Touted as a survival horror game, Deadly Premonition sees you play as Francis York Morgan (just call him York; that’s what everyone calls him), an FBI Agent with a penchant for coffee and putting cigarettes out with his hands. He is sent to the country town of Greenvale to investigate the murder of a young woman and its supposed link to the folkloric tale of The Raincoat Killer. Accompanying York with the investigation are George, the town sheriff; Emily, the deputy; and Zach, the voice in York’s head. Yes, you read that right. It’s a small insight into the very tongue-in-cheek nature of the game and it is evident that the development team had a lot of fun putting the game together. Deadly Premonition manages to constantly swing from depicting the most depraved subject matter to having some of the silliest cutscenes you may have ever seen in a video game. York himself may very well be one of the most interesting video game protagonists in a long time, with his cool personality, eccentric mannerisms and obsession with B-movies.
The man himself, contemplating the usage of ice picks.
Like Alan Wake, the story itself is reminiscent of Twin Peaks, with numerous twists and turns (and a handful of plot holes). But in its ability to poke fun at itself, Deadly Premonition manages to capture not just hilarity, but surrealism in anything it does. Characters spout lines such as: “We’re here to buy something here. We shall meet again that’s clear” and York can stand around talking to Zach, yet no one will bat an eyelid. The voice acting could certainly be much worse, but the parodic quality of the script itself fits it perfectly. Similarly, the music is decent, but just so outrageously inappropriate (jazzy detective TV show music after a murder?! Hip hop music during a chase scene?!) that there really isn’t much you can do but sit back and enjoy yourself. There does seem to be a slight problem in the balance between background music and voice clips, but whether this was done intentionally to further confuse the player is up for debate. The graphics also heap another helping of bizarre charm on the game. While there’s no denying that they are terrible for a game released in 2010, there’s something amusing about the over-the-top animations and York’s downright creepy smile.
Gameplay combines Resident Evil 4’s third-person over-the-shoulder style and a free roaming world much like that of Grand Theft Auto. Though unusual for a horror title, the free roaming aspect of Deadly Premonition works quite well. Our main concern that travelling around the map would be too time-consuming was soon resolved upon receiving a certain item. It’s not as though there’s a shortage of things to do in Greenvale either; there are a great deal of sidequests, mini-games and collectibles to extend the game’s double-digit playtime by a few more hours. The game also constantly rewards you for doing just about anything, from pulling off headshots to shaving on a regular basis (York’s character model even grows a substantial amount of facial hair if you don’t shave for some time.)
Only in this game can you harass the Sheriff with stupid questions.
The real horror aspect of the game though, involves a transition from reality to the Other World, which is inhabited by Shadows. These are zombies that look like they got too carried away with dressing up like The Joker. Although there are very few types of Shadows, strategy is required in planning how to deal with them. Regular Shadows, for example, seem to be fond of making jittery movements towards you, whereas encountering Shadows with shotguns in large groups can often be fatal. But dealing with Shadows is certainly not as hard as it sounds, because of one factor – unlimited ammunition. To many used to the genre, this seems almost counter-intuitive. Why run when you can unload clip after clip into your enemies? Furthermore, there are numerous sidequests you can undertake (in the first playthrough, no less) that reward you with more powerful weapons, also with unlimited ammunition. Fortunately, Deadly Premonition does restore some feeling of helplessness in your experiences with the Raincoat Killer.
The Other World also serves to be important to York’s investigation, with clues pertaining to the numerous mysteries he comes across. During each Other World sequence, York will begin ‘profiling’ the situation at hand, which is presented as stills overlaid with static and noise. As York finds each of the clues, he will gradually ‘remove’ noise from the images. It’s an interesting way of presenting the investigation and probably saves players a lot of time running around, although some may find the Other World stages a little too linear and repetitive after a while. As previously mentioned, you will occasionally (through scripted events) run into the Raincoat Killer, during which you will be chased and forced to hide around the map. The hiding sequences are mercifully short, but the chase sequences can be quite long at times. What makes these particularly irritating is that you are not in direct control of York; the game acts more like lengthy quick-time events which require you to waggle the control stick in an uncomfortable manner. The game is also fond of dividing the screen during these sequences, with one half showing your normal, third-person view and the other showing the Raincoat Killer’s point of view. Everything tends to lag horribly when this occurs though, and the game’s graphics (believe or not) get much worse.
Why are there giant dogs on the street? We never quite figured that out.
There’s no doubt about it – Deadly Premonition is a tricky game to place. For some, it’s going to be a pile of garbage, a waste of twenty hours and $40. For others, it’s going to be one of the best games they’ve ever played due to its sheer hilarity. Here at PALGN, we know it’s our job to guide gamers and give them our opinions as to what is or isn’t worth the purchase. But with a game like Deadly Premonition, we’re not so sure people can judge the game by a single review alone. You see that score down there. You know what we think. If you buy it and hate it, don’t say we didn’t warn you. If you buy it and love it, welcome to the club.
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