Fans have been waiting a long time for a sequel to the cult classic Swery65 game, Deadly Premonition. The Twin Peaks-inspired game from 2010 garnered a feverish fan base and hype went through the roof when Deadly Premonition 2 was announced.
Now, it’s finally here on Nintendo Switch… and oof. It’s getting slammed in reviews across the board, sitting at a mediocre 57 on review aggregate Metacritic. Many are enjoying the game’s story and claim there’s a great game at its core but Deadly Premonition 2 is held back by its abysmal frame rate.
You can take a look at it in action in Jim Sterling’s review below.
IGN had this to say on the frame rate:
“However, it’s the stuttering frame rate that’s the real serial killer in Deadly Premonition 2, routinely snuffing out any enjoyment to be found exploring its New Orleans-inspired setting. Things are pretty tolerable inside any one of its interiors, but the minute you step out onto the streets of Le Carré you become the star in what feels like the world’s sloppiest attempt at stop-motion animation. It’s honestly choppier than an overcaffeinated lumberjack and genuinely uncomfortable to watch for long periods, and performance is poor whether you have the Switch docked or in handheld mode. I went into Deadly Premonition 2 hoping to have my mind blown, but all I got was a mild headache.”
“… once you get out into Le Carré, the frame rate falls off a cliff; it feels as though the game is in a perpetual loading state, like it’s constantly trying to catch up to your actions. As you trudge through the streets, trees and buildings render and appear only yards in front of you, with some pedestrians popping in when they’re just feet away.”
“The framerate, however, just about kills it and everything else in Le Carré’s open world. It’s a halting, stuttering slideshow that gets worse when using one of the most efficient means of travel. I had to take frequent breaks from playing because it made me nauseated, which has never once happened to me in the decades I’ve been playing games. It’s awful. The framerate problem isn’t limited to your time on the skateboard, either; regular on-foot exploration also pushed my tolerance to its limits. The issue also makes other tasks a complete guessing game; while bowling, the meters that govern your shot’s strength and spin are rendered nearly useless thanks to choppy performance.”
Deadly Premonition 2 is out on Nintendo Switch this Friday.
