REVIEW: Deadly Premonition (2010)

This game has more layers than a club Sinner's sandwich

You all knew it was coming.

If you've been within earshot of me from the last 6 months, you'll no doubt know my current favourite game. I rate this little gem game of its year; I would even go so far as naming this game the best thing I've played in the last fifteen years. Considering the number of games I've ploughed through in that time, that's a HUGE accolade.

If you're familiar with the cult sensation Twin Peaks, this story should not surprise you: in fact it may astound you just how similar it is:

FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (but please, just call him York: that's what everyone calls him) has been following a rather bizarre set of murders wherein the only link was that the victim - invariably a young woman - had a stomach filled with mysterious red seeds. The trail has led him to the sleepy town of Greenvale, a small town in the north mid-west of America, where a recent high school graduate and popular local girl Anna Graham has met a similar grisly fate as the other victims. Strung up to a tree with her belly slit open, two local children find her with their grandpa, and proclaim her a Goddess of the forest. Sound familiar?

The director/creator of this game - artistic genius SWERY - poured his heart and soul into this labour of love, and my goodness does it show. The attention to detail is nothing short of incredible, and the little details added make it a truly unforgettable experience: can you name a game where if you don't eat, you die? Or if you don't change your clothes, you start to stink? How about if you don't shave, do you grow a beard? How about a living, breathing world that carries on regardless of if you're there to witness it? Plus so many other things, a juicy number of sidequests and 65 trading cards to collect, the sheer number of things to do is astounding.

I've not even got to the best bit yet. You see, York is what you might call a little idiosyncratic. He finds fortunes in his coffee, has vivid dreams with a red room and twin angels giving him cryptic clues (I'm surprised David Lynch didn't sue), and frequently speaks with an unseen entity, his best friend Zach. The Zach mechanic is nothing short of genius, where instead of SWERY forcing you to empathise and like York and invariably cause conflict and antagonism towards him, here we're his ally and his confidante. The player substitutes for York's queries to Zach, and York will follow Zach's advice first and foremost, even if it means putting off going to see the cops for the day in order to go fishing or interview residents we might deem suspicious. York will always trust Zach's instincts (after all, it is ultimately the player in control of the action!), and we're almost free to play the game how we see fit. There are deadlines and the like but we don't get punished too much for ignoring them in order to explore the town or visit the townsfolk.

I cannot say enough about this wonderful, wonderful game. The story is jaw-dropping, and packs such an emotional punch it still hits me on the forth full playthrough. York as a character is suave, smooth and cool as an ice sculpture. He is aloof and suspicious yet still extremely likable. Also, some of the cutscenes have me howling with laughter for all the right reasons.

I cannot recommend it enough, find it, buy it, borrow it, just play it!