Saw

We all know the reputation that movie tie-in games are often awful but can Saw, a game based on the popular movie franchise, really change that? A survival horror game in the same vein as the original Resident Evil games and Silent Hill, Saw tries to be a little different. Maybe not the best horror movie to adapt to a video game, is it good for all gamers, just Saw fans, or should everyone avoid this like one of Jigsaw's traps?

Lets start off with the good. There's not that much. It's a nice looking game, definitely up to today's standards while not breaking any huge barriers. The asylum you're trapped in has winding halls, glass on the floor and is dark, dreary and depressing. It has a good feel that is similar to the movies, putting the player in the shoes of a victim exploring Jigsaw's twisting labyrinths. Some walls can look fuzzy and, common with games of today the shadows can seem choppy, but in general the game is not bad looking in the slightest.

Another good way the game keeps with the atmosphere is the superb voice work of Tobin Bell as, of course, the "Jigsaw Killer" John Kramer. He knows the character very well and it shows during any sequences through his doll or video footage of the character. Other voice actors, unfortunately, are not as talented and their own performances lack as much effort and passion as his own. The other victims in Jigsaw's little game don't have many convincing lines of dialogue either. Not even the screams will make your spine crawl, instead merely just annoying you as you try as hard as possible to get through to the next checkpoint.

The game itself is pretty simple, you run around and progress through the building. You have other victims trying to kill you, and many different puzzles to solve. This will grant you keys, weapons, bandages and the like that help open doors and keep you alive. The fighting just does not work in your favor however, it's better just to keep your hands free, as punching is faster and much more efficient than using the melee weapons. The puzzles range from simple things like moving your hand to an item before your "pain meter" fills up, which can take all of two seconds, or putting the right antidote in the correct slot. Some of these can be quite entertaining, but nothing that will make you think too hard or challange you to any large degree. There's not much fun between the puzzles and enemy encounters. There are case studies and audio files around, but none are really interesting enough to bother reading.

Saw does try to be more than just another movie game, but some bad decisions have prevented that from happening. The combat is too slow and sluggish, the puzzles range from difficult to mind numblingly simple and all but one of the voice actors don't actually do a good job. The story isn't compelling enough to keep you going, even when it starts to pick up. We'll just have to wait and hope for another movie game to try and suceed in being half decent. If you ever find yourself in a room with a TV and a games console, and Jigsaw asks you to play his game or die, you might wanna think long and hard about that choice.