The scariest moment was being asked to review a game based on a movie... If history has taught us anything, it’s that very few games based on films are actually any good. And Saw: The Video Game, whilst its heart is in the right place, dies slowly before your eyes, just when you thought there was hope.
Imagine being trapped inside a twisted, sadistic version of The Crystal Maze, where Richard O’Brien has gone mad and forces you to complete his deadly puzzles in order to survive. This is the general set-up for Saw. You play Detective Tapp, saved from a gunshot wound by the Jigsaw killer and imprisoned in a crumbling asylum. Just as in the films, Jigsaw believes that through your obsession with hunting him you have squandered the gift of life, and he aims to teach you a lesson. What follows is a puzzle-based survival horror that can get very freaky at times, yet ultimately suffers from repetition and over-familiarity.
All of the puzzles are deceptively simple; the only potential problem is the time restraints given to complete them. Less inspiring is the fact that certain puzzles are encountered many times; if you’ve ever played Lost: The Game, and endured those fuse boxes, be prepared for similarly confounding contraptions as you try to escape the asylum.
Licensing the Unreal3 engine has ensured that Saw is at least a sharp-looking game. Its slightly surreal, decayed hospital environment, though, can get repetitive, its uniform looking levels lessening the tension somewhat – although some brutal traps for the unwary liven things up, and can be satisfyingly primed for use on any enemies chasing you.
Ambient audio is particularly effective at creating a scary soundscape, and clever use of effects heightens the tension of exploring the decaying death trap in which you’re imprisoned.
Fans of the movies should get a kick out of all this, although for a game with a a strong narrative drive, the two endings are poor, content to take cues from the movies without offering anything more.
Saw struggles with a format that works fine as a 90-minute movie, but cracks under pressure when translated to a game.
The Saw movies work because each life or death situation relies on the audience’s imagination solving the twisted, deadly puzzle just before the character does – it’s this flash of realisation that sparks the terror and tension, as the screen character has only one chance to survive! In movies, there are no reloads; and its here that Saw the game can’t help but lose its edge. Even the ‘Boss puzzles’ that rely heavily on a fear of death or maiming can simply be retried as often as the player requires: the first time it’s tense and scary; the second, just taxing; and, from the third attempt on, simply tedious. A better option might have been for the game to continue after you have failed to save – or only partially saved – someone: what consequences might this have on the story/character?
In the end, Saw is a typical film-based game – at times atmospheric but losing its edge just when you think it’s building some real momentum.
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