Deadly Premonition: Weirdly Wonderful

Some of us may have heard of the term ‘Lynchian’ world, which pertains to an environment which is very surreal, and also weirdly fascinating. This term has been coined keeping David Lynch in mind, the American filmmaker whose movies and shows transcend reality and hypnotize viewers. Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive are two of his most famous achievements, with the former still being counted as a benchmark in television. That is where the video game ‘Deadly Premonition’ comes into the picture. Released in 2010, the survival horror game, at that time, received polarizing reviews, with reviewers both spellbound as well as weirded out by the game. What one could not discount was that the game had a unique character, and today, it’s no surprise that it has become a cult favourite, while also being consistently regarded as “art”.

Developed by Access Games, a Japanese company that is known for its Ace Combat series of flight combat games, the story takes place in Washington, United States, where a detective named Francis York Morgan has been sent to investigate the death of Anna Graham, an 18-year old. The game places a heavy emphasis on binaries, with good and evil, night and day, and other such contrasts play an important role. The game originates from another game called Rainy Woods, on which development begin in 2004. With the game intended to be released on both PlayStation and Xbox, development hit a roadblock owing to difficulties in the technical aspects. Subsequently, the development was cancelled. Out of this arose the development of Deadly Premonition in 2008, which led to the makers visiting the United States (the setting of the game) in order to get the feel bang-on. The game was released for the Xbox 360 worldwide in 2010, with a PlayStation 3 release followed specifically for Japan. A “Director’s Cut” version was released for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows worldwide in 2013.

The release of the game saw polarizing reviews, with reviewers both turning away and charmed by the game’s aesthetics. One thing that everyone agrees to till today, is that it has so much of Twin Peaks in it, and by extension, it’s weirdly awesome. Sure the graphics are still very bad, as you can see below, with the game having the feel of bygone era game, but the acting is wonderful, the music kooky, and the dialogues hilarious but memorable. Such games find fans and detractors in equal measure, and the game’s reviews ranged from extremely bad to outstanding. The game still maintains a loyal following among niche gamers, and proves that there’s a method to every madness.