I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why anyone would make a SAW game, and why you should care about it. You think the last few movies kinda sucked, and you don't think the ideas behind SAW lend themselves to a video game. All of those concerns are valid, and they're ones that I, too, share. It does seem a bit silly to make a game based off of a movie franchise that has, in most people's eyes, fallen from grace, and the elements of the horror films don't really seem, at first, to work in a game. After playing SAW at a recent Konami event, I can assure you that not only have the developers managed to work SAW into a game, but it looks like it might be a surprise hit in 2009.

The demo started off with a familiar sight. In the middle of the room, I sat on a chair, bear trap on my head ready to slice me apart. Jigsaw introduced himself and told me that I had to take off the device before I would be able to move on. On the wall, a puzzle piece was painted in red (or, more likely, blood). It's an interesting way to begin a game, and shows the sense of urgency the developers are going for. This continued throughout the demonstration, with certain objectives lowering the main characters health, and others simply killing him instantly.



But I'm getting ahead of myself, back to the first room. In order to remove the reverse bear trap, I needed to complete a number of quick-time events, with precise timing required to make sure that the protagonist's head wasn't replaced with a pile of pulp. Instead of simply flashing them up on the screen, the commands actually appeared on the object itself. Usually, QTEs come off as heavy handed. Even in games like God of War, it's often a bit silly when the powerful Kratos needs to pound on a button to lift a door. It fits well in here, and I'm really not sure how else it would be possible to pull off some of the acts Zombie Studios expects players to survive. After twisting control sticks, hitting buttons, and removing the device, I was able to move on to the next room.

After escaping that room, I was presented with a number of new challenges. Broken glass covered some of the paths (which serves as a direct conflict with my lack of shoes) and an occasional opponent jumped out of the shadows to take me down. Why? Because of Jigsaw, who promised them freedom if they would kill me. It's all part of his game. Combat isn't a focus by any means, though the game has the tools to allow for you to defend yourself. Other obstacles, like shotguns mounted on doors to blow the head off of anyone passing through, also require QTEs to pass. 

Later in the demo, rooms started presenting even more difficult challenges. In one bathroom, I needed to find a code to open a digital door. It was easy enough to find the numbers written on the bathroom stall doors, but there was a catch - the numbers were wrong. Returning, I saw that a mirror on the other side of the room reflected the correct code, and after lining up a few other objects in the room (and some paint smeared on the mirror itself) I was able to find the actual code, escaping from the room. In another area, I needed to fish a key out of a toilet. This particular toilet was filled with needles that had previously belonged to heroine addicts. Fishing it out was a painful experience, both for the main character and myself.

It appears that much of SAW will be spent creatively finding ways to solve Jigsaw's puzzles, and that's exactly how it should be. With the horror genre slowly fading away from the public eye, it appears that SAW might be just the right thing to bring it back. Hopefully Zombie studios is able to deliver, and create an interesting game that puts the last few films to shame.