April 13, 2009 - A lot of people won't admit to enjoying the Saw movies. Not I. The overacting doesn't bother me. The inane plots are laughable in all the right ways. I don't care how many times they bring back the Jigsaw Killer for unnecessary sequels. Seeing as how the Saw franchise is the highest grossing horror series of all time, I'm definitely not alone. And so I took the announcement of a Saw videogame with mixed emotions. It's always cool to see a franchise you like come to your favorite medium. But then, you have to wonder -- how in the heck can they turn the Saw movies into a game without losing the entire spirit of the series?
The job of bringing Saw to the gaming world went to Seattle based Zombie Studios, a company that has cut its teeth on military shooters and a few licensed projects. For this project, the developer worked closely with the creators of the franchise to ensure that it has the proper feel and fits into the storyline. The game will take place between the first and second films and promises to answer questions about the characters from the first movie. That story, starring Detective David Tapp, will be told through third-person action, exploration and a whole lot of traps.
It takes a special kind of serial killer to come up with traps like this.The game won't open with your traditional tutorial or introductory cutscene. Instead, you're tossed straight into a recognizable trap -- with your life on the line. The player awakes with the infamous reverse bear trap locked on and the clock ticking. As John Williamson, producer and designer for Saw, put it, "Everything [the player] needs to know is on the screen." The spinning analog stick at the bottom appears to make that claim feel a bit superfluous, but as most everyone at the preview event soon learned, there is a bit more than simply following the prompt needed to get out of this trap.
And by a bit more, I mean the first trap in the game is downright confusing. Zombie Studios agreed they might need to make the solution a little more obvious.
Once the solution to the first trap began circulating around the group gathered, we got to see more than the on-screen avatar repeatedly have his head ripped in two. It was then that I was rather pleasantly surprised. There was a puzzle that could only be solved by looking at a mirror at the right angle. Another puzzle harkened back to Saw II with a toilet filled with syringes. And, of course, doors with shotgun traps littered the area. Some doors could only be opened after solving little fuse box puzzles that we're told will keep getting more difficult as you progress through the game. It all felt more like a classic adventure game brought up to date with full exploration and spiffy graphics and less like the generic action brawler that we so often get with licensed games.
The playable demo didn't extend much beyond the opening moments, but we were given a presentation that offered up some more details on what to expect. The game takes place in a run-down asylum, which shouldn't really come as any big surprise. You're not alone though; others playing Jigsaw's games are there as well. Some will have given up all hope and resigned themselves to death. Others will have their own instructions that are contrary to your survival. And some will simply be human traps.
The real suspense, though, should come from Billy the ventriloquist dummy and his cackling instructions. Naturally, he's back and his pre-recorded tapes are littered throughout the game, along with hidden case files, which will offer a bit more insight into the story.
Insert cackling laughter here.The question remains for me though, of exactly how the moral decisions that the Saw movies are known for will be injected into the game. In the movies, the layout is simple. Each victim is given a choice with death as the ultimate punishment for choosing wrong. In a game, there isn't ever a reason to consider anything other than survival. Williamson assured me that moral decisions will indeed be a part of the game, even offering different paths to explore and multiple endings. Every choice has a consequence, we're told. Let's hope that idea holds up through the entire experience.
Saw will arrive on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC alongside the next movie in the franchise this Halloween.
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