Deadly Premonition

 
I was on the fence about getting Deadly Premonition, I hadn't heard anything about it, in fact no one I knew had heard about it.  However every time I walked around my local game store something just stood out to me about the game.  Also the budget price of $19.99 helped a lot.

Deadly Premonition is a game that you absolutely can not take serious.  If you want your games to have thrilling and fast paced action, if you crave intricate storytelling with interweaving plot lines, if you need your games to make sense... This is not the game for you. There is so much wrong with this game that I could fill this entire review with things they could have easily done to make this a higher quality game.  How come everything 15 yards or more away from you runs at about 15 frames per second?  Why do crates take so many bullets to break open?  Why do you have to drive so much?  If you don't have to plant your feet to use your melee weapons then why do you have to when you use you firearms? (And no this isn't a comment about Resident Evil 5)   On your map, when fully zoomed out, it's zoomed in more then you would ever need.  Why cant you zoom out more!?!?  

If you look past some of its flaws, the game has a lot it can offer to you.  This is an open world driving/Shooter/horror/JRPG, a tired genre right?  (Just kidding)  The problem Deadly Premonition has is that it spreads itself to thin.  The open world driving, while tedious with terrible control, has various upgrades and alternate vehicles.   The shooting feels like Resident Evil 4 or 5, it even has the "press back and run button to do a 180."  However while in aim mode the speed at which the camera moves when you point near the edges of the screen is inconsistent and a little sluggish.  Unfortunately due to the campy nature of this game ALL of the horror falls flat.   The JRPGness offers plenty of side quests with rewards ranging from semi-useless trading cards, to game changing infinite ammo weapons.  The problem with the side quests is that those game changing quest rewards are easy to miss, and if I hadn't randomly found and completed some of these quests, there would be parts of this game that I'm not sure I would be able to get past.  The only other bad thing I have to say about Deadly Premonition is that it looks like a PS2 game, in that it looks bad.  The character models look alright, although the animation is pretty stiff.

The game follows F.B.I. special agent Francis York Morgan (Please, call him York... Everyone calls him that) as he comes to the fictional town of Greenvale to investigate the murder of a young woman.  Pretty soon he notices similarities between past murders he has investigated.  Throughout the game he encounters various overly expressive characters, who range from extremely happy, rude, sad, goofy, dumb, to just completely idiotic.  The one that comes to mind right away is Keith Ingram, a 80's rocker/grocery store owner who is talks like a stoner dude and is constantly snapping his fingers and bobbing his head.  Talking to any random character always makes for unexpected. and one assumes unintentional, humorous conversation .  The way Japanese people think Americans act is amazing. Everything about they way York and the others speak and act seems like how Japanese stereotype Americans.

This is a spoiler free review so I can't talk much about what makes the story stand out for me, just know that I have a real life job where I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and work over 40 hours a week, and I have pulled three all nighters since I got this game.  Near the end of the game I kept telling myself "I'll just go do this one more thing then save and quit" only to keep playing on into the night.  Telling you "the story is compelling" sounds like an amateur thing to say, but I really was compelled to finish the game.  Also if saying that the story in a horror game has one or more twists in it is a spoiler to you, then you have never played or seen a horror game or movie.  All I will say about that is, the game implements it well.

Even though this game is janky, unpolished, and in some parts just poorly designed, this game isn't broken, and again it is only $19.99, so if you can see through the jank, and have the time to spend, you will find a surprisingly deep game.

Pros:
Fascinating story
Tons of side quest
Longer game then you would expect

Cons:
Yes its a long game, but you could literally cut two or more hours out by removing the driving
For more cons just cut and paste the second paragraph