Want to Play a Game? Marcus Reviews ‘SAW’

Sadly, I’m one of 2 people in the entire universe who doesn’t have a game console. Yes, you read that right. This is not by choice mind you–it’s just not in the budget at the moment. I currently get my fix by skulking about at the local laundromat where a beautiful Ms. Pacman arcade lives and she’s FREE. The owner doesn’t speak any English but I’ve somehow deduced that someone either broke it and he never bothered fixing it, or he never bothered ‘locking’ it. Either way, I win.

With so many good games coming out right now (you Left 4 Dead 2 junkies know who you are) I figured I needed to recruit some help and this is where my Twitter pal Marcus comes in. He’s a gaming freak who knows his stuff, so I asked for his assistance. Back in July I told you about SAW: The Video Game and here is Marcus’s review for your reading pleasure.

Like most of us these days when I sit down to watch the latest Installment from the Saw franchise I expect the following boxes to be slashed with a big bloody tick: I want bold in-my-face set pieces, jarring scene cuts, plenty of bodily fluids and an increasingly convoluted plot (Nostradamus has nothing on Jigsaw). So it was these expectations I brought to SAW the video game. By now no doubt you’ve read the numerous mediocre reviews of the game online and in all likelihood decided to decline Jigsaw’s request and seek gaming thrills elsewhere. Hey who can blame us right? Modern Warfare 2 won’t play itself after all. Well I decided to throw caution (£40) to the wind and join Jigsaw for what at the very least promised to be a very bloody game.

SAW the video game continues the story of detective Tapp from the original movie (sadly without Danny Glover’s involvement) waking to find himself at the mercy of Jigsaw once more. You barely get a seconds breath before the first trap is underway and in time-honored quick-time event tradition you’re left following on screen prompts to escape the ‘reversed bear trap’. Once free, it’s left to logic puzzle to escape the locked room. These two events serve to lay the foundations for the entire game: quick timed events to avoid increasingly grizzly deaths followed by slower paced problem solving, all the while exploring an abandoned mental asylum filled to the brim with additional Jigsaw victims, hell bent on their own survival.

For gamers who enjoy short, sharp bursts of entertainment this works well as a brief thirty-minute session and provides enough action/reward to hold interest; however the cracks start to appear not long into extended play. Repetition soon sets in as the various traps start to feel a little too familiar and towards the end completely predictable. Exploring the asylum offers some relief but never moves beyond ‘find x to open y’, with back story fleshed out via memos and various documents. So another mediocre review then? Not quite. Production wise the game is very impressive. Tobin Bell reprises the role of Jigsaw with relish, note perfect in fact, and from the very start it’s clear the developers have done their research and have executed the numerous set pieces with aplomb (albeit with tongue firmly in cheek). The score gets a big thumbs up, lifted from the films–adding authenticity to the package. As we’ve come to expect from licenses, the experience is on the short side. Eight hours will see you through but anymore would detract from the game.

All said and done, SAW the video game deserves a look; despite woeful combat, fans of the movies will no doubt enjoy experiencing Jigsaw’s digital traps, witnessing the aftermath of NPC’s failed escape attempts, the many nods to the franchise and of course the blood and guts. A promising start then to what will become inevitably become a new branch to the franchise.

Interestingly enough, Twisted Pictures has recently acquired the rights to future Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, so if SAW is successful as a video game, we may get to swing a chainsaw with our joy pads. I digress though, to answer Jigsaw’s question then, “Do you want to play a game?” Well yes actually, but only for 30 minutes, you know, before Modern Warfare 2.

Follow Marcus on Twitter (especially because he has the Twin Peaks Red Room as his background. Nuff said).

Image: Zombie Studios & Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.