A hilarious and quirky rough gem that's heavily influenced by Twin Peaks
If you don't know or care about Twin Peaks, then I'll try to review this game for you.
Deadly Premonition is a surreal and hilarious murder mystery/survival horror set in a small, secluded forest town. You play an FBI Agent named York Morgan, who has been sent to the town to investigate a strange murder.
York is not like most video game protagonists. How, you ask? Well, he may be insane, for one. He frequently talks to someone named "Zach" that none of the town residents can see. He is also a giant #^$hole and he doesn't seem to have any social skills. You'll see him blowing smoke in the local sheriff's face for no reason as they meet, or recount a gruesome serial killer investigation over a previously upbeat dinner, or pausing in the middle of talking to someone to let Zach know something. York and his antics make this game.
Anyways, he gets sent to this small town and teams up with the local law enforcement to investigate murders having to do with red seeds planted into the victims. The town has a giant cast of odd characters to meet throughout the game. There's the inept doctor "Ushah" who thought the victim of a giant slash wound to the chest died from suffocation, and the masked man in a wheelchair who only speaks through his servant with poems, and the police officer who is the spitting image of Naomi Watts, and the owner of an empty hotel who loves ridiculously long tables. That's really only scratching the surface
The game is an open world. You can drive around the town and explore between story and mission segments. Each NPC of the town has a detailed schedule and you can follow them around and watch them eat or go to the bar or whatever. There are lots of side quests and minigames as well, like fishing and racing.
Then when you continue with the story you'll get a usually hilarious cutscene, and then you'll go off into a Silent Hill like world where you kill monsters on your way to complete an objective.
The gameplay is like a odd mish-mash of GTA, Shenmue and Resident Evil. But you should know that "clunky" is the word with this game. Everything in the game is very unpolished and clunky. The graphics, the combat, the driving etc. are all decent to mediocre.
BUT, the game has a lot of heart. It's obviously a work of love and all those parts come together in the finished product to make one of the most unique gaming experiences I've had in a long while. The game is funny, scary, lengthy, and fun, and it only costs 20 bucks.
If you want to try something different, or something funny, or you love Twin Peaks, get this game. It's very flawed, but if you can get past those edges you'll find a lovely gem inside.