Ah, 2010, you gave me some of the finest games ever crafted. You are missed. Sorely, I might add. To this day I remember reading a review for Deadly Premonition (henceforth DP, I know, I know… Sigh) and thinking to myself, my god! I need this game in my life to fill the void known to many as being awake.  After playing the Korean version for about a week, the news broke that it would in fact be released in Europe.  The wait was agonising. But lets not ramble on about how near to suicide I was before DP graced my life with its quirky charm; lets get into the game itself.

DP is in essence a bizarre retelling of the show Twin Peaks by the mastermind Sweary 65, of Spy Fiction fame.  All the trappings are there, the psychic, schizophrenic FBI profiler, the local sheriff, the diner, all set in a sleepy little town somewhere in Washington State. No stone is left un-plagiarized. The game literally starts with York speeding down a dark road in his gaudy grabber green Mach 1 or whatever, while going over casework on his laptop, speaking to someone about the intricate nature of Tom & Jerry’s relationship over the phone and smoking, before he swerves to save the life of two squirrels, almost tragically ending his own.  Though thinking back, I don’t think Twin Peaks had quite the explosive start.

After the crash the gameplay starts and that’s where things get a little ugly. Let me tell you right off the bat, the graphics are like those very early PS3 and 360 titles, an odd combination of both extremely shiny and incredibly muddy. The controls are stiff and dated. And the combat is so god awful, it is painfully obvious DP was designed to have no combat at all, before some dimwitted executive told Sweary 65 that was no way they could ship a game without any combat and tortured him and his poor staff until they complied. So now it plays like Resident Evil 4’s deformed afterbirth, without any of the polish.  The gameplay outside of combat reminded me of Shenmue, so it’s not all bad.

But all of this, and there is a lot of “this” just doesn’t matter. DP is just too damn charming.  After you meet the local law enforcement and Zach, York’s imaginary friend, things turn really weird, really quick and saying anymore would ruin the surprise. York is one of, if not the funniest lead character a game has ever seen, which comes in handy as his monologues to Zach about everything from his previous cases, to what 80’s trash he wants to watch when he gets home are the only thing to keep you busy on all the endless drives to and from the various points of interest scattered across Greenvale. But trust me, they’re worth it. Even though the scenery in DP is almost an unrelenting collage of greys and browns, I found my self just driving around hoping to hear more York’s thoughts. Everything and everyone is just completely bat shit, and very few games managed to keep me surprised and guessing like DP did.

I suppose it comes down to this. Did you like Twin Peaks? Like actually dig its surreal vibes and fantastic soundtrack. Or are you just pretending to like it so you can be part of a larger group of hipsters just flocking from one hip thing to the next. DP is game that is hard to recommend to people, as it is simultaneously the best game ever and the worst, but if you have any respect for David Lynch and his work, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try. Have you ever wanted to be Special Agent Dale Cooper? Now is your chance.

For fans of Twin Peaks it’s a solid 9 out of 10. Fuck it. 10 out of 10.
For everybody else, maybe a 5 out of 10.