After an interesting start, this really deteriortates into an overly-linear, repetitive bashfest. In the dark.

One for rental only.

I just finished the game and I must say I liked it. The gameplay was good, the fighting was intense and the feel was just plain creepy. My final thought coming away from the game was that it had no plot. Ok, you are thinking, “no kidding a video game without a plot?” or perhaps “a horror/murder story with no plot? What is so surprising about that?”

Just hear me out and I’ll try not to give too much about the ending away. Basically, the city your character works in has gone to hell. Literally. Yet there is a police squad that is still in the employ of.. someone. There is still a mayor and still people somewhere who can tune into TV and watch the local news. Add to that there are one or more serial killers on the loose, a cop killing cop and birds dropping dead out of the sky like, I suppose, the flies tht buzz around their decay. Things aren’t peachy in today’s cities, but they are nothing compared to what happens in this game.

All I wanted was a simple or at least most likely explanation as to what happened to make it the way it is. I got it, in fact I got all of the typical horror/murder genre explanations. Conspiracy, corporate greed, demons, disease, murderers, the government, lunacy and even a cult were at some point or other brought up. None of these were ruled out and none were upheld in the end.

But that is enough about the plot. I suppose I should be happy that the serial killer (sub) plot was wrapped up, mostly.

Despite this, I’d recommend this game on its creepy factor alone. Enjoy!

UPDATE – Apparently the story develops as you replay the game. I have found a story FAQ for this game and it makes some sense of it.

I like the feel of this game. It is dark and creepy and uses sound well to improve the overall immersion. I have actually found myself not wanting to go into the next room of the game. Of course I do, and it is fun but that is a good indicator of the level of immersion. The only complaint I have so far is that the rendering of people (when they are not in shadows) is extremely fake looking and not worthy of XBOX 360.