Deadly Premonition: Quirkiest Survival Horror Game Ever?

By Dan Birlew | Posted April 16, 2010 in Game Reviews | Comments Off

“There’s definitely something in this town. Do you feel it, Zach? My coffee warned me about it.”

So says FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan, the player character of Deadly Premonition by Ignition Entertainment. Naturally you may reason that anyone who thinks their coffee is warning them about something is probably a little off their rocker, but it gets even weirder: when York says this line to Zach, he is all alone.

So just who the heck is Zach? Well, it turns out that Zach is you, the player. Yeah you… the person holding the controller. You see, York is a psychic with a peculiar “profiling” ability that allows him to determine that unlikely objects he finds are actually murder clues. So as a psychic, York is keenly aware in your involvement in things as the player, and often asks for your input. Every time he talks to you, he puts his fingers to his temple as though he is psychically channeling you.

This makes York kind of a weird guy, and that’s not his only quirk. Upon meeting someone new, ANYONE, he whips out his FBI badge and introduces himself as, “FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. Please, just call me York. That’s what everyone calls me.” He’ll even do this twice to two people he meets in the same location. After the twentieth or thirtieth time he whips out his badge and says the exact same line you’re either laughing your ass off, or crying.

York is called to the town of Greenvale, Washington to investigate the grizzly ritualistic murder of 18-year old Anna Graham. (Get it? “Ana-gram?”) A set of twins and their grandfather stumble upon Anna’s body in the woods, naked, tied to a tree and gutted, with a snake circling her torso in a highly suggestive way. The young twins don’t seem bothered in the slightest.

York’s first appearance in the game takes place in his dream, where he sees the young twins dressed in angel costumes sitting in two chairs in the center of a surrealistic forest. The ground is carpeted with red leaves, and there are upright doors standing at each end with swirling black clouds behind each. The area is peppered with what would appear to be various clues relating to the murder case. You must examine every item in the area before the twins allow you to leave the room and begin the game proper. But don’t worry, you’ll visit this bizarre “red room” again, especially if you pause the game.

Anytime York gets a new piece of information in the case, he whips out a cigarette, lights it dramatically, takes a single, prolonged drag and then exhales… then puts out the cigarette in a pocket ashtray. Doesn’t matter if he’s in a public restaurant or a hospital intensive care ward, he lights up and puts it out before anyone can say anything.

York’s interviews with the locals range from bizarre to hysterical. In one scene the old lady who runs the hotel sits at the other end of a long dining table from York and tries to engage in light banter. Only she doesn’t hear so well, so her answers are positively kooky. And the strange admiration York forms for an extremely orderly and effeminate file clerk at the Sheriff’s Office may raise your eyebrows. Plus there’s York’s severely over-enthusiastic grin which he only forces on people at all the wrong times.

If it seems like I’m spending too much of this review talking about York, it’s because the quirky characterization in this game really makes it unique. Not unique in the fact that you’ve maybe never seen this kind of thing before, especially if you’ve ever watched Twin Peaks, but definitely unique for an interactive experience. For that matter, all of the characters are really memorable for their eccentricities.

York’s bizarre personality rubs the local law enforcement the wrong way, but they continue taking him to various crime scenes so that he may investigate for clues. York insists that he be the one to drive, and this is where the car mechanics come in. After you check in at the local police station you receive a key that allows you to drive any police vehicle in town. You may drive normally or turn the sirens and lights on. However, don’t expect other drivers to pull over just because you flash them. Steering is accomplished with the left stick, but it’s a little too sensitive. If you want to drive straight you basically have to take your thumb completely off the controller. Also, the cars don’t turn correctly; you can tilt the stick all the way to the edge and vehicles will only do a 45° angle, so you’ll find yourself doing a three-point turn at a corner when you should just be able to steer 90° to the right or left. Still, you can change views like in Grand Theft Auto to move the camera behind the car, above it, or behind-the-wheel for first-person view driving where you can even turn to look at your passengers. Greenvale being a rural area, you find yourself driving for overly long periods. Luckily you can press the A button to talk to the Sheriff and your other passengers during the drive, even though the conversations end up being somewhat banal. Later on, there come the kind of driving challenges and item hunts one might expect from a Grand Theft Auto game. But with the horrible turning mechanics, you’ll be screaming for vengeance on the programmers after your second or third attempt at one of these.

Other RPG elements of the game surface in York’s day-to-day activities. For instance, shaving in a bathroom mirror nets a small cash bonus. But then you have to sit there and watch York shave. York must also eat and sleep, though these gauges can be refilled temporarily by chewing snacks and drinking coffee.

Combat is handled over-the-shoulder like Resident Evil 5, with melee weapons like steel pipes, crowbars and other items taken straight out of Silent Hill. Switching equipped weapons is accomplished by pressing up or down on the directional button. York also has a pocket flashlight that you’ll need to turn on half the time, since he occasionally finds himself in an alternate dimension where pulsing red vines cover everything. The manual even refers to this as “the Other World.” Sound familiar?

Here’s a short video of the first combat encounter in the game to give you an idea:

Enemies are ghost-like zombies that crawl out of the floor and walls, and stagger forward slowly to attack. Sometimes they’ll warp to the right or left, or sometimes right up in front of you. All York’s firearms are equipped with a laser pointer, which creates a target marker on the enemy’s body. When the target marker spreads you do less damage, but if you wait for the marker to converge then you can knock the enemy back. York compliments you every time you strike a bullseye, and the game sometimes awards extra money for perfect kills. The enemies tend to be pretty frightening, especially since they can bend themselves in half and walk backward towards you. But anyone who’s played Fatal Frame might also find the enemy mechanics familiar.

Although playing Deadly Premonition is almost like downloading some kind of Twin Peaks/Resident Evil/Silent Hill/Fatal Frame fan-made game with a few rough edges, the odd mixture works thanks to the contrast of atmospheric murder scenes and surrealistic dreams combined with comedic local-yokel interviews set to a soundtrack vaguely reminiscent of The Andy Griffith Show. The game takes about 20 hours to play and has only 12 Xbox Live Achievements. But for a bargain price title ($19.99 from Amazon), Deadly Premonition is a worthwhile game and a great way to fill the gap for those dying for a little survival horror experience.

Gallery:

Tags: bargains, Deadly Premonition, review, video games