SAW



[Saw Gallery]
          GAME STATISTICS
A.K.A.: N/A
Release Date:  October 6, 2009
 November 20, 2009
 December 3, 2009
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Zombie
Genre: Adventure
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: M
Our Score: 7.0 out of 10
Our Reviews: Ape - Review below.
To submit one, click here!
Systems: Playstation 3
Xbox 360

7.0 out of 10
         
     Upon first thought, many may ponder how in the world the Saw movies could translate into a video game...I know I sure did. Afterall, there isn’t really a whole lot of action in the Saw films; it’s mostly mystery and suspense with lots and lots of gore....But oddly enough, this works somewhat well in a video game. However, despite the game’s surprising competency, it’s not without its flaws. So, let’s play a game...Er, continue with the review, shall we?

     As I stated earlier, fans of the Saw movies know that the series isn’t about non-stop action, it’s about suspense. The game sticks to this formula pretty well. However, the game isn’t completely without action. On occasion, you’ll have to fight an enemy in the game...Rather than having people randomly attack you for no reason, shortly after you start the game, it’s revealed that Jigsaw had surgically implanted a key within your body. That key is the only way out of the asylum that you’re in and many people locked within are willing to murder you to get it. You’ll have many items to defend yourself with, though; from scissors to guns to baseball bats to mannequin arms to your own hands, you have many weapons at your disposal to fight. However, fights are often few and far between, and aside from the final (and only) boss in the game, most enemies will go down with a few punches and even faster if you’ve got a weapon equipped.

     But Saw isn’t about fighting, it’s about puzzles. If you have solving puzzles, you will hate this game. If you’re like me, however, you’ll find this style of gameplay somewhat refreshing. You are almost always doing a puzzle of some sort...Whether it be a physical puzzle like trying to shut off a gas leak before you choke to death or more or a riddle, like shutting bathroom stall doors and looking in a mirror to see the number you need for the combination lock blocking your way, the only time you’re not really solving a puzzle is when you’re traversing to your next puzzle. I think this fits the movies quite well...Afterall, the puzzles are sometimes timed and often lead to death if not solved quickly enough...Usually a brutal death, which the player gets to witness. So despite the large quantity of puzzle gameplay, this game has all the blood and gore that one would expect from the Saw franchise.

     Now, the puzzles are well done and challenging, but I have one major gripe with them – there’s not enough variety. Don’t get me wrong, the developers tried to get variety by including several different variations of the puzzles, with each one popping up randomly as you start, but there aren’t enough. When I’ve solved the same gear puzzle six or seven times during a single playthrough, it gets old. A few more variations added for the puzzles would have been great to have. It would have been quite nice to make it through the game without having to solve any puzzle more than one time...But, unfortunately, that won’t happen here, especially if you’re exploring every inch of every level.
     Another problem I had with this game is the lack of logic in some aspects. Detective Tapp, whom the player controls, wakes up in the asylum barefoot. So, through the game, you may step on broken glass, which can kill you if your health is low enough...But the thing is, when you kill someone, you’re able to check their dead body...And most of these dead bodies have shoes on. You’re telling me that out of all the people that you encounter in this asylum, nobody has your shoe size? Also annoying is when you come across a door with a glass window on it and the game tells you that it’s locked...Eventhough the glass window is already broken and it’d be as simple as reaching in and unlocking it...Heck, you’re already reaching into syringe-filled toilets for keys, why can’t you risk getting cut by broken glass to unlock a door? Logic aside, there are also some annoying glitches that occasionally pop up, like getting ‘stuck’ to searchable items in the game, like tables, after you search them, thinking you’ve locked onto an enemy to fight, only to realize that you’re locked-on to thin air while they pummel you, and the ability to see body parts of people through doors before they enter....And sometimes you can even attack and kill them by punching through the door. However, with these negatives, there are also positives.

     Saw really sets the atmosphere well by having the vast majority of the game in extreme darkness. When you first begin, your only source of light is a lighter, which barely illuminates the area around you and blows off if you run while it’s lit...However, you’ll also come across a flashlight and a camera (flash photography) to help light your way, too. Each light source has their strengths and weaknesses, like the lighter barely illuminates around you, but it covers a decent area, the flashlight is a strong light, but it can only cover a small area that the beam hits, and the camera lights up the entire area for a second, but it also distorts everything around you, allowing you to see, but not see clearly. All three light sources help you find your way in the dark, but never help you so much that they erase the feeling of unease and not knowing if something’s lurking in the shadows around you. Also, in Saw spirit, there are traps scattered around that, if triggered, will kill you. They’re kind of annoying, as you have to constantly be carefully watching where you’re stepping in order to not take a shotgun to the face. However, they do have their uses. You can always activate a trap and then watch on with glee as an enemy unknowingly triggers it.

     Graphically, the game looks very good, especially on a high def screen. Some of the animations are awkward-looking, but for the most part everything is well done. The style of having most of the game in complete darkness, aside from your light aid of choice, works well with setting the mood. It also creates some nifty-looking shadow effects. The audio is decent here. The ambient noise is perfect and really helps give the player a feeling of unease through the game. The other music, however, just seems pointless. If a fight is about to happen or if you’re in danger, sinister music starts to play...But it’s forgettable. It’s suppose to raise the tension during those moments...But honestly, I rarely even noticed it. Overall, though, both the audio and graphics are well done here.

     Overall, Saw is one of those rare movie-based games that is actually pretty fun to play. Though it has its share of flaws, like solving the same puzzles over and over for the eight or nine hours of gameplay it’ll take to beat the game, amongst others listed earlier, it’s definitely a worthwhile game to play if you’re a fan of the Saw films, or just survival horror games in general. However, if you aren’t a fan of the genre, there likely won’t be anything here to convert you into one. Saw isn’t a great game, but it’s decent and fun enough that you won’t feel like you’ve wasted part of your life by playing it. - Ape