Title: Saw Release Date: October 7, 2009
Genre: Horror/Adventure
Rating: M for Mature
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Zombie Studios
Developer: Zombie Studios
I'll freely admit it – I love the Saw movies. They're among the few horror movies I'll actually spend money to see rather than waiting for them to show up on TV, not so much for the gore as for the storylines behind each of Jigsaw's captives and why they're chosen to be tested. While the fourth and fifth movies (I haven't seen the sixth yet) suffered from a lack of Tobin Bell's excellent performances in them, it's still a series I try to stay current on.
So when I heard that there was a Saw video game in the works, I was fairly excited about it, if cautious in my optimism. After playing through the finished product, I’ve concluded it’s a mixed bag that manages to keep the feel of the Saw movies in some ways, doesn't do as well at that in other places and succeeds far too well in yet other aspects, resulting in a game that evens out to an average experience on the whole.
In the game, you play the role of Detective David Tapp, one of the characters from the first Saw movie. He's been taken captive by Jigsaw, a serial killer who puts his victims in situations where they must make horrific (and usually gory) choices in order to survive. Jigsaw has imprisoned Tapp in a run-down asylum, which is intended to be the site of a test to see if Tapp can let go of his obsession with catching Jigsaw. In order to escape the asylum, Tapp must save several other captives by solving a series of puzzles, as well as fight his way through a horde of people who want to kill him in order to make their own escapes.
Saw functions as a third-person action title, for the most part. There's not really much to the controls – you can switch your light sources (which range from a lighter to a standard flashlight) on and off, and you can manipulate switches and other environmental items. You also have to find items hidden in lockers and cabinets, ranging from health hypos that restore your energy to materials for making traps to ward off the dozens of Jigsaw captives that want the key that's sewn into Tapp's stomach so that they can escape. Occasionally, you have to fight one of those minions, and there's a wide variety of improvised weapons you can use to do so. Unfortunately, the combat controls feel very stiff and awkward, making fighting with anything but fists rather frustrating.
The heart of this game, however, is its puzzles. Throughout the game, you have to solve several different types of puzzles to either advance in the game or save one of Jigsaw's victims, the latter of which are essentially the game’s “boss battles.” These puzzles include things like completing a circuit board and completing a pipe circuit, usually with appropriately dire consequences for failure.
Those puzzles are simultaneously the best and the worst parts of the game. On one hand, they're nice because they help keep the general feel of the Saw movies intact in the game. All the gore of failed puzzles is kept intact, and several traps from the movies, such as the reverse bear trap and the shotgun collar, can be found throughout.
However, the traps fail in two respects. First, they depart a bit too much from the traps in the movies. In the movies, the traps typically involved the captive sacrificing something important (whether a body part or an inanimate object) to keep himself alive. In the game, the puzzles are, for the most part, more like brain-teasers, which takes a good amount of drama out of the game. The only traps in the game that really feel similar to the movies’ in that regard are the acid barrel and the toilet full of hypodermic needles, both of which Tapp needs to stick his hand into in order to retrieve some crucial items. Admittedly, I can’t think of how this aspect of the movies could have been translated to the video game medium any better than it was with those two traps, but that doesn't change the fact that some of Saw's drama is gone from the game as a result.
Secondly, some of the traps are insanely, frustratingly difficult. You're not given much explanation as to how to complete some of them, and others are just ridiculously complex and coupled with a time limit that makes them very frustrating. I can't remember the last time I had to consult online tip guides so many times for help with a game.
In the final analysis, Saw is a game that tries to live up to the standard set by the movies, but falls short of doing so. Fans of the films might enjoy this game, but those without as much investment in the series might find it as about as much fun as actually going through one of Jigsaw’s tests.
Overall Rating: ***
Christopher Mastey-Muzikreviews.com Video Game Reviewer
December 17, 2009
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