31 Days of Horror Games: Deadly Premonition

In celebration of Halloween, we’re counting down the days with some of the greatest horror games ever made -- 31 of our favorites! Every day, we’ll take a look back at a horror game that gave us goosebumps, made our controllers tremble, and chased us out of our living rooms. Long live the horror game! And make sure to check out our full list of 31 Great Horror Games To Play In October!

I wasn't sure what to make of Deadly Premonition back in 2010. On one hand, it was probably one of the worst games ever made. The graphics were dated and the bugs rendered the game almost comedic. But on the other hands, after sitting through countless hours of Detective York's asides to his imaginary friend Zach (?), I knew that I had just sat through something special. Whether Access Games pulled it off by accident or it all came together as planned (this game was almost cancelled a few times during its development), Deadly Premonition is the closest thing we'll probably ever come to playing a proper Twin Peaks game.

The campy nature of the story -- which involves a lot of stuff about trees and seeds from an alternate dimension -- and some pretty great horror moments lend the game a whole lot of charm. So what if the combat system is useless? I can live with it as long as I get more of York's best Kyle MacLachlan impression. After all, the tone of the game is pretty much set by the protagonist's super weirdness. He's pretty much the creepiest dude I've ever had to control in a game. Perhaps that's Deadly Premonition's secret.

Even when things get really dark, you know, with all the ritualistic murder of woman in the town of Greenvale, you know something to lighten up the mood is about to happen. Like York's going to fart, get on his knees, sniff up his own fumes, and have an epiphany about the case. He's the guy we're following, and there's nothing we can do about it.

The plot, however convoluted, compliments the quirky characters quite well. By the end of the experience we've fought all kinds of monsters, visited an alternate reality full of angels, seen evil trees sprout out of people's bodies, eaten turkey, strawberry jam, and cereal sandwiches, and met a traveling tree salesman (they don't exist in real life, I checked).

Hats off to Deadly Premonitionfor giving us one of the worst gameplay experiences, but one of the boldest plots in gaming.

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