Saw (video game)
From Saw Movies
| Saw: The Video Game | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Zombie Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Konami Brash Entertainment (former publisher) |
| Designer(s) | David Cohen (Producer) |
| Writer(s) | James Wan Leigh Whannell David Cohen |
| Series | Saw |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date | October 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Third Person Action, Survival Horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multi-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Rating Pending |
| Media | Blu-ray Disc, DVD-DL |
| Input methods | Gamepad, keyboard and mouse |
The game was originally being published by Brash Entertainment, who later ceased all operations due to financial troubles. This allowed Konami to pick up the publishing rights for the game only a few weeks later. The game, now under control of Konami, is being designed to be a spiritual successor, or similar to Konami's other survival horror franchise, Silent Hill.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Setting
Saw, like its film predecessors, is set in the fictional Saw universe, taking place in an unnamed urban American city. The universal storyline follows that of a man named John Kramer. According to the back-story set in Saw IV, John encountered a series of events, including the loss of his unborn child and being diagnosed with cancer, that caused him to begin testing other people's will to live. These tests, which ironically killed many of his victims, and the fact that he carved a puzzle piece out of the flesh of his victims soon earned him the alias "The Jigsaw Killer".
In Saw, Jigsaw had just concluded Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Adam Faulkner's bathroom trap, which occurred at the end of the first film. David Tapp, a cop who was shot in the chest, was healed and brought to Whitehurst insane asylum, an abandoned sanitarium that was reputable for medieval tactics and frequent patient abuse. Jigsaw placed traps all around the asylum to continue his tests of will for Detective Tapp as well as his apprentice, Amanda Young, who monitors Tapp as the story progresses. The asylum itself has many sections. There is a morgue, cold storage, crematorium, security wing, theaters, libraries, washrooms, offices, and other areas. A large part of the asylum are cells that held the criminally insane before it was condemned and abandoned.
[edit]
- Detective David Tapp (voiced by Earl Alexander): A veteran policeman, Tapp has been on the Jigsaw case since the beginning. After being shot by Zep Hindle in the first Saw film, Tapp was brought to an asylum by Jigsaw, who got someone to heal his gunshot wound and also place a key inside his chest. When Tapp awakens in the asylum with the Jaw Splitter trap on his head, he quickly escapes and begins to unravel the clues left behind by Jigsaw. Tapp was not voiced by Danny Glover, the actor who portrayed him in the films but rather Left 4 Dead voice actor Earl Alexander.
- John Kramer, "Jigsaw" (voiced by Tobin Bell): The antagonist of Saw, Jigsaw is a serial killer who captures victims and puts them into traps to test their survival and teach them lessons to correct their past errors. Jigsaw has captured Tapp and put him into an abandoned asylum that the game takes place in. He delivers messages to Tapp and congratulates survivors through video tapes using Billy, Jigsaw's puppet. Billy is described as a "very ominous figure. When you see him, you know you’re screwed." Billy has also been featured prominently in promoting the game. A persuasive being, Jigsaw has instructed several victims to kill Tapp in order to retrieve the key in his chest to escape. It was officially announced on June 4, 2009 that Tobin Bell had reprised his role as Jigsaw.
In addition to Tapp and Jigsaw, there are also six main characters who Tapp must save throughout the game. The first person is Amanda Young, a drug user who is now Jigsaw's apprentice. The second is Jennings Foster, a corrupt CSI who framed a innocent citizen for a hit and run he committed. Third is Oswald McGullicuty, a newspaper writer who coined the name "Jigsaw Killer" and the man who accused Tapp of being Jigsaw. Next is Melissa Sing, the wife of Tapp's former partner, Detective Steven Sing, who blames Tapp for his death and has since become a neglectful parent to her son. The fifth victim laid out for Tapp is Obi Tate, an arsonist who seeks a test from Jigsaw to give his life a purpose. Finally, the last character is Jeff Thomas, the second survivor of Jigsaw's games who has become suicidal after Tapp interrogated him relentlessly about Jigsaw.
In addition to these characters, there are also numerous other attackers spread around the asylum. Most of these people have instructions to kill Tapp in order to get the key inside him and free themselves. While they vary, some of these attackers have the "Reverse Bear Trap" on them, some with the "Venus Fly Trap", and others with new and unique traps or no traps on them at all. While not an attacker there is a masked figure called Pighead that pursues Tapp around the asylum. This character initially captures Tapp and places him in the Shotgun Collar from Saw III.
[edit]
The story centers on the kidnapping of Detective Tapp, by his alleged suspect, The Jigsaw Killer. During the first Saw film, Tapp witnesses his long time friend and partner, Detective Steven Sing, fall victim to one of Jigsaw's traps. This left Tapp mentally unstable and he was soon discharged from the police force. Later, Tapp was shot in the chest by Zep Hindle after chasing him in pursuit of Jigsaw. Jigsaw then gets someone to heal Tapp and put a key in his chest. Later, Tapp is placed in an abandoned asylum. Other victims in the building are instructed to kill Tapp and retrieve the key inside him in order to escape their own tests.
Upon awakening in a bathroom with the Reverse Bear Trap on him, Tapp quickly pulls it off and ventures into the rest of the asylum. He is led to a medical wing by another victim of Jigsaw, only to be betrayed by the man trapping him with a hostile attacker. Upon this betrayal, Tapp learns that he is being hunted by other victims in the asylum who need the key inside Tapp's chest to escape their own games. From there, Tapp proceeds to the medical wing of the building, where Jigsaw informs Tapp that there is a woman trapped in the area who needs Tapps help to survive. He quickly deciphers that it is Amanda Young, whom Tapp interviewed after she survived her first test, in a needle injection trap that reflects her intravenous drug use habits. Upon saving Amanda, she follows Tapp until a mysterious figure called Pighead captures her to pose her escape and keep her cover as Jigsaw's secret apprentice.
Unable to save her, Tapp is forced to move further into the asylum, where he is captured by Pighead and is placed in the Shotgun Collar from Saw III. Tapp then travels to find a second victim connected to Tapp is being held by Jigsaw. The victim, later revealed to be Jennings Foster, blames Tapp for being in his trap and thus harbors hatred for him. Jennings was a CSI for Tapp's division who framed an innocent citizen for a hit and run that he had committed years ago. Tapp finds Jennings in a pendulum trap similar to the one in Saw V. Tapp releases Jennings and he quickly runs away believing that Tapp would get him killed if he stayed with him. Upon releasing Jennings, Tapp moves on to find the next victim left behind by Jigsaw. He traverses the asylum and is led to the grave of Detective Steven Sing, his former partner who was killed by a Jigsaw trap when he and Tapp were in Jigsaw's lair. It is there that Tapp discovers that Jigsaw has captured Melissa Sing, Detective Sing's Widow, who has become a neglectful parent and is convinced that it is Tapp's fault that her husband is dead. Melissa is in an Iron Maiden trap with spinning blades that will mangle her body should the device close on her. Jigsaw informs her that Tapp didn't call for back up when searching Jigsaw's lair and that every one of the traps there could have been easily avoided by using standard police procedure. Despite this, Tapp finds and saves Melissa upon which she says Jigsaw gave her the option to leave Tapp so she quickly runs away.
Tapp, beginning to learn that these people all have a dark connection to him, proceeds to the offices of the building and finds Oswald McGullicuty in the next Jigsaw trap. Oswald was the newspaper writer who coined the name "The Jigsaw Killer" and eventually began blaming Tapp for the murders as he was the lead detective in the case. Jigsaw felt that Oswald was perverting his message and so he was placed into a Folding Table trap which would snap his body in half if Tapp failed to save him. Tapp saves Oswald, but he is swiftly killed by a compacting metal slab before Tapp can react.
Jigsaw then leads Tapp to the asylum's crematorium, where he informs Tapp that some people actually seek his tests, much to Tapp's surprise. This is shown to be Obi Tate, an arsonist who put ads in the newspaper to Jigsaw so he could be tested. Tapp saves him from a burning furnace but Obi is still frustrated because he wanted his own test that he could survive. Feeling that Tapp is throwing away a gift from Jigsaw, Obi leaves the asylum to pursue another test from Jigsaw. Tapp then ventures through a theater to seek his last trapped victim, where Tapp finds evidence of a former victim of Jigsaw being held there. He soon finds that it is Jeff Thomas, the man who was saved by Sing while he and Tapp were in Jigsaw's lair. Jeff has since become suicidal from Tapp's incessant questioning, leading him to be recaptured by Jigsaw. Upon being saved by Tapp, he is still frustrated and confused, so he runs away wounded from his trap. Upon completing each one of his tests, Tapp is left free to pursue Jigsaw, but encounters Pighead again in the process. Jigsaw informs Tapp that Pighead wishes to surpass Jigsaw and sabotage Tapp's game, so he must be stopped in order for Tapp to proceed. Tapp then confronts and kills Pighead in order to get the key.
[edit]
Upon killing the Pighead, Tapp moves to the asylum's library where Jigsaw confronts him in person to present his final choice to conclude his test. Tapp chases Jigsaw, but to no avail, but manages to recover the final choice key in the process. At this point, there are two possible endings depending on the players choice. Tapp returns to the library where he must choose between "Freedom", which would simply allow Tapp to leave without catching Jigsaw, and "Truth", in which Jigsaw promises Tapp that this would cost him but would also satisfy his obsession to catch Jigsaw.
If the player chooses the Freedom door, Tapp escapes from the asylum, freeing the rest of the people trapped inside. Tapp returns to his apartment and reviews newspaper clippings which label him a hero by those who survived their tests in the asylum. Despite this, Tapp cannot overcome his obsession with Jigsaw and commits suicide, leaving Jigsaw free to conduct the rest of the tests as shown in the rest of the Saw films. Due to Tapp being shown as dead in the police memorial that takes place in Saw V, this is considered the canon ending to fit the films.
If the player chooses the Truth door, Tapp pursues the mysterious cloaked figure who he believes to be Jigsaw. After catching up and brutally beating the figure, Tapp realizes that the person in the robes is Melissa Sing, whom Tapp had saved earlier in the game. It is revealed through a tape player Melissa has on her that Jigsaw put her in charge of keeping Tapp alive and making sure he followed the rules of Jigsaw's game after Tapp rescued her. This was due to the fact that her son was kidnapped by Jigsaw and he had sewn her mouth shut to avoid her spoiling Tapp's test. Attempting to run away from Tapp, Melissa desperately charges through a nearby door rigged with a shotgun, killing her in the same way as her late husband, Steven Sing. Tapp suffers a mental breakdown as a result of her death and is placed in a functional asylum where he still believes he is playing Jigsaw's games.
[edit] Gameplay
Saw will run on the Unreal Engine 3 engine as licensed by Epic Games. The game will be played entirely through the third person perspective. Throughout the game, the player is expected to make use of a number of weapons to interact with obstacles and fend off attacking characters. Dread central reveals that Saw will in fact have an online multiplayer component because, "working together will help you survive the game". The extent of the multiplayer has yet to be revealed except that it will be online through Xbox Live and Playstation Network.
The player will assume control of several characters throughout the game. There will also be 'fuse boxes' that the player may interact with to progress through the game. The player will have the ability to search for clues and items that can help out in puzzles. Searching abilities include looting bodies, nightstands, toilets, and other objects. Commenting on the game, Konami representatives stated that, "Everything is a test. Everything is a clue".
[edit] Development
Brash Entertainment was the original publisher of Saw. The game was first presented at a press event on January 22, 2008 where a teaser trailer was played. The trailer showed franchise staple Billy the Puppet preaching to reporters about their wasted lives. The trailer also briefly showed some gameplay elements from one of the traps featured in the game.
Series producer Oren Koules has revealed that at least some of the characters featured in the video game will be voiced by the corresponding actors who portrayed them in film, although as of May 2009 no actual names have been announced. It has also been confirmed that Charlie Clouser, who has composed the music for every Saw film to date, will reprise his role for the game's soundtrack.
On November 14 2008, it was reported that Brash Entertainment would be ceasing operations due to financial difficulties. It was further reported that since Brash Entertainment was developing the game with Twisted Pictures, the game itself may have been left in a "possible state of limbo". After some time, with the state of the game unknown, Konami picked the game up for distribution/development on February 6, 2009, after almost four months of uncertainty regarding the game's fate.
There have been 9 total screenshots released by Konami. Three screenshots were released on April 3, one depicting a worn down corridor with a collapsed floor. The other two pictures displayed a man in a Jaw-splitter trap like the one Amanda Young was in for the first Saw film. Six other screenshots were released on April 13, depicting Billy the Puppet, more traps, and other locations.
On April 14th, 2009, Konami held a Gamers Night Press Event which allowed a more general public to demo the game. While it was only in 'Alpha stage', the demo allowed the play-through of a Jaw-Splitter trap, some interactions in the asylum, and other things. The demo was well-received by many people who had tested it.
The game was demonstrated by Konami executives at the E3 Electronic Expo 2009. More plot details were revealed, along with some gameplay footage. Another trailer was shown shortly after the demo. The trailer showed Detective Tapp in the Jaw Splitter trap, glimpses of the asylum, and other features.
[edit] Issues known
In the preview the person playing noticed the difficulty it took to get the reverse bear trap off. This was a common problem that most previewers had and that Zombie would take into account[1].
[edit] Cast
- Billy
- Detective David Tapp[2]
- John Kramer aka. Jigsaw
- Amanda Young
- Unnamed ally
[edit] References
- ↑ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/971/971887p1.html
- ↑ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/971/971887p1.html
[edit] External Links
Zombie the developers of the game Konami the publishers
- Official website
- Fan website
- 'Saw' teaser trailer at 1up
- 'Saw' "combat" gameplay video
- 'Saw' "sacrifice" gameplay video
- Saw (2009 game) at the Internet Movie Database
