We bet you’ve been having a fair few sleepless nights wondering what happened to the Silent Hill/David Lynch mash-up Rainy Woods, so here’s the somewhat surprising news: despite blanket silence, Rainy Woods is alive and ‘well’… under its new moniker, Deadly Premonition.
It has a typical horror opener. Handing you the weathered jacket of Special Agent Francis Morgan, it packs you off to the town of Greenvale to investigate the murder of a local beauty queen. Greenvale, population 600, is quintessentially creepy. Surrounded by mountains and home to freaks who’d waltz into the local circus act with ease, it’s not hard to spot the Twin Peaks influence. Think Alan Wake without a budget and you’ve got it.
And just like Wake you’ll not have to dig too deep before the monsters come out to play. You know the kind: the scary, eye-less ones who love nothing more than a good fisting – literally. Get too close to Deadly Premonition’s bendy ladies and they’ll ram their arm down your esophagus like they’re trying to perform an emergency tracheotomy from the inside. Developers Access promise plenty of scares, and not just the, “Boo! It’s a monster in the closet!” kind, but the, “I’m genuinely terrified of my own house!” variety too.
Access also reckon that the game’s story will elevate Deadly Premonition into must-buy territory, which is odd given that the title’s currently down for an America-only launch. “We’ve got a highly compelling story! Seriously!” writes director SWERY on the game’s blog. “Recently, there are many games with a poorly written story that actually spoiled the game, but I can assure you that with Deadly Premonition, you won’t have such a problem! It’s really good and won’t hinder the gameplay. Seriously!!” Seriously, it won’t. No, seriously. SERIOUSLY!!!!!!
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed Morgan’s uncaring mien in the screens. So, is it a case of so-so rendering or the character’s disappointment at being cast in an incredibly average game? We’re plumping for the second: Deadly Premonition dreams of polishing the boots of Silent Hill, let alone being compared with the series. Unless we’ve read it wrong – and we really haven’t – this’ll be one case that’s better off sealed.
Jan 26, 2010
