Saw is a survival horror, puzzle adventure that stays true to the Saw movies with many vicious traps and buckets of gore
Contains: Very Strong Bloody Violence, Gore and Strong Sustained Menace
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Saw is a third-person, survival horror, puzzle adventure that takes place between the first and second films of the popular horror movie franchise, which revolves around the Jigsaw Killer and his latest test subject Detective Tapp, in an abandoned and booby-trapped asylum.
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STORY - 5/5
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If you haven't seen the Saw films, here is basically how the game's story has come about.
Saw, like its film predecessors, is set in the fictional Saw universe, taking place in an unnamed urban American city. The overlying storyline follows a man named John Kramer. John encountered a series of events, including the loss of his unborn child and being diagnosed with cancer, that caused him to begin testing other people's will to live who don't appreciate life - Drug addicts, murderers etc.. These tests, which ironically killed many of his victims, and the fact that he symbolically carved a puzzle piece out of the flesh of his victims, soon earned him the alias "The Jigsaw Killer" from the press, namely Oswald McGullicuty.
In Saw, Jigsaw had just concluded Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Adam Stanheight's bathroom trap, which had occurred at the end of the first film. David Tapp, a cop who had his throat slashed by Jigsaw's knife and was later shot in the chest by a suspect named Zep Hindle, became mentally unstable after the loss of his partner Detective Sing, and since then was healed by Jigsaw, but also concealed a key inside his chest, and was then brought to Whitehurst insane asylum, an abandoned sanitarium that was reputable for medieval tactics and frequent patient abuse. Jigsaw has placed traps all around the asylum to continue his tests of will for Detective Tapp as well as his apprentice, Amanda Young, who monitors Tapp as the story progresses. The asylum itself has many areas, most of which contain a key trap scene for Tapp to solve which act like the game's boss scenes. A large part of the asylum contains cells that held the criminally insane before it was condemned and abandoned. Tapp learns that he is being hunted by other victims in the asylum who need the key inside Tapp's chest to escape their own games, and this brings reason to the game's combat, as you need to prevent them from killing you on your path to the truth behind Jigsaw's games. Other items, such as case files and cassette tapes found hidden around the asylum provide additional information about the asylum's past and background on certain victims, while also linking to the movies.
The development team brought in the Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell to write a new storyline and create new trap designs exclusive to the game, and the script is just as fantastic as the movies. It leaves you wanting to find out the truth which concludes with a twist for those who watch the Saw movies will be familiar with.
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CHARACTERS - 5/5
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Saw revolves around Jigsaw and his latest test subject Detective Tapp, but does introduce familiar and new characters associated with the movies which you must save, and these characters come into play as the game's boss fight type scenario, and are all against Tapp for a particular reason. Tobin Bell reprises his role as Jigsaw, and the fantastic dialogue he gets to antagonise his victims with is chilling and clever, making for unsettling sequences, but in a good way.
Jigsaw is considered a serial killer, though he actually has never killed anyone. His engineer skills enable him to create vicious traps, which test the victim in their "will to live", for they are in that position because of not appreciating the life they've had. Each trap is devised so that there is a way out, and a chance at redeeming themselves, Jigsaw likes to call it his "Rehabilitation method". The trick behind the trap, is the victim usually has to undergo self mutilation in order to pay the price for their unappreciative way through life, but the usual result is an excruciating and extremely gory death. Jigsaw gives them a chance but if they don't take it, he sees it as "justice". Billy the Puppet is his chilling way of communicating to the victims, and for giving you clues around the asylum, but the victim must act fast as there is always a very short time limit before whatever device they are in does its job and ends their life.
Tapp is the target of Jigsaw because of his obsession in catching him. Throughout the game, Jigsaw attempts to teach Tapp to let go of his obsession and focus on surviving his game. A creepy accomplice of Jigsaw is Pighead, masked assailant who makes sure you go the right path through the asylum, along with Jigsaw watching your every move and guiding you where he wants. The characters are all very good, but for anyone who hasn't watched the films before playing this, you'll like feel left out, and basically missing a piece of the puzzle.
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GAMEPLAY - 3/5
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Battle your way through vicious and gruesome traps, think quickly and act swiftly to save yourself from the most brutal death imaginable, fight Jigsaw's demented minions and uncover his deepest, darkest secret. That's a basic summary of the entire gameplay, as Saw proves itself as a horror action adventure with action and puzzle elements.
Keeping with the Saw films, the Saw video game is very violent and very gruesome, and you'll find yourself witnessing (and causing) many blood splattering and gruesome deaths as you proceed with Jigsaw's game. As soon as you awake you find yourself face to face with the television set and Jigsaw's chilling tone explaining why you're here and how you must get out of the trap. The reverse bear trap will permanently rip your jaw open unless you escape, and since it's the first trap among many to come, it shouldn't prove a problem, although a nice gory cutscene follows if you don't succeed in pressing the corresponding buttons on screen in time.
Your primary objectives throughout Saw will be finding clues to Jigsaw's next victim, and then saving that person. But what's so cleverly done here, is that you are often diverted from your primary objective around various sections of the asylum because of a locked door or a burst pipe, which in theory sounds simple and boring, but in practice, its highly enjoyable engaging in puzzles, navigating through atmospheric corridors and evading many traps set up by Jigsaw. Mini-games are a major part of the game, and while only mildly difficult, are all well presented and fun to do. These include a searching game in which an X-ray view is given to avoid dangers like razors or syringes and grabbing a key before a "Pain meter" fills and wounds Tapp, from places like a filthy toilet and even a beaker of flesh eating acid. Other puzzle mini-games which will be encountered throughout the game include powering fuse boxes, placing rotating gears in a box, and aligning steam valves, amongst others designed to test you. Sometimes they'll be under a time limit too, which will further test your skills, where you may have to realign the steam pipes in order to stop the poison flowing in the room which is draining your health. Jigsaw also has many moderate to hard challenges for the player, and an example is where the door is locked and requires a combination code, so you have to search containers for a coupler which can then be used to engage in a fuse box puzzle, and then press a switch to illuminate the code on the wall, which you can then use to escape that room. These are just as well presented as other puzzles, and while some can test your patience a bit much by implementing too many stages, or relying on trial and error, overcoming that difficult stage is a satisfying result. You'll also have to tread carefully around the asylum, and since you only have a small light source in the form of a flashlight or lighter (the camera flash is useless), you'll have to be on your guard to react to any threat in your way. This can be broken glass on the floor (Jigsaw has kindly taken your shoes and socks) which will need to be avoided, doors rigged with shotguns attached to pulleys where you'll need to react and press the random assigned button before you get your brains splattered in the doorway, and tripwires, also connected to a shotgun. Walking cautiously amps up the atmosphere, while also keeping you thinking to what sick and twisted trap lies ahead. Tripwires are difficult to see, and you can so easily be walking slightly too fast to not notice the thin metal glimmer of the wire, and then jump in your seat as your head suddenly explodes. Saw does a good job of presenting the assigned button to the object needing avoided, rather than having the button on the screen, which is a good way of enhancing that feeling of being involved.
Searching in various containers for health and nails (for picking door locks) and other various items, is a fun feeling difficult to explain. You'll either like the exploration of the asylum or you'll dislike it, therefore hindering you're overall perception of the game. The most heavily criticized section of gameplay, is the combat, and for a good reason. There are plenty of melee weapons to be found littered around the asylum, and swinging one will feel clunky, broken and terribly uncomfortable, due to the unresponsive controls and stiff character animations. Fortunately, direct combat with enemies is infrequent, with a main focus on solving puzzles and finding clues and resources, and it can also be avoided and turned into an enjoyable concept. If you have a fuse you can plug it in to the socket and watch the water puddle nearby become electrified, and if the enemy stumbles into it they'll suffer a painful death, and then you can turn off the switch and continue forward. Tripwires can be collected along with a shotgun shell every time you disarm it, and if you don't have a weapon or basically dislike the combat, you can set the trap back up and watch an enemy aimlessly wander into it, resulting in a loud bang and a messy corpse with streams of blood protruding from the neck.
After all your efforts in gathering a key to unlock a door or navigating tight corridors filled with deadly traps, you'll find yourself in a boss fight scenario, including Jigsaw's latest unfortunate victim who doesn't appreciate life. The large traps are brilliantly designed and look nasty, and after Jigsaw's delivery of information to the victim via television monitor, you'll need to engage in saving the person from a nasty departure from the world, which usually consists of a compilation of similar mini-games to be completed within a time limit, such as fitting the gears on four separate panels which will then release the poor prisoner of Jigsaw's scheme. These are often tense, especially when the camera pans to the victim every now and then to show you the despair on their face and just how close the trap is to crippling the victim for good. If you're feeling sadistic, its sometimes interesting to fail the trap deliberately and then watch the trap complete its made job at splitting the victim in half, entombing them within multiple saw blades, or even a swinging, sharp pendulum cut open the victim, and each result is devastatingly gory and then is accompanied by the taunting laugh of Billy the Puppet which is heard behind the "Game Over" screen which appears on the screen to represent your failure.
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GRAPHICS - 3/5
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The abandoned asylum, only left with victims of Jigsaw's game, is visually good because of the grimy and filthy detail to all surfaces to make you feel certainly trapped in such a nasty place full of death and blood. The short range lighting effects of your light source are well adapt to unveiling all the detail you'll no doubt notice, and every environment is covered in dirt and blood, to give you the sense of how patients were treated when it was a place full of commotion. There's also the vignettes of previous victims, and the fact that displays Jigsaw's other victims weren't so fortunate to escape there deadly trap, and their remains are vividly shown to provide some creepy, gory imagery. The stiff character animations and standard HD close ups seem behind the times, but otherwise Saw has some nice imagery to reflect your entombment in the Saw universe.
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SOUND - 4/5
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The voice acting is the highlight of the sound department, and Tobin Bell does a chilling and convincing job as he reprises his role as Jigsaw. His clever way of teaching victims through violent devices is also recognisable in the unique way he explains their situation, and their inevitable death, unless you can do something about it. The gameplay has some solid sounds that provoke the atmosphere, but the weapons are an unmistakable annoyance, because as each sound connects with either flesh or solid surface the sound produced is blunt and not remotely correct to what you're using, making a baseball bat sound like a hollow piece of wood rather than a heavy and purposeful instrument to deal damage. Most objects sound the same, unless you are using a syringe or knife that produces some average slash effects, and even though the loud explosion from a shotgun blast is enough to make you jump because of not expecting it around a corner and accidentally tripping through the wire, it isn't a convincing effect that suggests such a great force being produced.
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CONTROLS - 2/5
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The configurations for each action is fine and workable, and when not in combat stance the controls are reasonably responsive, especially the quick-time events where no trouble arises at all, but its when an enemy enters the frame that things get frustrating. As soon as you press L2 to enter the combat stance, tapping X and square (light and heavy attack) will initiate an attempted blow to the enemy. But not only do things feel bad because of stiff animations and clunky swinging motions, the controls are slow to react, meaning you become extremely vulnerable to taking attacks from enemies. If you time it right, pressing circle will lead to slow motion counter-attacks where you must hit the correct button to perform an attack, and on the third successful button tap, you'll complete the counter-attack and put your opponent out of action for good. Combat is easier when you do counter-attacks, but its getting to the counter-attack mini-game that is problematic because of such slow and unresponsive controls. If an enemy is knocked down from a heavy attack you are given a brief window of opportunity to perform a powerful curb stomp resulting in instance death to your foe, but (like I've mentioned) unresponsive controls often lead to you pressing the curb stomp related button but to no effect, and this will become aggravating over the course of the game.
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ATMOSPHERE - 5/5
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Nailing the correct atmosphere from the Saw movies, the video game relies on visual intensity more often than psychological terror, and traversing the insane traps throughout the asylum is a sustained threat that leaves you battling the fear rising in the pit of your stomach, and rarely giving you moments to relax, and then having to open the next door and put up with the tension again. The dark hallways and whistling wind that seeks a way in through the old building does a good job of keeping that tension and rarely giving it an opportunity to submerge, and because of that never-knowing-what-awaits-around-the-corner feeling, the presence of delicately made traps only enhances that atmosphere that has enveloped the whole asylum. Jigsaw also makes for a formidable presence and you'll soon become attached to his haunting voice that so carefully pinpoints his next clue and/or victim. Not only does the visual style create a hostile atmosphere, but the enemies, who are so intent on completing their own games, make for some jumpy moments as they can appear from around any corner just like a shotgun trap.
The time limit during puzzle sequences amps up the tension too, pitting you in tight situations that seem like impossible scenarios to overcome and avoid a brutal death, but the clever presentation of each puzzle and sequence of tasks you'll have to do in order to escape or obtain a code, will encourage you into solving and searching, while also providing enjoyment to the fun factor.
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ENEMY AI - 2/5
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Jigsaw not only has you avoiding his brutal and creative traps spread around the asylum, but has also given the dangerous criminals held up there a chance at freedom aswell, by placing a key in your chest that frees the prisoner that obtains it. Enemies are infrequently placed throughout the game, with your main focus being on solving puzzles and obtaining clues, but a handful of tugs will attempt to save themselves from their own cruel game. Most enemies come in the form of a regular, violent thug with a melee weapon (and very rarely having a gun), but some of the more interesting enemy types will test your quick-thinking. At a point during the game, you'll have a detonation collar put around your neck, other victims of Jigsaw will also have this device, but the trick is, is that if the enemy gets too close, both collars will start beeping, and if you don't get far away enough from the thug, then your head will explode. The objective when you come across one of these enemies is to find a way to block their path from yours. The first encounter will come as a surprise and by chance you may succeed, but in the future, observing your surroundings before moving on will provide you with some tricks up your sleeve to play. As long as they are far enough from you, you'll be safe, but their collar will gradually beep faster and faster until it detonates, allowing you to proceed forward. Bolting a door shut is your best bet to overcome these helpless victims, but arming tripwire traps with previously obtained items will also provide a means of savage execution on the enemies. There are many other enemies with various other devices on their head/neck and your surroundings will always provide you with a way to dispatch them. Enemy intelligence is poor though, they'll just come charging at you intent on getting that key inside you, and lack any basic logic. If you lock one door, then they'll find a way in around another possible exit (if there is one), and be constantly in a rage evident by their loud-mouth swearing to get that key. Their desire to get the key is certainly shown, and fortunately there isn't much intelligence needed for this game, as they just attempt to pummel you with any weapon they can find, but their unpredictable responses are a noticeable negative point, as sometimes they don't react to your presence straight away.
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LENGTH - 3/5
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Traversing Jigsaw's booby trapped asylum to save his latest victims, and beating the hell out of the criminally insane inmates desperate to escape will take you a satisfactory length of about 9 hours, and taking your time searching for items off the main path through locked doors and other means of blockages could take you over that approximation.
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REPLAY VALUE - 3/5
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Saw's brilliantly scripted story leads up to multiple endings (2) which does give you the opportunity to play through again. Although there are no moral decisions to make during the game, and the ending is based on what you choose at the last minute, Saw is an underappreciated game that does have its issues with combat and controls, but does excel in creepy atmosphere, unique puzzles, and all the gore from the movies, and this highly enjoyable, and often violent, puzzle, horror adventure that tests your wits and messes with your mind, is well worth purchasing if you're a fan of the Saw movies. Jigsaw awaits you in the middle of a booby-trapped maze, taunting you with options, evidence and clues, and brings to question your capability to continue more than a few times - Are you sure you want to play a game?
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OVERALL SUMMARY - 8.5/10
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Good Points: Good grimy detail to environments in a chilling atmosphere, Brilliant story and characters straight from the Saw universe, Jigsaw is a cruel and sadistic villain perfectly voiced by Tobin Bell, Hidden clues encourage quick thinking in many well presented puzzles, Satisfying feel to the exploration and mini-games, Lots of creative and vicious looking traps to be encountered, Disturbing and gory imagery enhance the tension.
Bad Points: Combat feels clunky and broken, Unresponsive controls, Character animations are stiff, Weapon sound effects are weak.