An unforgettable assault of what scares you. Even the most hardcore horror film fan will appreciate its ugliness.
I am a horror movie buff. I cherish the fear I get from the silent films "Nosferatu" and the 1922 "The Phantom of the Opera" to the modern day classics such as "The Shining" and Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." I was scared witless from the uber-low budget "The Blair Witch Project" and I relish the the gore-gasmic experiences of Fulci, Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" trilogy, and Peter Jackson's early works such as "Dead Alive." This game successfully captures the tension, horror, violence, gore, and ugliness of all my favorite horror classics.
The plot summary: you are Ethan Thomas, a "former" special agent who is summoned by the call of duty yet again to provide your expertise and relentless bad-ass toughness to the authorities to solve another string of murders and the mystery behind organized chaos created by violent criminals rioting in the inner city. You are dirty, unshaven, in need of a haircut, and you have a drinking problem. Cliche, but so what? In this dark and hellish world you would be severely out-of-place and you wouldn't last long otherwise.
This is a first person game, but not necessarily a shooter...more of a first person BEATER. The nuts and bolts of the action in this game revolve around melee combat; using your fists and boots, but often using hand-held weapons that can be found easily at every turn. You will use standard items such as pipes, bricks, 2x4's, and the like; but the game offers some interesting and giggle-inducing objects such as toilet seats, prosthetic limbs, leg-braces, foosball sticks and bowling pins...and even toy dolls (yes, you can bludgeon someone with a toy doll). There is some gun-play which is satisfying and blood-splattering, but the majority of the action is close-up and face-to-face, which is appropriate for a game such as this where your enemies will most likely be within inches of your reach by the time you are aware that you are in danger. Often you are attacked from behind as well. Do not play this game unless you can handle a series of "BOO!" moments that never seem to desensitize you to having the poop scared out of you.
I will say this to be fair: there is a serious flaw to this game, and it is the "puzzle" mechanics. Often you are tasked with the duty of finding a way out of a situation that is not challenging, but difficult due to the fact that you can't see well. It's very dark and everything on screen is burnt, dirty, and in disarray anyway so it's difficult to determine where to go sometimes. Unless you are aiming directly at a lever, switch, valve, door, etc. you may find yourself running in circles and getting frustrated. This detracts from the incredibly engaging atmosphere of the game and will disconnect you from the experience. "What the heck? I spent 5 minutes in an elevator and didn't realize all I needed to do was look up and 'climb through' the hole in the ceiling." Or, "How was I supposed to know I needed to throw a brick through that small hole in the wall to knock over that chair blocking that door so I could go to the other side of the wall and open the door?" Puzzles are cool, but not when they are hindered by the atmosphere which is the strong-point of the game in terms of ambiance, but the weak point in terms of problem solving situations. They don't belong here at all. You are equipped with a GPS device that should help you out of some of the labyrinth situations as well but it does not provide adequate visual feedback, and unfortunately is worthless.
Now that I got the negatives out of the way, on to the more positive aspects of this game...
There are some moments where you are challenged to conduct a forensic analysis of a scene; take photos, ask the right questions, and make the right statements based on what you see: a blood splatter pattern, a dismembered corpse, or "scene-of-the-crime" props such as weapons, tools, and clothing left behind. It's fun to use your UV light to follow blood trails and verbally engage your police contacts. The better you conduct your investigations, the better your score and the quicker you will earn additional abilities and tools to kill your enemies. Unfortunately there aren't enough of these moments. There should be more!
Combat is awesome. Foes will leap out of the darkness, burst through windows (or even walls), and charge you with alarming speed. You need to dodge, block, and counter-attack with precision and creativity. Your enemies will counter-attack you in a variety of ways, pick up weapons, throw items at you, and curse at you as they do it! The AI is quite impressive (and SCARY) and adapts to every situation, which will often surprise and challenge you. You can also use the environment to finish off your opponents by putting them in a headlock and throwing them over ledges, slamming their heads into walls, stomping their heads into toilet bowls, impaling them onto metal spikes, crushing their heads in large factory vices, or heaving them through glass displays before watching them suffer from shards of glass penetrating their eye-sockets. Unsavory, disgusting, tasteless...and satisfying as hell.
The graphics are excellent. I suppose due to the darkness and dull colors the graphics didn't need much work from the programmers, but there is a lot of attention to detail to make this nightmare come to life. A wheel-chair rolls by in a basement. A door slams in your face right when you approach it. The sound of shuffling reveals that mannequins have been placed behind you when you turn around. Graffiti on the walls will warn you of impending doom, and a glance in the mirror may reveal an enemy right behind you. The enemies look realistic, threatening, and the movement is very fluid and believable. But the sound is the game's gem. Spilling entrails, puncture-wounds, gun-shots, bludgeoning, and beatings seem as real as they can be. There is a sound-track of sorts that enhances the experience. It is as if Trent Reznor himself conducted the score.
The atmosphere created by the level design truly makes the game succeed as a horror experience. The city looks like Detroit's worst streets on its worst days, and then you will find yourself in a burnt-down doll factory (complete with creepy dolls that crawl toward you and detonate like dynamite), bowling alley, hotel-turned-crack-addict refuge, a museum of medieval artifacts in the middle of the night, a trash-yard and an abandoned lodge in the mountains. You will be assaulted with frightening visions, creaking doors, abrupt noises, and the infamous "nightmare sequences." If you don't know what a "ceiling sack" is then you will soon find out and it may require you to change your underwear.
And just when you think you've had enough of the horror and learned of all the brutal ways to dispatch your foes, the plot fully engrosses you in a supernatural and demonic experience in which you gain an ability to combat your enemies in a way I have never before seen in a video game...play it and find out what it is. It will make you bounce with delight in your chair, if you aren't already standing from the frights.
This game will horrify, challenge, disturb, and shock the holy hell out of you...even if you replay it twice, which I did.
NOT FOR KIDS OR THE FAINT OF HEART.