game clock which often feels like it’s real-time, Greenvale has a living, breathing vibe. Speaking of living and breathing, the game throws food and sleep meters at you, so picking up food at the Milk Barn, eating at the A & G Diner, and calling it a night at the Great Deer Yard Hotel becomes part of your daily routine.

Deadly Premonition draws comparisons to Twin Peaks, but I found it Lynchean in a greater sense. The game nails quirk with Agent York, who reads his fortune in mugs of coffee, spouts movie trivia and carries on conversations with his imaginary friend Zach. But the quirkiness is offset by increasingly brutal crimes and nods to small town S&M. The game plays with dreamlike imagery and recurring symbolism, hinting at multiple meanings from something as simple as a red seed.