The lowdown on 'Deadly Premonition': a game so bad that it's good

(All rights reserved - Rising Star Games)

Arriving in Europe on September 27, Deadly Premonition for Xbox 360 bears some similarity to Heavy Rain and Alan Wake, and while terrible production values divided critics, it won hearts with a quirky storyline, an obsession with cult TV show Twin Peaks, and a cheap $20/€30 price tag.

Heavy Rain on PS3 and Alan Wake on 360 were both highly anticipated, big-budget titles with lofty ambitions. Heavy Rain prioritized drama, emotional connection, and intuitive controls; Alan Wake emphasized the integration of story and action, along with homages of its own to David Lynch's 1990 TV creation Twin Peaks.

Deadly Premonition's murder mystery lacks the polish of these higher profile efforts, but the general consensus is that its errors work in its favor, despite an early disagreement.

Whereas IGN dished out a damning 2/10, saying "the final product could [not] be any more disappointing... awful in nearly every way", Destructoid backed it to the hilt, awarding an astonishing 10/10 and calling it "a beautiful trainwreck."

Obscure and disjointed where Heavy Rain was accessible, disturbing and dissonant and where Alan Wake retained mass appeal, Game Informer called it "incredibly flawed" but in a way that "transcends the stigma of a budget title," resulting in a 7.75 score.

Where Wake saves its surprise for the end, Deadly Premonition "nails that Lynchian tone" as its "twisting, twisted plot heads into the realms of the truly bizarre," remarked Eurogamer's 7/10, while BeefJack's 8.1/10 called it "unrelentingly bizarre... expansive and rewarding".

Deadly Premonition is certainly not for everyone. "Clunky controls and abysmal graphics will send many gamers packing," warns Kombo's 7/10, though the resulting experience is "convincingly scary" ( GamePeople), and given a PEGI age rating of 18+ accordingly. But those that get its strange and dark humor will find themselves agreeing with the closing sentiments in 1UP's B grade - "I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy every minute."