For all intents and purposes, Deadly Premonition is not a good game. The graphics won’t blow you away, the controls are stiff, and the gameplay doesn’t particularly stand out; however, there is much more here than meets the eye. Deadly Premonition cuts through the traditional benchmarks of how we look at games and presents us with something different. In the end, we end up with a game that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is a little jumbled, definitely quirky, but it ultimately comes together and proves that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. If you are looking for something different, you may have just found it.
In 2010, Deadly Premonition came out as an Xbox 360 exclusive. It was presented as a survival horror game, and it was judged at face value like everything else. As time went on and people actually started to play the game, the title started to carve a niche for itself and eventually became the cult classic it is today. Rising Star Games recognized the game’s potential and boldness, cleaned up some of the mechanics, and presented PlayStation 3 owners the opportunity to appreciate a game they never had access to before. Granted, this game is not for everyone, but it is certainly worth a play-through for the more daring of gamers out there. You play as Agent York, who arrives at the fictional town of Greenvale, sent to investigate the murder of a young woman. Once the investigation starts, he starts to unravel the history of this town and its inhabitants. Then more women start turning up dead under the same, strange pretenses of the original murder. It is up to you to determine why all these women are turning up dead and learn the secrets of the mysterious town of Greenvale.
Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut is essentially the same as the original Xbox 360 game was with a few minor changes. First, there are a few new cut-scenes which help to frame out the narrative. It doesn’t change the facts or add any story to the game; it just makes the events of the game a little easier to follow. There is also a new cut-scene at the end of the game which brings the player back to the town of Greenvale. It adds some replay value to the game once you finish it. It is really more of a fan service than anything else, so if you are already a fan, you’ll love it. If you’ve never played the game before, it isn’t going to stand out to you as much.
The next update focuses on the original, awful controls. Rising Star has updated the third-person shooter controls to reflect a more modern game’s scheme. The left stick aims, the right stick moves, and the shoulder buttons do the firing; it is all pretty standard. To really appreciate the updates, you’d have to play the original game on the Xbox. After a few minutes of trying to sort out that hot mess of a control scheme, you’ll be running back to the Director’s Cut in no time.
The graphics have been touched up a little bit, presenting a more modern graphical style. The updates are subtle, but effective. They are definitely improved from the first game, but they still fail to compare to games coming out today. If you are looking for a visual masterpiece, this game isn’t going to make the final cut. Finally, the Director’s Cut has added a mini-map to the main screen. This means that you no longer have to pause and reorient yourself every few minutes. It is a welcome addition, though it still could have been improved further. The lack of a way-point system or even the ability to resize the map really hurt the original game, and those flaws found their way through to this version of the game.
Overall, the updating done to Deadly Premonition was minimal. Fans will appreciate the new cut-scenes at the beginning and the end. The game controls a lot better than the original, and it feels a lot more modern from that aspect. You still can’t walk and shoot at the same time, but that is forgivable enough. There is a new mini-map that helps a little with navigation, though it didn’t go far enough. Finally, the game looks better than the original, so new graphics always helps the cause. The updates to this game don’t change enough to make this new version any more or less than what it already was, but in the end, it didn’t need to. Deadly Premonition is still an atmospheric and interesting mystery-game. It will creep you out, make you laugh, and present you with an experience that isn’t easily found in gaming today. If you are looking for a game that breaks the mold, and you are willing to be patient, this may be just what you are looking for.
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This review is based on a review copy of the PlayStation 3 version of Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut developed by ToyBox Inc published by Rising Star Games