I’m guessing that lot of you may not have heard of this game, but you should probably change that immediately. Deadly Premonition is an action/adventure game (and I guess, in some aspects, a horror survival game) that is currently out for the Xbox 360.
Screen of your first enemy encounter. Now you will fight this very same enemy a hundred more times during the game.
I heard about this game through a friend because in its early stages of development it borrowed very heavily from Twin Peaks, a television show I’m quite fond of. The game was originally called Rainy Woods and, after a while, I lost track of it. The name was changed to Deadly Premonition (I think it’s called The Red Seed Profiles across the sea) and was released for JUST TWENTY DOLLARS. Naturally, I needed to buy it right away.
The game is amazing.
The main story is about an FBI agent coming to a small rural town to investigate the gruesome murder of the town sweetheart who had secrets, possibly sexy secrets (ala Twin Peaks). You play Agent Francis York Morgan who, through the use of guns and psychic profiling intends to solve the mystery linking the murder to red seeds that have shown up in past murders he has investigated.
With that in mind, here is a partial list of things you can do in the game while not completing the main story:
- Go Fishing (you can catch food, bullets and sometimes fish)
- Search the town for trading cards
- Find random pieces of a human skeleton around town (unrelated to the case)
- Play darts.
- Race cars.
- Sleep in strange places like the graveyard, or in any place where there are monsters.
- Get gas for your car.
- Drive a mad woman home before her all-seeing crockpot gets cold (comparable to the Log Lady in Twin Peaks, but crazier)
- Head to haunted areas of the town for “Other world” challenges. (You get awesome guns by doing this)
- Peep in people’s windows. The FBI pays you to do this as an “Observation Bonus”
- Change and clean your suit (Paid)
- Grow a beard.
- Shave (Paid)
- Get your fortune read by coffee. (also Paid)
The story really keeps you on your toes. My mouth was agape during most of the cut scenes as I could not believe the pure ridiculousness I was seeing. The town is full of unique characters on whom your map keeps tabs on at all times. Even though I went into this game totally detached because I heard it was ridiculous and terrible by today’s game standards, I am completely absorbed now. It’s really an endearing game, which says something considering it is about a grisly murder. I can’t say I’ve ever played a game like it. My only complaint about the game is that the controls are pretty terrible and it uses the same 5-10 enemies for every single level. Time passes slowly in the game (I’m actually pretty sure it’s real time) and thank goodness for that since there is so much to do. I’m really happy to have it be a part of my collection, and I would recommend it to anyone else looking for a hidden gem amongst all the Triple A titles.
