Deadly Premonition

Deadly Premonition
Developer(s)	Access Games
Designer(s)	Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release	Xbox 360 PlayStation 3
Genre(s)	Survival horror, Open world
Mode(s)	Single-player

Deadly Premonition, known as Red Seeds Profile (レッドシーズプロファイル) in Japan, is an open-world survival horror cult video game developed by Access Games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan, Ignition Entertainment in the USA and Rising Star Games in Europe. It was released in North America on February 17, 2010, in Europe on October 29, 2010 and in Japan on March 11, 2010. The PlayStation 3 version was released only in Japan on the same date as the Xbox 360 version. The game was notable for introducing open-world nonlinear gameplay and a comedy horror theme to the survival horror genre. It was also notable for implementing a free-roaming storyline within an open game world where all the characters have their own schedules, similar to what may be found in Radiata Stories.

Plot

Story

The game gives the player control of an FBI agent named Francis York Morgan who is investigating the murder of a young woman, Anna Graham, near the fictional American town of Greenvale. Upon arriving in the town York is greeted by town sheriff George Woodman and his deputy Emily Wyatt, who briefs him on the murder and leads him to the crime scene. York generates considerable friction with his dismissive attitude toward the locals, bizarre demeanor, and tendency to interrupt conversations to deliver asides to "Zach", an alternate personality congruent with the player. Over the course of his investigation, York has opportunities to touch the lives of many of the town's colorful personalities and intervene in their personal crisis, often brought on by the sudden and brutal murder in their midst, to earn rewards and further his understanding of the case. As he unearths more and more mysteries and the killer continues to roam, the town's dark past, as well as York's own past, slowly come to light.

Gameplay

File:Deadly Premonition Screenshot.jpg

York talks to Emily in a police car during a cutscene.

Deadly Premonition is an open-world survival horror game which gives the player the freedom to explore the town of Greenvale and choose events and activities to participate in, alongside mandatory sequences which advance the game's overall story. York is controlled from an over-the-shoulder perspective; he must stop moving in order to aim and fire his laser-sighted weapons. York may explore the environments on foot, or use one of a variety of cars to travel long distances at speed. These cars must be maintained, as they consume fuel, which York must purchase, and accumulate damage which will render them useless unless York pays for their repair. York himself must also be maintained, as he requires food and sleep at regular intervals. He must also shave and change his clothes periodically or his hygiene-related scores will suffer.

The game has a day-night cycle which operates at one-third of real time; one game day takes eight hours to elapse during free exploration. Time frequently skips ahead in response to story events, and York can accelerate its passage by smoking cigarettes. Places of business and entertainment venues in Greenvale have specific hours of operation and must be visited at the proper time to enter them and make use of their services. The inhabitants also have their own schedules, and will travel around town as they go about their business. They are labeled with onscreen indicators so that they may be tailed in vehicles, and York can peep through the windows of many buildings to observe their activities. If York engages them at the right place and time of day, they can offer him sidequests to perform for additional rewards. There is also a dynamic weather system, in which adverse weather occurs at random and will change conditions in the town, necessitating the use of headlights or windshield wipers when driving. In addition to sidequests, scattered throughout the town are a set of trading cards which can be collected while exploring.

The game also contains numerous survival horror combat sequences, in which York must defeat otherwordly enemies while trapped in certain locations. Enemies can approach by walking or by a quick teleportation maneuver, and will engage York with hand-to-hand attacks if they reach him. Some enemies are armed with melee weapons, guns, or other types of weapon. During these sequences, York's primary objective is to investigate crimes which took place there in the recent past; collecting photos of pieces of evidence will allow him to "profile" the scene and reconstruct the events that took place with his deductive skills.

Development

Although the game was first announced as a multi-platform release under the name Rainy Woods during the Tokyo Game Show 2007, several gaming websites noted that the title shared strong similarities with the American television serial drama Twin Peaks. The comparison eventually led the developers to change the artistic direction of the game to have less similarity to the television series, effectively pushing back its release sometime during "mid to late 2009, maybe even 2010" according to a representative during July 2008. All of the voice acting used for Rainy Woods had to be rerecorded to accommodate the new elements and the revised protagonist.

Voice acting for the protagonist, FBI Special Agent Francis Morgan, was provided by Jeff Kramer whose previous work includes Seaman for the Sega Dreamcast.

Release

On November 10, 2009, Ignition Entertainment announced Deadly Premonition would be receiving a North American release in early 2010 as an Xbox 360 exclusive. It was further specified that the game would retail within the budget range, priced at $19.99 in the United States.

A European release for the Xbox 360 version was confirmed in August and Rising Star Games released it October 29. The game was released with all subtitles translated to English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Deadly Premonition has not been refused classification in Australia, but Rising Star games have said they have no intent on releasing it there.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	70%
Metacritic	68 / 100

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	B
Edge	7 / 10
Eurogamer	7 / 10
Game Informer	7.75 / 10
GameSpot	7 / 10
GamesTM	8 / 10
IGN	2.0 / 10 (US) 7.5 / 10 (UK)
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	7.5 / 10
PALGN	7 / 10
X-Play
Destructoid	10 / 10
Digital Chumps	8.8 / 10
GameCentral	8 / 10
GameShark	B+
Gaming Target	8.5 / 10
SpazioGames	8.4 / 10
X360	8 / 10

Awards

Publication	Award
Gamasutra	Best Cult Game
Game Critics	Game of the Year
GameSpot	Most Surprisingly Good Game
GamesRadar	Best Worst Game
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition	Most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game

Deadly Premonition has received mixed reviews from critics, with praise directed at its unusual storyline and open world while criticism was directed at its spotty production values and dated controls; it received an average score of 70% from GameRankings and 68/100 from Metacritic. It is considered one of the most divisive games to be released in a long time, with scores ranging from as low as 2 out of 10 from IGN US (later 7.5 out of 10 from IGN UK) to as high as 10 out of 10 from Destructoid. Gamasutra released data that Deadly Premonition led sales of Xbox 360 games on Amazon.com for the week of April 9, 2010, temporarily overtaking higher-profile releases such as Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. This cult success was attributed to how the game's "wildly mixed critical reception and headline-making strangeness got people talking" by GamePro.

Criticism was directed at the game's controls, sound effects, and visual quality. IGN's Erik Brudvig called Deadly Premonition, "Awful in nearly every way", and criticized every aspect of the game, especially its bad production values and lackluster controls. Eurogamer's Chris Schilling noticed that the soundtrack seemed out of place during many scenes, with serious scenes often containing a light-hearted jazz track. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd noted that the visuals contained many low-resolution textures.

Despite the criticisms, the game has received a significant cult following. The story and characters were widely praised by critics, and many reviewers drew comparisons to the Twin Peaks television series. Destructoid's Jim Sterling gave the game a perfect score on the site's scale, and called it a "beautiful trainwreck." GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd stated that the story's unpredictability was the game's greatest strength. Despite his criticism, Schilling of Eurogamer noted that the characters in the town were fascinating in their oddness. 1UP.com's Frank Cifaldi praised the game as being an example of the kind of quality interactive storytelling that only a video game could provide. Gamasutra also praised the game for its "living, bizarre game world, where people go about their daily business regardless of player interaction." GameCentral described the game as "the strangest video game of the year" and a primary example of "games as art", praising it for its "emotional range, from traditional survival horror scares to farcical comedy". X-Play gave it 4/5 stars, and named it one of the "Top 10 Games of 2010... So Far" in June 2010. Game Critics wrote an article about why it should be Game of the Year. The game has received over a dozen other awards from various publications, including "Best Cult Game" from Gamasutra, "Most Surprisingly Good Game" from GameSpot, and "Best Worst Game" from GamesRadar. In the 2012 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, Deadly Premonition holds the record as the "Most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game".

External links

• Deadly Premonition official website
• Red Seeds Profile official website
• Rainy Woods trailer at GameTrailers