Deadly Premonition - Presentation follow-up

Often, the history of Video Gaming has been a pursuit of the bigger and better – titles with groundbreaking graphics or gameplay are those that are remembered, and all else is forgotten. Increasingly, however, recent appraisals have made room in the pantheon for the 'also-rans', the flawed games that nevertheless offer some unique or innovative elements despite themselves. Deadly Premonition is one such game, whose highly polarized reception may be seen as an example of the difference between the 'ludic' and narrative approaches to examining games.

Deadly Premonition was released for the Xbox 360 in February of 2010, and was distributed by Ignition Entertainment in North America. In Japan, the game was launched under the title Red Seeds Profile. The primary public figure behind the title has been Hidetaka Suehiro, who often goes by the moniker 'SWERY”, and the game was developed by Access Games. Suehiro has himself worked on a number of titles in a variety of roles, including the later release of Ace Combat on the PSPⁱ, but Deadly Premonition was his second stint as Game Director. His first directorial role was on the Playstation 2 game Spy Fiction (Access Games, 2003), which was lauded for its unique stealth mechanics, but generally panned for its poor technical performanceⁱⁱ – the latter a recurring theme with Deadly Premonition.

For the most part, Deadly Premonition plays as a horror game in the same vein as Resident Evil or Silent Hill, where the player must solve puzzles and defeat an otherworldly bestiary while working through disturbing and frightening situations. Additionally, the game integrates some mechanics from adventure and open-world titles. When not on missions, the player is free to pursue side-quests, converse with secondary characters and explore the environment. The plot revolves around FBI Agent Francis York Morgan, the player character, who arrives in the rural town of Greensvale in order to investigate the recent murder of a young woman.

Originally released for the price of $19.99ⁱⁱⁱ, Deadly Premonition was situated as a 'budget' title that received outside the large publishers. The game likely would have languished at the fringes of gaming community, had it not been for the unusually polarized critical reception, which eventually attracted significant attention. Many review outlets were quick to dismiss the game based on its technical shortcomings, especially in contrast with comparable titles on the Xbox 360. A representative review can be found from IGN, whose critic awarded the game a score of 2 / 10^iv. The review tears the game for its poor graphics, described as being more comparable to those of the previous-generation Playstation 2, and the sub-par, repetitive audio^v. Of particular importance to many reviewers was the title's control scheme, which used the right analog stick for both movement and direction, in contrast with many other games which split the two functions between either stick. A Gamespot reviewer described this arrangement as working “with all the grace of an Abrams tank”^vi.

Improbably, there existed another school of thought about Deadly Premonition. Critic Jim Sterling, writing on Destructoid.com, gave the game a glowing review, awarding a score of 10 / 10^vii. GameCritics.com featured an eleven page article defending the game^viii – especially unusual considering that the site's original review was highly negative^ix. This second approach to the game fully accepted the criticisms of the title's technical attributes; in his extended piece, Daniel Weissenberger even admits that Deadly Premonition's gameplay was “largely abominable and dated”^x. Yet, the same critic argued that the game's highly unconventional story and writing, and it's unique manner of delivering narrative, was sufficient to outweigh its glaring technical flaws^xi.

A key element of the game's narrative is its American inspiration. Specifically, nearly every reviewer was conscious of the fact that Deadly Premonition is an extended homage to David Lynch's early 1990's television show Twin Peaks. The short-lived television series featured an FBI agent investigating a murder in small-town America, a setting that is shared with the game, as is the focus on surrealist narratives. That said, Deadly Premonition is not merely 'Twin Peaks the Game'; indeed, Suehiro decided scrap the game's plot and characters at one point in development when it appeared the similarity to Twin Peaks was too great^xii.

The use of Twin Peaks does, however, provide another example of the ability of Japanese developers to effectively assimilate and comment upon American cultural artifacts. Unlike western games, whose references to Japanese culture have been infrequent and rarely overt, Japanese games have often situated their narratives in a western context. By using an American setting, as in Resident Evil or Metal Gear Solid, Japanese studios keep overseas audiences at ease in familiar environments and forestall major 'culture shock'. This would prove particularly important for Deadly Premonition, whose North American sales vastly outnumbered domestic figures^xiii.

In addition it its unique premise, Deadly Premonition also employed a number of unorthodox strategies for conveying its narrative. Most notable among these is the unusual portrayal of the main character. Agent York is a highly unhinged individual, who uses his morning coffee for divination and frequently speaks aloud to his alternate personality, whom he calls Zach. The effect of the latter is of particular interest, as the constantly one-sided dialogue makes it appear as if York is speaking directly to the player^xiv, introducing an awareness of the character's motivations and feelings. In addition, the game makes an effort to break many horror game tropes related to ambiance. Although the game has its solemn moments, just as often the game may interrupt the murder investigation with an upbeat saxophone track, or have the main character crack inappropriate jokes during an autopsy. Unlike many other horror titles, Deadly Premonition feels no compunction to treat grotesque or disturbing content with high level of 'seriousness'. Equally unconventional is the use of open-world mechanics, which allows the player considerable freedom to explore the town. While such methods have seen some use in game such as Dead Rising, the use of cars in Deadly Premonition more closely resembles titles such as Grand Theft Auto. Non-Player Characters move in the town according to their own schedules, which positions the character as an observer inside a dynamic world, rather than retaining a static environment.

Considering the vast difference between appraisals of the Deadly Premonition's lacklustre technical aspects and its unique narrative, the disagreement between reviewers might be cast as the layman's equivalent of the Ludology vs. Narratology debate alluded to in James Newman's Videogames^xv. If examined from a Ludic perspective, the game has very little of interest, as its ability to foster play is undermined by the difficulty presented to the user by its technical flaws – hence the low review scores. If considered from a Narratological point of view, the game's unconventional storytelling comes to the forefront, and the clunky gameplay might be considered an acceptable cost for a unique narrative. It appears as though Suehiro himself was leaning toward the narrative interpretation during development; an early build of the game contained no combat at all, but was subject to modification after Access was told by a publisher that a game without gunplay would not sell in the North American market^xvi.

A final element of Deadly Premonition's reception is its arguable status as a 'cult' game. As a budget title, Deadly Premonition was unlikely to become a commercial success; indeed, the game has only sold about a quarter-million copies worldwide since its release^xvii, a pittance in the console market. Yet the game has an online presence far outstripping its modest sales. For example, the title was one of only three games selected for a full-length 'endurance run' by gaming site Giant Bomb^xviii. Enthusiastic attention from the fans who did buy the game has lead to a PS3 'Director's Cut' edition, and an upcoming release on PC through Valve's Steam platform – the latter being of particular note, as it required fan voting to 'greenlight' the project. Deadly Premonition may be seen as an example of 'B' game production, in the same sense as a 'B' movie. The game's antiquated graphics show just how far the development was from the resources and cash available to 'triple-A' titles, yet it demonstrates a unique narrative approach that would be unlikely to be accepted by large, mainstream publishers.

Highly imperfect even according to its admirers, Deadly Premonition is regardless an example of the creativity possible within the Japanese game industry and a demonstration of the wide gulf between the schools of thought within the incipient discipline of video game studies.

i“Hidetaka Suehiro (Person)”, GiantBomb, Accessed Oct 7, 2013, http://www.giantbomb.com/hidetaka-suehiro/3040-97866/

iiPhilip Kollar, “The Sinner's Sandwich: Deadly Premonition's creator on making a good bad game”, Polygon, February 12, 2013, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/12/3977154/the-sinners-sandwich-deadly-premonitions-creator-on-making-a-good-bad

iiiJim Sterling, “Review: Deadly Premonition”, Destructoid, February 27, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.destructoid.com/review-deadly-premonition-165168.phtml

ivErik Brudvig, “Deadly Premonition Review”, IGN, February 22, 2013, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://ca.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/deadly-premonition-review

vErik Brudvig, “Deadly Premonition Review”

viKevin VanOrd, “Deadly Premonition Review”, Gamespot, Accessed October 9, 2013 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/deadly-premonition-review/1900-6258973/

viiJim Sterling, “Review: Deadly Premonition”

viiiDaniel Weissenberger, “Deadly Premonition is the Game of the Year”, Gamecritics.com, July 1, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.gamecritics.com/daniel-weissenberger/deadly-premonition-is-the-game-of-the-year-part-1. 1

ixSparky Clarkson, “My Coffee Warned Me About It”, Review of Deadly Premonition, Gamecritics.com, March 14, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.gamecritics.com/sparky-clarkson/deadly-premonition-review

xDaniel Weissenberger, “Deadly Premonition is the Game of the Year”, 1

xiibid

xiiPhilip Kollar, “The Sinner's Sandwich: Deadly Premonition's creator on making a good bad game”

xiiiOnly 5,648 copies were sold in Japan to October 2013, compared with ~250,000 total copies sold worldwide; “Deadly Premonition”, VGchartz, Accessed Oct 8, 2013, http://www.vgchartz.com/game/40628/deadly-premonition/Japan/, http://www.vgchartz.com/game/41606/deadly-premonition/Japan/

xivDaniel Weissenberger, “Deadly Premonition is the Game of the Year”, 5

xvJames Newman, Videogames, (Routledge, 2013), Kindle Edition, 92

xviPhilip Kollar, “The Sinner's Sandwich: Deadly Premonition's creator on making a good bad game”

xviiFigures are for the original Xbox 360 release; “Deadly Premonition”, VGchartz, Accessed Oct 8, 2013 http://www.vgchartz.com/game/40628/deadly-premonition/

xviiiPhilip Kollar, “The Sinner's Sandwich: Deadly Premonition's creator on making a good bad game”

 

Works Cited

Brudvig, Erik. “Deadly Premonition Review”, IGN, February 22, 2013, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://ca.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/deadly-premonition-review

 

Clarkson, Sparky. “My Coffee Warned Me About It”, Review of Deadly Premonition, Gamecritics.com, March 14, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.gamecritics.com/sparky-clarkson/deadly-premonition-review

 

Kollar, Philip. “The Sinner's Sandwich: Deadly Premonition's creator on making a good bad game”, Polygon, February 12, 2013, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/12/3977154/the-sinners-sandwich-deadly-premonitions-creator-on-making-a-good-bad

 

Newman, James. Videogames, Routledge, 2013, Kindle Edition

 

Sterling, Jim. “Review: Deadly Premonition”, Destructoid, February 27, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.destructoid.com/review-deadly-premonition-165168.phtml

 

VanOrd, Kevin. “Deadly Premonition Review”, Gamespot, Accessed October 9, 2013 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/deadly-premonition-review/1900-6258973/

 

Weissenberger, Daniel. “Deadly Premonition is the Game of the Year”, Gamecritics.com, July 1, 2010, Accessed October 7, 2013, http://www.gamecritics.com/daniel-weissenberger/deadly-premonition-is-the-game-of-the-year-part-1.

 

“Hidetaka Suehiro (Person)”, GiantBomb, Accessed Oct 7, 2013, http://www.giantbomb.com/hidetaka-suehiro/3040-97866/

 

“Deadly Premonition”, VGchartz, Accessed Oct 8, 2013 http://www.vgchartz.com/game/40628/deadly-premonition/

 

“Deadly Premonition”, VGchartz, Accessed Oct 8, 2013 http://www.vgchartz.com/game/41606/deadly-premonition