GamesRelay

Name: Saw

Developers Zombie Studios have teamed up with publishers Konami to bring us a videogame based upon the popular movie franchise, Saw, on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. As you're probably already aware, games that are based on a movie are historically seen as something that should be avoided for the most part; often released on the basis that its name and association with a film franchise will usually sell itself, they are usually the result of a quick rush job to milk the brand name for all it's worth before people lose interest, but that's the bad news.

The good news is that this tie in has the benefit of coming out at the same time as the sixth film in the series so it certainly can't be seen as a rushed attempt; what could be seen as even better news is that it's not based on the sixth film, instead, its setting is somewhere between the first two films, so in theory at least Saw looks set to break the mould. It also seems that Konami want to take the franchise seriously and hope to craft it into something that can work alongside their Silent Hill games.

The Jigsaw killer has become somewhat of a cult icon in the movie world of today; having come to fame in the series of films which seen controversy thanks to their relentless nature of depicting horrific deaths at the hands of a man whose made it his sole purpose in life to test how far people will go to survive, this usually involves locking them up and placing them in a deadly game often using mechanical traps from which they must escape, or from some scenario that has been invented; it wouldn't be the first time the two methods has been mixed for maximum effect. The contestants in this game are rarely innocent themselves, at least not in Jigsaws eyes, and he acts having deemed them to have been guilty of some sin or crime. The traps that Jigsaw sets for them are often a reflection of their crimes and will often require some act of sacrifice by the player, or more accurately, victim; should they survive the experience then they will be set free with a new understanding and appreciation for life and the previous sin or crime to which they committed.

You take the role of Detective David Tapp who was seen in the first film investigating Jigsaw and was ultimately tricked into his macabre world and sense of gameplay after the death of his partner at Jigsaws hands; he became obsessed with solving the case and although he suspected the wrong person he did ultimately get close to the killer. Tapp eventually ends up left for dead in an alley after being shot in the chest by another victim of Jigsaw, the game picks up after this and we learn that Tapp wasn't left for dead, he was saved by Jigsaw. This of course wasn't an act of good will, it was so Jigsaw could play a new game with him.

Upon waking up Tapp finds himself in an abandoned asylum; spurred on with his obsession of Jigsaws downfall, and now his own life, he must work his way though the various traps to get his chance of revenge, of course the traps are all deadly and definitely look as though they mean to take you to an unhappy place before you die. To further complicate things for Tapp it seems that before Jigsaw stitched him back up after his operation he saw fit to implant a key into his chest, this key is needed by other victims in the asylum to solve their own puzzles. As you work your way through the asylum you come across various traps and situations you must work your way through, many of these are detailed on audio tapes left either for you or other people that have been trapped. Incidental traps such as shotguns hidden behind doors and glass on the floor will sap your energy slowly but you can search various pieces of furniture for medicine or bandages which will patch you up.

Traps that lurk behind doors can be quite hard to see at times, they're normally denoted with a trip wire that if you're not looking for will see your head explode, these can become annoying at times because you go through expansive areas where there are none and then all of a sudden you'll be distracted with something else and your head will explode for apparently no reason. Another minor annoyance is the lack of variety in some of the incidental puzzles, you'll often come across a door that requires a key and not far off it there will be some toilets, one of these will be filled with syringes and guess where the key is held? It's a novelty when you first come across it and a throwback to one of the traps from the second film, but, when you come across a locked door, see some toilets with only one filled with syringes for the nth time it can become a bit tiresome, especially as it isn't particularly hard to reach in and get the key, it's normally round about where you put your arm in, so not exactly a hard challenge for most people.

The other captives in the asylum are all aware of the key sewn inside you so will naturally attack you upon sight, you can defend yourself in a variety of ways but all of which are a variation on melee combat, you can find pipes, knifes, mop handles, crutches, and just about any kind of object you can think of and use it to attack people. As well as the enemies that roam the halls you'll also come across people that have been trapped there for your own benefit, people that you know, or at least you know of, you must save them from their own personal traps which can involve a little thought on your behalf.

Control of Tapp is pretty straightforward, you've got a button to press if you want to get your lighter out for a little illumination in the darker corners of the game and a button to press if you want to examine things and open doors. Fighting is restricted to light and heavy attacks; you've also got the option to defend yourself as well, naturally. Unfortunately, the fighting doesn't work quite as well as it should, pretty far from it truth be known, it's an awkward affair that would probably be best avoided whenever possible, hits rarely land when you expect them to and your opponents always seem to be able to hit harder than you; you'll probably give up any kind of tactics with this in mind and instead resort to button bashing instead.

Saw is rendered in all its bloody glory by Epic's famous Unreal Engine. Unfortunately even the Unreal Engine can't save the rest of the game, Tapp looks like a reject from a last generation game; for some reason he's rather boxy which is disappointing given that he is the main character. He also doesn't really resemble the Tapp from the films either, he looks distinctly younger than his silver screen counterpart who was played by Danny Glover. The animation isn't a lot better either, he can apparently use ESP to pick up objects as he never seems to reach for anything or bend over to pick something up, they just appear in his hands as if by magic; something that just isn't good enough in this day and age. The NPC characters are pretty much rendered in the same way as Tapp, badly; their is variation amongst them, but not much, which is again disappointing.

Throughout Saw you'll also come across some characters you might recognise from the films, Amanda pops up a short way into the game but is again unrecognisable as the actress from the film; sadly the only actor from the films that remotely similar is Jigsaw himself, Tobin Bell. It's a shame due to the games use of various characters that have been seen in the franchise and the acting ranges from average to slightly above average throughout the story, there is no doubt that the voices of Danny Glover (as Tapp) and Shawnee Smith (as Amanda) would definitely have helped smooth this over and bring an authentic feel to the table.

It almost goes without saying that fans of the films will no doubt love this game, it fits in with the movies continuity without contradicting anything obvious. It would have been nice to have seen some more original traps used in the game; the re-use of some of the movie traps feels a bit like a cop-out and is surprising giving the fact that Zombie Studios employed the help of James Wan and Leigh Whannell to help with the traps and indeed the games storyline. None fans of the film are probably going to be a little stuck, you don't need to know about the films but it certainly helps.

Sadly flawed then, with its badly constructed control schemes across all platforms and the repetitive nature of the puzzles. It isn't terribly bad, but more work should have gone into the details before release. However, the game does have multiple endings, offering some replay value, if you can stomach it, but with no online options to speak it'll eventually just end up on the shelf. If you're a fan of the Saw movies or even the Survival Horror genre then see if you can find it in a nicely priced deal, if however you're on the fence about it then you're probably going to be best renting or borrowing the title. Ultimately their are some enjoyable moments, and Saw fans will relish some of it, but with Saw coming from such an esteemed company; Konami, it's much more of a disappointment than anything else.