Disaster Report – PS2 – Review

It’s not easy to imagine
what Disaster Report plays like, so let me paint a picture for you.  Your name
is Keith Helm, and you’re on your way to a new, lively city for a job with the
Town Crier Newspaper.  Life seems good — the sun is shining, birds are
chirping.  Suddenly, something goes horribly wrong, and the train you’re
riding never makes it to its destination.  Outside, you see nothing more than
a bunch of rubble.  Cars are hanging off the edges of the bridge, some of
which have innocent people inside.  It sounds very grim, and it is.  The only
thing you can do now is attempt to make it out alive.

If Resident Evil is a game
of survival/horror, then Disaster Report would be a game of
survival/survival.  Every step you take is a dangerous one; every move you
make could be your last.  Cracks are littered throughout the wobbly, unstable
surfaces that you must cross, though you never know exactly which part of a
bridge will break and which part won’t until it happens.  You could cross an
area carefully a couple of times and no destruction will occur, making it
appear as though you’re walking on solid ground.  But then impatience takes
over, so you decide to run across it and end up plummeting to your death.
That’s the name of the game: disaster strikes when you least expect it.  It
also strikes when you do expect it, adding to the tension of the game.

Disaster Report will rat
your mind more than your fingers as you try to solve each problem and make it
out of the city alive.  And when you think you’ve finally begun to get the
hang of the game, you’ll find out that some of the disasters are unavoidable!
 Unavoidable disasters are not deadly (unless you make a mistake), but they
are harmful, and will quickly deplete your health meter.

Disaster Report has an
interesting take on health depletion and health rejuvenation.  Instead of
having the standard get damaged, lose points health meter that most games use,
Disaster Report uses water as its form of life.  When the game begins, the
water meter is at 100%.  Regardless of whether or not you’re injured, the
water meter will begin to drain as your character becomes thirsty.  This adds
the tension-building element of time to the game.  Take too much time
exploring and you could be in deep, deep trouble.

To quench Keith’s thirst,
locate a working water fountain and take a drink (they’re usually not that
hard to find).  To extend the amount of time you have to explore (and to
prevent death if a horrible accident occurs), empty water bottles may be
filled and stored in Keith’s backpack for later use.  Empty bottles aren’t
given to you though — you must find them. 

In typical survival game
fashion, there’s an order in which things must be completed before progress
can be made.  Remember the scenario I mentioned in my preview?  If not, let me
fill you in.  At one point in the game you’ll come to an abandoned
restaurant.  The doors are locked, but the owner hid the key underneath a pot
outside.  Grab the key, open the door, and continue your mission to escape
this disaster unscathed.

As it turns out, you are
required to find a note before you can enter the building.  I had already
found the note in the demo, but now I decided not to waste my time looking for
a piece of paper that told me I could enter a building.  I was able to locate
the pot, but could not examine it until after the note had been read,
preventing me from snatching the key.  Disaster Report isn’t exactly a
non-linear game, but things like these make it feel like you’re playing on a
track; get from point A to point B and you’re done.  Finding notes and other
trivial items are things that experienced players will want to ignore on their
second time through the game, but there is no way of doing that.

It’s not hard to see that
Disaster Report is somewhat lacking in the visual department.  It has some of
the coolest camera angles and cinematic effects around, but nothing else in
the game is overly eye-catching.  Character models are low on polygons, and
they don’t have the most fluid animation either.  The destruction effects are
cool, but other than that, you won’t be too impressed with the game’s dull
coloring.

Those who choose to
purchase Disaster Report will discover one of two things: a great game or
great confusion.  You can tell just by looking at the back of the box that
this game is not for everyone.  The brains over brawns gameplay might make you
think that the developers were shooting for the hardcore gaming audience.
However, I fear that most hardcore players will overlook Disaster Report in
favor of the many big-name titles that are due out next month (similar to how
they overlooked ICO when it was released in September 2001).  Why be so
foolish?  I’m looking forward to the next Tomb Raider game just as much as
everybody else, but that doesn’t mean I can’t set aside some time for other
good games.

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 7.9
Gamers looking
for something new and unique to play can stop searching this February when
Disaster Report lands on store shelves.  The gameplay, which needs a smart
brain more than it does faster fingers, makes Disaster Report a fun title
that’ll keep you hooked from start to finish.

Graphics: 6.9
Awesome cinematic
effects and cool camera angles just aren’t enough to make Disaster Report’s
graphics shine as brightly as its gameplay.

Sound: 6
Surprisingly,
there isn’t much sound in this game.  Music is rarely heard, mainly because
the developers wanted to make the impact of a car falling into the water sound
all the more shocking.  The voice-overs are annoying and repetitive though.

Difficulty: Medium
Prepare to use
your brain more than anything else while playing Disaster Report.  It’ll take
a lot of thinking (and exploring) to solve some of these difficult puzzles.

Concept: 8
Disaster Report’s
concept is simple: when disaster strikes a busy city, it’s up to you to save a
few lives, as well as your own.  Watching the city crumble in real-time is
really cool, especially since nearly every action you make has the potential
to cause even more destruction.  Ever wanted to be a part of a disaster
movie?  If so, this is the closest you’ll get to participate in an earthquake
(without actually being in one, which is something no one wants to
experience).

Overall: 7.9
A disaster, this
is not.  Yes, there are disasters in this game.  But Disaster Report’s
gameplay is free of any severely damaging storms.  It’s slower, and requires
more use of the brain than most of the games out there, so it’s definitely not
for every PlayStation 2 owner out there.  However, it is a lot of fun, it is
very addictive and will surprise you more than you’d expect.  Be sure to check
it out when it’s released next month.