Saw (PS3)
Also On: 360


Release Date: 10/15/2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Miscellaneous
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Zombie Studios


Overview News Previews Reviews Features Images Videos Boards Files Cheats

The 1UP Network previews games with the philosophy that people want to hear our honest opinions on titles before they are released. If a game looks really promising, we'll pass on our excitement. But if a game needs work, we'll let you know. Here are our Saw PS3 previews.
Previews
Like finding razor blades and roaches in your Halloween candy, Saw is not a game for the squeamish.

By Justin Haywald 04/13/2009

Saw is the latest horror movie turned game. Recently, the trend has gone the other way, notably with Resident Evil and -- sticking with the Konami theme -- Silent Hill, Saw's grounding in a more realistic world of horrible, unthinkable choices (when compared to the straight-up action of other survival horror titles) would seem to present a development challenge. Developer Zombie Studios hopes to evoke that same panic and frenzy that permeates the films, of being trapped by a pathological madman, in their game adaptation.
Like in the movies, the game drops you into a series of the Jigsaw Killer's traps, and forces you to find your way out. Videotape messages and clues scrawled in books lead you along the path to freedom, and you can interact with others also trying to find their way out -- though some more dangerous characters, driven mad by the situation, are not so approachable. John Williamson, president of Zombie Studios, says that, unlike Silent Hill, Saw isn't "something supernatural and ghosty," but, "it can still build a sense of dread of the unknown." Every time you open a door, there might be a shotgun rigged to blow your head off, and you have to think fast to get around those hazards.



Click the image above to check out all Saw screens.

In Williamson's words, Saw is "one-third exploration, one-third puzzle minigames, and one-third combat." A short demo shown at a recent press event offered a bit of the exploration and puzzles, but none of the fighting. It didn't feel missing, though; like the Saw films, you don't explore a world littered with firearms and ammunition, unless they're part of a puzzle (though I did find a pipe lying on the ground for obstacle-smashing action and, according to Williamson, melee combat).

Many of the game's interactions use button-pressing minigames, but instead of having button icons or analog movements branded obviously across the screen, they're blended into the environments. The demo I played only lasted about 15 minutes, and to avoid spoiling any of the actual puzzles I won't go into specific details. But as you walk through one door, you see a weight rapidly falling to the floor, and that weight is marked with a button (corresponding to the buttons on your controller). Press the button in time, and you'll stay safe. Press the wrong button, or react too slowly, and you won't get a second chance. To keep things from becoming too easy, the button you press is randomly generated, so you can't just blaze through the game blindfolded. The demo was especially unforgiving -- even seemingly minor mistakes led to instant death, forcing a restart from the beginning. While that will inevitably lead to a lot of trial and error, Williamson says that in the final game checkpoints will be, "spaced out enough to offer some punishment -- enough to keep the game challenging while not making it too easy."


Saw 'Teaser' trailer
Williamson also notes that the game includes "classic puzzles from the movies, as well as plenty of new stuff," but he's tight-lipped about what exactly to expect. In the very first puzzle of the demo, you're stuck struggling in a familiar looking (to series veterans) bear trap contraption. If you don't get it off in time, the headgear rips your cranium apart at the jaws in a violent, bloody mess. And that sets the tone of this undoubtedly M rated game.

As usual with first previews, a lot's left unanswered, particularly why the killer placed your character in this maze of death. But it is clear that Zombie Studios is on to something; though the demo space was too loud to fully experience the game, Saw captures the creepy atmosphere and sense of hopelessness that make the movies so memorable. The game launches this Halloween alongside Saw VI, so you'll get to choose which role you prefer soon enough: Silent spectator to murder, or victim with a shot at survival.

Sounds like a good idea, though I would much rather prefer to play as Jigsaw than I would the victims.

That really wouldn't be a good game to be honest... How would that be challenging at all?

I agree, Killing someone already has been done, alot. Way more fun when you have to survive, challenges you, makes you think, makes you go back to your human instincts to survive. Who wouldn't want that.