twmac

Deadly Premonition

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So, I decided to buy this after watching an absolutely cheesy advert on Giant Bomb (it was 24.99 brand new in HMV) and I have to say it lives up to the fromage on display.

The graphics are a mess (no anti aliasing, terrible re-used assets) and the plot is ridiculous. The controls are solid if a little antiquated and the game seems to be obsessed with crowbaring every type of gameplay element possible (free-roaming ala Shenmue, street racing ala Need for speed, shooting from Resident Evil, fishing from Zelda, click and point elements from any adventure game)

This game does not know what it wants to be and I've been playing it for about 5 hours and I can't tell whether I'm actually enjoying it. It might be officially the first game to be so bad it is actually good.

Plot elements I've encountered:

- Main character who I thought was talking to himsself but appears to be talking to the player and calling them 'Zach'

- A gay deputy sheriff who knows a lot about different types of squirrel and bakes home made biscuits

- A passionate sheriff who names his dumb bells

- Lots of weird ghosts straight out of Silent Hill

- A pair of eerie twins who are embroiled in some kind of ritualistic murder

- Something that may or may not be happening inside the main character's head that involves weird red seeds and flowers

- The entire history of the "Attack of the killer tomatoes' franchise

... Awesome?

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Based on that commercial, it seemed like that they were going for that "so bad it's good" vibe that certain movies have. How about the gameplay?

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Your description of the game and the critical reaction is already reminding me of Killer 7. :clap:

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First the indie hate and now this. Jim Sterling seems to be quite the controversial.

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Some guy I worked with described the game as 'The most Epic Dreamcast game ever made, released 10 years too late and without making any changes to the engine'.

I'm inclined to agree.

Incidentally, the gameplay is all over the place but everything it does it does well. It relies on a little too much gunplay (used from Resident Evil 4) and I would happily have gotten rid of all of that and just had the completely off-the-wall nuts storyline.

If anyone does buy this game, play through the first section which just a generic third person shooter and get to the crazy centre. If you still don't like it... Well it was less than 30 dollars.

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I've been playing it quite a bit this week. It's a hybrid of Twin Peaks, Shenmue, and Resident Evil. If you enjoy any or all of those things, odds are you'll be able to forgive the lackluster graphics.

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Good man.

I just started a project so have had to put Deadly Premonition on the back burner.

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Yeah, I can't find Deadly Premonition anywhere in Calgary, so that Endurance Run is definitely a godsend. Really makes me want to try the real thing, but oh well.

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Yeah, I can't find Deadly Premonition anywhere in Calgary, so that Endurance Run is definitely a godsend. Really makes me want to try the real thing, but oh well.

Dunno about you, but seeing every part of the game played twice is more than enough for me, especially since I get to see all the weird/funny parts, and not have to struggle with the actual combat. <.<

The endurance runs are great so far, I loved the Persona 4 one, and this one has kept up the quality so far. ^^

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Yeah, I'm enjoying the Endurance Run, but actually playing the game seems a cruel punishment for the Giant Bomb people. Not the most polished product...

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First the indie hate and now this. Jim Sterling seems to be quite the controversial.

Jim Sterling bloody loves the attention. A pity really; I can't read his reviews anymore, you have no idea what he actually thinks of the game in question, he just tends to try and be outrageous.

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I bought it during the Amazon DotD promotion. I'm trying to finish watching the 1st season of Twin Peaks before playing it, I heard they are similar in many regards.

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Jim Sterling bloody loves the attention. A pity really; I can't read his reviews anymore, you have no idea what he actually thinks of the game in question, he just tends to try and be outrageous.

THIS.

It's a shame, because the man can clearly write. He has adequate powers over the written word, but more often than not these days I see him using his powers for evil...

His reviews are inflammatory set pieces that leave you with no real impression of the product, and his original content is the kind of ranty stuff I'd go to a blog for. Not a fan of seeing it on every other article in a gaming news aggregate/community, personally. He's all but driven me off DToid these days, I only hit it up to see what Anthony Burch is up to now that I think about it.

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Thread revival (in the form of a Thumbs excerpt):

4-20-10 @IdleThumbs: Technical difficulties rendered this week's Idle Thumbs unreleasable, but enjoy this salvaged Deadly Premonition jam: http://j.mp/cux3Nc

Also, I never really looked into what this was until now, I'm kind of intrigued.

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Thread revival (in the form of a Thumbs excerpt):

4-20-10 @IdleThumbs: Technical difficulties rendered this week's Idle Thumbs unreleasable, but enjoy this salvaged Deadly Premonition jam: http://j.mp/cux3Nc

Also, I never really looked into what this was until now, I'm kind of intrigued.

Like we discussed previously in the thread, Giant Bomb is running an Endurance Run (Same concept as Let's Play) on this game. (Actually, they're running two concurrent ones). It's a nice way to check out this weird, weird game without buying it. I know I couldn't play it myself, but it's hilarious to have the GB guys in the background playing this when I fall asleep. ^^

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From what I've seen it's an entertaining playthrough(s)/commentary.

...I'm still sort of weakly considering trying to pick this up and laugh through it with a friend of my own, so I'm hesitant to watch more of it.

What do you guys think? It does look pretty awful from a control and gameplay standpoint. Should I just leave it to the professional funnymen?

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Has anyone played much of Siren:Blood Curse? This game looks like a terrible version of that.

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Deadly Premonition is nothing like Siren.

The controls really aren't bad, if you put up with Resident Evil 4 and 5 then you will have no problems with this. As for picking it up, it is 24 dollars new (that's less than a couple of pitchers of beer) it isn't like you are dropping 60-70 dollars on it.

I actually really like the fact that this game can exist in a world where publishers are trying to focus on AAA titles or budget indie games. More and more there is becoming no place for these weird, awesome titles.

Edit: Miffy, if you still want a copy I can pick one up and mail it to you.

Also, that MP3 is now on my media player.

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All I've really checked is Amazon, so I may take a look around brick and mortar things in Calgary first. I'm interested in trying it for myself though, so I may take you up on that if I can't find it.

Oddly, watching it get played through twice on GB is making me more interested in it, seeing how divergent their plays have become after the 15 sessions they've done now. The narrative seems weird and oddly enthralling, and I'd like to try it out for real.

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What is really odd is that after three weeks of watching this, the game has started to really pull me. Now I keep hoping the GB would do things, get off the beaten path and such. Use a submachine gun and not the goddamn infinite ammo pistol.

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I have seen copies in my local HMV and EB games.

Miffy, if you really are interested then I am more than happy to get you a copy. Just PM me.

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Deadly Premonition is nothing like Siren.

How so? It seems at least fairly similar.

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Well, Siren takes itself extremely seriously and is an out and out horror game that is pretty linear in execution. Deadly Premonition, definitely doesn't take itself seriously has some horror elements (it fails to take them seriously either) and has an open world environment and quite a lot less polish on the graphics.

So I guess... They are both made by Japanese developers?

Sorry, I don't want the last post to seem defensive just that the two games share very little in common.

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