Game Reviews

Deadly Premonition arrived with no fanfare, and even fewer appearances on store shelves. In fact, not many people outside of the hardcore gaming community (and not a great deal more within it) know of its existence. Yet, this $20 horror game has been in development for years. I first heard about Deadly Premonition when it was still called Rainy Woods in 2007. However, the game is older even than that.

We knew it would be a disturbed, crazy, very silly game, and we were prepared for more than enough cheesy, ironic humor. We were ready to laugh at it, in other words. However, nobody at Destructoid was truly prepared for this game. Nobody can be prepared for it. Despite taking its cues from Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Resident Evil and, of course, Twin Peaks, Deadly Premonition manages to be completely unique. In all honesty, there is nothing like this game. Perhaps there never will be again.

If you want some "FK" in your coffee, please read on for our full review of Deadly Premonition.

Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York, everybody else does) is an FBI criminal profiler with an interest in the murder of young girls. He's also got a split personality called Zach, whom he talks to frequently and openly in front of other people. Other people never question this particular quirk. York is on his way to Greenvale, where a young woman has been cut open and hung from a red tree. However, as soon as York arrives, he realizes this won't just be any other case, not least for the fact that Greenvale is crawling with undead horrors that bend over backwards and like thrusting their arms into his mouth.

When Deadly Premonition starts, you'd be forgiven for thinking it would be a derivative, po-faced survival horror that simply rips off Silent Hill or Siren. However, once the prologue has been completed and York arrives in Greenvale, the game throws a complete curveball and becomes a ludicrous pantomime of pop culture references, shamelessly contrived humor, and the kind of dialog that leaves you both scratching your head and laughing your face off. Very much like Agent York, Deadly Premonition is a game with a split personality -- equal parts atmospheric horror and farcical comedy.