Welcome to Greenvale, a fictional American small-town, and the setting for the events of Deadly Premonition, an open world, survival horror, and action adventure game released for the Xbox 360. Deadly Premonition you ask? I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of it, it was first announced at TGS 2007, titled 'Rainy Woods', however after some criticism, the game was reworked, and delayed until further notice. Come 2010, Deadly Premonition arrives on the market with little to no hype, and as if being a sleeper hit wasn't enough, the game hasn't, and won't be released on our shores. Rising Star games, the distributor for PAL territories stated that they have no plans to release Deadly Premonition in Australia due to classification concerns. Fear not though fellow gamers, as this gem received a PAL release in the UK, which can be imported by Aussies since it was never refused classification by the OFLC.

If you have ever seen Twin Peaks, then you already have a pretty good idea of what to expect when playing Deadly Premonition for the first time, as the game borrows heavily from the show. You play as FBI Profiler, Special Agent Francis York Morgan (Just call him Agent York, everybody else does), who has been sent to the small town of Greenvale, to investigate the murder of a young woman that may be connected to a series of murders that York has been investigating previously. You won't be alone on your investigation however, as York has an imaginary friend called Zach who he frequently talks to, openly and in front of everyone, which no one ever really seems to really mind.

The story is perhaps the games strongest point. It's a typical western murder mystery, told in a Japanese way, and the results are what you would expect, from confusing and absolutely bizarre moments to absolutely hilarious ones. The game starts off quite kosher for the genre, a rogue FBI agent sent to a small town to investigate a murder, but it doesn't take long for the Japanese influence to start exploding from the seams, oh yes, there are bosses with multiple forms similar to Final Fantasy games, random quick-time-events akin to Resident Evil and side quests to boot. At the close of the game, all I could do was laugh, Deadly Premonition is just so random, most of the time it's all you can do, it has the most bizarre story in the video game medium to date, and it's all the better for it.

What about the horror you ask? Why of course, this is a horror game right? Just by looking at the cover you would be forgiven for thinking that Deadly Premonition was a cheap Silent Hill knock off (given its budget price point), however it's quite the opposite. While the game does borrow heavily from both Silent Hill and Resident Evil, it accomplishes what the most recent outings from both of these more popular franchises have failed in; genuine scares. Deadly Premonition is remarkable in its use of suspense, and delivers genuine creeps and scenes that'll make you jump. What Director 'Swery' and his team have achieved, is something that is often used in film, but rarely in video games, and they've executed it to a tee, and that is that to have scenes that are truly scary you also need to have a contrast, some comedic relief, which is something that the so called masters of the genre (I'm looking at you Resident Evil 5) have been completely lacking recently. It is due to the hilarious scenes that fill in between the horror that Deadly Premonition is so scary.

The mechanics of Deadly Premonition are bad, that is a fact, but thankfully they're not so bad that they're a game breaker. They're just dated. The control configuration is taken from Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube, but it doesn't play anywhere near as smooth. The graphics are terrible by today's standards, and are very last gen, however this is another case of contrast, take the dated controls and graphics in exchange for one of the most unique gameplay experiences ever, it's definitely worth enduring. Had this game been released as a launch title on the original Xbox it would have been revolutionary, and a commercial success, it was just a generation too late, that doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy all that is Deadly Premonition, you just have to dig a bit deeper than usual to find the gold mine that is hidden behind the bland visuals and dated mechanics.

Sound design is a particular strong point, boasting one of the coolest, funkiest most upbeat and weirdest soundtracks ever. It's a shame then that the same amount of work couldn't be done to the rest of the sound, as weapons sound bland, and enemies have about three lines that are said over and over, and over again. They are genuinely chilling the first couple of times, but the moment you realize that that is all they're ever going to say, it loses all effect. The voice acting is surprisingly of a high standard, while often campy at times. It suits the bizarre nature of the game, and adds to the hilarity. So the sound is somewhat of a mixed bag, while the soundtrack and voice acting are great, the foley and enemies lack attention to detail.

Driving segments also play a major part in the game, and they're guaranteed to give players a few headaches. Some times it is unclear just where you have to go, and for a so-called 'small-town' Greenvale is massive! You can spend at least 20 minutes trying to get somewhere, and this is largely due to the atrocious in-game map, and the fact that the game doesn't come with a printed map (as seen in games such as GTA, and The Elder Scrolls) certainly doesn't help, unfortunately it means that driving can be quite a pain. The best thing I found was to print out a map off the internet and stick it up on my wall where I was playing, after a few chapters however you'll get to know the town quite well, and you won't need a map nearly as often.

For a budget game Deadly Premonition is quite robust, the main story clocks in at around 15 hours. At the games close you are given the chance to continue playing, or finish up. Should you choose to continue playing there are 50 side quests for you to complete, which will reward you with extra cash, trading cards, and other goodies, clocking the total play time in at well over 20 hours. The value for money is simply through the roof, and for thirty odd dollars, you really can't beat it.