Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 135 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 135
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 135
  3. Negative: 27 out of 135

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  1. sft
    Mar 13, 2016
    7
    What’s that, Zach – you’re at your wit’s end?

    Honestly, I don’t know where to start. DEADLY PREMONITION is one of the most memorable games I have ever played, but sadly not always for the right reasons. There is so much wrong with this game it’s not possible to list all its flaws in a brief review like this. Suffice it to say, it runs terribly on the PC with the longest load times I    What’s that, Zach – you’re at your wit’s end?

    Honestly, I don’t know where to start. DEADLY PREMONITION is one of the most memorable games I have ever played, but sadly not always for the right reasons. There is so much wrong with this game it’s not possible to list all its flaws in a brief review like this. Suffice it to say, it runs terribly on the PC with the longest load times I have ever encountered and more glitches than I could shake a stick at. The graphics are pretty awful (I used the DP patch which supposedly improves performance and graphics but it still looks like something from the early 90s). The controls are awful and if I hadn’t discovered a tweak that fixes a ridiculous aiming problem I would probably have given up on the game. The combat is hideous too, with the aforementioned dreadful aiming system and poor mechanics. Even the UI is an irritating mess. And yet despite all this I’m glad I stuck it out until the end (incidentally, despite having completed the game I only found a handful of the many side quests, as they are often time-sensitive and way off the main story track). So what’s good about DP? Well it certainly is quirky, and it’s easy to see why it’s gained such a devoted cult following. At its core DP has a very strong story backed up by solid voice acting. It has many weird and interesting characters and some crazy dialogue. Although it is derivative (Twin Peaks and Silent Hill are often-used comparators, and rightly so) it still has a unique personality. There’s no doubt that if DP had been produced to the same standard as a AAA game it would be outstanding. But unfortunately I can only recommend it if you have a slight masochistic streak, as, it appears, do I. There’s a five-star game in here struggling to get out but due to all its faults I can only give it 3.5/5.    … Expand
  2. fhouse
    Nov 24, 2013
    6
    If you are bored of all the big budget cookie cutter games, this will be a breath of fresh air. Although all features of the game have varying quality to say the last. Some of the writing is brilliant, some of it is cringeworthy. The main cutscenes are directed in a fantastic way with great artistic vision but the simple dialogue scenes suck. Some of the music is great and appropriate,If you are bored of all the big budget cookie cutter games, this will be a breath of fresh air. Although all features of the game have varying quality to say the last. Some of the writing is brilliant, some of it is cringeworthy. The main cutscenes are directed in a fantastic way with great artistic vision but the simple dialogue scenes suck. Some of the music is great and appropriate, especially in story cutscenes, but a lot of tracks are totally out of place. The PC port itself is terrible, however with DPFIX installed and a JoyToKey or xpadder it works with gamepad as well. It's a very interesting and unique peace of work and can be highly entertaining despite it's big flaws.… Expand
  3. Trance
    Nov 3, 2013
    6
    A bad port of an otherwise good yet weird as hell game. I found myself disconnected yet intrigued by this oddly played out adventure. The graphics range from last generation to current generation across the whole board with character models being highlights and foliage being the low, and I mean LOW points. No options, weird input style with not controller support despite the obviousA bad port of an otherwise good yet weird as hell game. I found myself disconnected yet intrigued by this oddly played out adventure. The graphics range from last generation to current generation across the whole board with character models being highlights and foliage being the low, and I mean LOW points. No options, weird input style with not controller support despite the obvious console copy and paste.… Expand
  4. lac61087
    Apr 13, 2016
    7
    Wow, all i can say is what a game, i am astonished to find that this game was panned by the so called "gaming media", but i am glad the game is now considered a cult classic in the eyes of gamers with taste, very trippy game, and i still have no clue what's going on while playing this game, utter utter confusion, you cannot really explain this game to people on the fence about buying thisWow, all i can say is what a game, i am astonished to find that this game was panned by the so called "gaming media", but i am glad the game is now considered a cult classic in the eyes of gamers with taste, very trippy game, and i still have no clue what's going on while playing this game, utter utter confusion, you cannot really explain this game to people on the fence about buying this game but all i will say is if you enjoyed Twin Peaks you will love Deadly Premonition.

    Only issue would be the that the game can be buggy and hard to follow.

    Solid 7/10

    I know, a lot of game right there :)    … Expand
  5. SolidCenturio
    Jan 27, 2017
    5
    Deadly Premonition is one of the worst games ever, but it's also one of the best. Try typing "most polarizing video game of all time" on Google and look at the top results and related searches. Yep.

    If you ever get this PoS to work within the 2-hour refund period, you'll be greeted by toga-wearing twins spouting gibberish, crime-related references to The Tom and Jerry show, and    Deadly Premonition is one of the worst games ever, but it's also one of the best. Try typing "most polarizing video game of all time" on Google and look at the top results and related searches. Yep.

    If you ever get this PoS to work within the 2-hour refund period, you'll be greeted by toga-wearing twins spouting gibberish, crime-related references to The Tom and Jerry show, and squirrels purposefully given the sound bytes of a startled chimpanzee. After a fatal car crash and one unhurt protagonist crawling out of a burning car, full of swagger on his back, you get to play the top contender for worst Dreamcast game ever. Outdated control scheme, horrendous graphics, and gameplay mechanics that borrowed from the worst inspirations ever; it's like this game was stuck in development for over a decade. Oh wait, it was.[www.polygon.com]

    But even with all the trash found in the game, I still admired it. After playing it through to the end, I respected it. I'll even admit that I became teary-eyed once the game showed its final scenes. It was the story, with all its surreal moments and weird but charming cast that kept me playing and invested in the game. Deadly Premonition is a homage to Twin Peaks, a show that inspired video games like Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Silent Hill. A show that ended too soon, yet the concept found new life in video games. It's how game writer and director Hidetaka Suehiro molded the Lynchian framework into something more akin to his style, while still respecting the inspiration, that made the game shine. This is art, plain and simple. And no word has ever been more fitting for the most polarizing video game of all time.

    And there you have it.    … Expand
  6. Yury_Vashurin
    Nov 25, 2019
    7
    It's a broken, sometimes even close to unplayable, game - but it's so charming and full with interesting ideas that I just can't give it a poor rating. If only the developer team had more money - then it would be a real masterpiece! The story and the characters are great and well written - the game deserves at least 7 out of 10 for that reason only. The rest...well, I beg you to beIt's a broken, sometimes even close to unplayable, game - but it's so charming and full with interesting ideas that I just can't give it a poor rating. If only the developer team had more money - then it would be a real masterpiece! The story and the characters are great and well written - the game deserves at least 7 out of 10 for that reason only. The rest...well, I beg you to be undemanding in that regard.… Expand
  7. lesiuML
    Feb 13, 2023
    6
    At the beginning I have to mention that I did not finish the game and I gave up somewhere in the middle. BUT I would love to give this game a 10 just for the story and characters. I gave up after the fishing mission, that was just enough for me. But I was so curious what will happen next that I immediately turned on longplay at YouTube and watched it all. And certainly I wasn'tAt the beginning I have to mention that I did not finish the game and I gave up somewhere in the middle. BUT I would love to give this game a 10 just for the story and characters. I gave up after the fishing mission, that was just enough for me. But I was so curious what will happen next that I immediately turned on longplay at YouTube and watched it all. And certainly I wasn't disappointed. How I wish that this game could have a proper remaster or maybe a movie adaptation. With proper budget and good care this game would be an amazing masterpiece. Writing, the story and all of the cast are just outstanding even by today's standards. The sense of humor as well as thrilling moments of shock and curiosity. Everything about story is phenomenal! But unfortunately gameplaywise this game is barely mediocre... I loved the open world aspect and the freedom in doing side missions but it's such a pain to wander around this game. The lack of polishing in every aspect is so daunting... Choppy framerate, lack of tracks in soundtrack, overwhelming boringness in between of the missions, bugs, badly designed mechanics such as driving, walking, shooting or unnecessary hunger and sleep bars. Basically almost every aspect of the game is just unfinished and it's a horrible shame. It's really sad that such an amazing piece of art will never reach a wider audience. If you are uncertain that you want to play this game or you just gave up like me I can highly recommend you to watch the story online it's really really worth the time.… Expand
  8. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    6
    Incredible narrative. Horrendous design.

    The Good - the music, the dialogue, and the atmosphere is mysterious and makes you want to find out what's happening in Greenvale. - the opening of the game makes you think it's going to be fully horror, but there are comedic events that happen which makes it somewhat interesting. I think this was good, because if it was fully horror, the    Incredible narrative. Horrendous design.

    The Good

    - the music, the dialogue, and the atmosphere is mysterious and makes you want to find out what's happening in Greenvale.

    - the opening of the game makes you think it's going to be fully horror, but there are comedic events that happen which makes it somewhat interesting. I think this was good, because if it was fully horror, the visuals would have definitely held it back. It overall feels like a tug of war between horror and comedy, which makes the experience quite unique.

    - the sudden quick movements of the enemies is actually kind of creepy. The backwards walking always creeped me out in horror movies. It's too bad the visuals are so basic that it takes out the fear factor of it all.

    - this game open my eyes to see how music can affect the mood of a game. Although the overall narrative is horror and crime mystery, whenever there is light-hearted music playing, even the most horrific visuals can feel comedic.

    - the overworld is very barren, but it is very large, and it's better than having no overworld at all and just teleporting from one gameplay sequence to the next.

    - the game had me constantly wondering who Zach was. It was kind of like an underlying question mark that kind of kept me going with the game. Was York crazy? Maybe he passed out from the crash? Maybe he was imagining all of this?

    - I love the protagonist monologues. So long as I like the character, I love it when I get to hear their thoughts. It gives an insight on what the character is thinking at the given time. It also gives me an opportunity to connect with the main character, which makes me care about the story more and what will become of the protagonist.

    - adding a horror perspective to York’s investigations is creative. I also like how the developers represented how York’s mental picture of the crime becomes more clear after every clue is found represented a film reel that becomes less static with every new clue found.

    - the ending was incredible. Huge unexpected plot twist.

    The Bad

    - the visuals look very dated. The voices do not match the movement of the lips at all, which makes cutscenes look awkward. Some facial animations are also a bit weird. Like the smiling animations. The game does mention bad 80s movies during monologues in the car with Zack. So I wonder if cheesy quality is kind of what the devs were going for. Or was it that the visuals turned out so bad that they included this monologue after most of the game was finished. They say if you joke about yourself, others will laugh with you, not at you.

    - I like the narrative style this game is going for, but the aesthetics and barebone gameplay really holds it back. I would really like to see the same narrative style but with everything refined and have more detail.

    - the driving sequences are trash. Nothing happens when you crash into civilian cars besides a bit of damage to your car, but there is no animation of the crash or your car breaking down. The driving controls are horrendous. And I dont understand why the stamina bar is still present while Im driving. Theres all these controls for driving like signal left signal rides and handbrake, but who gives a s***, theres no police, so its all fluff. Running out of fuel is also annoying and quite pointless, since theres only like one gas station in the entire town.

    - too many of the same enemies. They are all exactly the same visually, and they have the exact same audio too.

    - the quick time events are very odd, especially the animations. Its the most robotic and unsynchronized Ive ever seen. Especially that chase with the killer in episode 1 chapter 5 in the mill.

    - the door knobs in the game looks like soda cans.

    - the residence Greenvale use the 24 hour clock in regular conversations, which sounds really awkward during cutscenes.

    - that entire sequence where are they found Becky hanging in the shower was retarded. No gloves were warned so the crime scene could have been messed up. The cop just cut the string when the victim was clearly attached to it, and the entire thing just look like a trap.

    - the map end navigation system is bad. there is no fast travel despite the map being so large. Theres no marker to use if you want to go somewhere besides the default marker for the main objective. There is no legend that shows a list of where everything is. Only when you put your cursor over a highlighted object on the map, will it show what it is. All this adds up to a lot of inconvenience.

    - this game is like a poor man’s LA Noir

    - there are small things like your suits getting dirty. Not cleaning it will cause flies to fly around your body. You also need to eat food and sleep. It makes for a realistic experience I guess, but overall these things just felt like unnecessary tasks that I needed to do completely unrelated to the story.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Feb 24, 2014
    60
    It's difficult to tell where genius ends and incompetence begins, but either way, it's astoundingly entertaining. [March 2014, p.62]
  2. PC Gamer
    Dec 24, 2013
    63
    Enjoyable writing cloaked in layers of problematic navigation, tonal inconsistency and pressing A and D not to die.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 25, 2013
    60
    Twin Peaks gone gaming is an unique experience marred only by obsolete technology. If you're drawn towards unconventional games, don't miss this weirdness made in Japan. [Issue#236]
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