Deadly Premonition

If you were from Japan then you'd know this survival horror outing as Red Seeds Profile, thankfully Access Games and Ignition Entertainment have decided to translate it and bring it over to Europe under the title Deadly Premonition. If you're old enough or enough of a cool-TV geek you will definitely recognise references to the 1980s classic TV show, Twin Peaks, as you control FBI agent, Francis York Morgan, as he investigates the murder of a young woman called Anna Graham in and around the town of Greenville. The characters such as sheriff George Woodman and deputy Emily Wyatt, are not as strange as Detective Morgan himself - or his alter ego "Zach".

All this is carried out in a sandbox/open-world environment which gives the gamer the freedom to choose how to investigate the murder and explore the town of Greenville and its outlying regions. Players of Resident Evil 4 will recognise the camera perspective... Players familiar with the quirkiness of Twin Peaks will also appreciate the fact that the lead character must maintain Hygiene Points, which means he's got to take care of and change his clothes from time to time! He's also got to maintain and fuel any of the vehicles that he makes use of... there's more to crime fighting than guns and evidence. It's also a good idea to make use of the day/night cycles that run through the gameplay, although time can be accelerated by use of a less than healthy in-game device. As with any good survival horror title, Deadly Premonition sees the Detective not only solving mysteries and collecting clues, he must also battle strange and fierce creatures.