Although flawed, Saw delivers a hurried and fantastic puzzle solving experiance.
The original SaW was a fresh way of looking at a horror film. Its masterful story twists and gore filled traps captivated American audiences and has spawned many sequels. The over-arching story logically ended in SaW III. For this look into the game were going to imagine that the other three films have never happened. Normally, a movie based game is a quick cash in for game producers. Rarely are these games worth the time and money in playing. With the odds stacked against them, Zombie Studios produced a product that surprised many gamers. Although far from perfect, SaW: The videogame looks to be one of the Sleeper Hits of 2009.
Story:
The game opens just like its film counterparts, with someone trapped in a difficult but solvable devise. The victim of this game is Former Detective Tapp, the obsessed officer played by Danny Glover in the first film. This is where the game hits its first roadblock as Glover did not lend his likeness to the project, so you play as an odd looking copy of him. Jigsaw has offered Tapp the truth if he can survive his game. This of course is where the true challenge of the game makes its appearance, as not only must players avoid Jigsaw's traps, but the other people trapped in the run down asylum as well. For those who have not seen the first film, Tapp is shot trying to save Doctor Gordon. Before the good doctor dies of blood loss, Jigsaw has him save Tapp's life and place a key inside his chest. This key is needed by many of the other players to escape their own traps. The games has you working towards saving key people in Tapp's life, all those who despises him in his quest to find Jigsaw. The biggest complained is that other than the voice of Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, the other voice actors do a barely passable job of portraying their character. This de-tracks from the well paced narrative that the game presents. The story actually is more coherent and interesting than the last three films, which is a slap in the face to the screenwriters.
Gameplay:
This is where the game brings its biggest surprise, instead of trying to be something it isn't; SaW is an old fashion survival-horror game. The main idea is that combat takes a backseat to puzzle solving and exploration. The game plays very similar to the Kings of the genre; Silent Hill and Resident Evil. The biggest change is that in most cases, players are timed when solving these complex puzzles. This is what really keeps the pace of the game moving, making sure that the difficulty is never over bearing yet still putting your problem solving skills to the test. When players are not rushing to solve puzzles, they are exploring the many hallways and rooms of the asylum. This hunting for items helps to better arm Tapp for the tasks to come, as well as to read up on people who have had the misfortune of playing Jigsaw's game.
The combat is where the game stumbles as it seems added in. Konami must have though this game needed it to try and please a broader audience. The combat is basic and violent as most weapons are deadly within a strike or two. The main issue is that it feels broken as players only have to mash the uppercut button and the enemies never have time to react thus making combat a breeze. Puzzles variety becomes an issue near the end of the game. The layouts become punishing, yet the style of puzzle is the same. This is a bit disappointing, but the layouts are never the same twice which keeps the challenge intact.
Presentation:
When it comes to graphics, SaW is not up to standards with its character models and frame rate. The models are rather basic is detail and mouths have are hard time syncing when speaking. They also have very forced movements as evidence of not using motion capture. The backgrounds don't look too bad because the game is covered in a nice paint of darkness, but up close you see not all of it is top quality work. The frame rate also likes to dip randomly at times making for random screen jarring.
The games presentation does have quite a few high points to it, beginning with the extreme attention to detail. Everything that was present in the film from how the traps work to clues written across the walls by Jigsaw, all plant players into the games setting. The rundown industrial setting that is used in the films is transposed masterfully to the game making the experience all the more memorable for fans of the series. Effects such as the flash of a camera to still frame dark areas makes game feel all the more bone-chilling. Also the sound track of noises and random strikes on a piano help keep the creepy mood, this is also impressive since they didn't get the rights to any of the movies soundtracks.
Overall:
The game has its fair share of issues that when seen, detract from the experience that is otherwise a fantastic survival-horror game. It compliments the earlier films perfectly and puts recent sequels to shame with its smart story and creative traps. The game is only about 12 hours long and for most casual games will not spark enough interest. I recommend that anyone who enjoyed the Old Playstation Silent Hill and Resident Evil games to give this game a shot, its surprising how well it is executed.
Grade: C+