PlayStation 2

Disaster Report

Disaster Report is an amazing ride that you will want to enjoy over and over again and even share with your friends. It plays out like an interactive movie with a clever story filled with plot twists, evolving relationships, and unexpected conspiracies. It’s an amazing experience you won’t want to miss and one you will never forget.

I live in California. This means I make jokes about the sort of people who live here (cereal bowl of America: flakes, fruits and nuts) and enjoy some fairly decent year-round weather (you like fog, don't you?). Oh yes, almost forgot ... this is also earthquake country. Nothing like living on the edge of a tectonic plate to let you know that contrary to the song, mountains do crumble. So it was with a high degree of anticipation—7.0 on the Richter scale—that I awaited Agetec's latest game, Disaster Report, which involves surviving and escaping the aftermath of a quake.

Why can't they make adventure games that take place in happy, cheerful, well-adjusted locales? Because they wouldn't be any fun, that's why. And so you have Disaster Report, an adventure that takes place on an artificial island devastated by an earthquake and falling apart at the seams. You, newspaper reporter Keith Helm, are caught in all this, dodging unstable buildings and trying to find a way out before the island finds a way to kill you.

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.

But despite its blemished presentation and short-lived overall game time, Disaster Report manages to stay entertaining on a by-the-moment tension-inducing level, and without the benefit of gratuitous violence or paranormal gimmicks to boot. Disaster Report somehow manages to capture the truly terrifying potential of “natural” disasters. But be warned, the game is short, and the game is flawed.

Way (way) back in the early 70s, the disaster film genre came into its own. Movies like "Hurricane," "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering Inferno" shared a simple formula. First, establish an idyllic and/or exotic location. Second, wreck it with any of a number of acts of God. Finally, show the survivors struggle for their lives in the aftermath. Now, in 2003, this strange little genre has made the jump from movies to video games. Agetec's Disaster Report is like an interactive disaster movie, throwing you into a crisis of unimaginable severity and asking you a simple question: Can you make it out the other side?

I have only two major criticisms of the game. First of all, there are times when it’s just not very clear where you should go or what you should do next. This can be a problem for an impatient sort (like me), but if you’re an assiduous explorer, this probably won’t be a problem for you. Secondly, the game is just not attractive. These days the bar for game graphics is set extremely high, an on a next-generation console like the Playstation 2, there’s no real excuse for the blah visuals that make up the world of Disaster Report. Still, that shouldn’t keep you from giving this unusual and intriguing adventure a try.

Låt inte utseendet skrämma bort er. Här döljs pussel värdiga professorer och ett mycket vackert äventyr som presenteras i en ostressad, behaglig takt.

The Final Escape rimane un gioco divertente, sicuramente atipico e per questo meritevole. Gran parte (se non la totalità) del fascino senz’altro deriva dal contesto insolito, e già questo per alcuni potrebbe bastare per vedere, se non tutti, almeno un paio dei 7 finali differenti. Per gli altri, beh, magari i terremoti non bastano, ed avrebbero forse voluto anche una bella inondazione… ebbene Irem ha pensato anche a questo, col seguito Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2 (Raw Danger qui da noi), di cui probabilmente avrete una recensione, non appena il sottoscritto riuscirà mettere le sue avide mani su una delle sue quasi introvabili copie europee…

S.O.S The Final Escape n'est pas forcément le titre qui pousse à l'achat impulsif. A peine digne des premières productions PS2 sur le plan technique, carrément à la rue côté ralentissements, le titre d'Irem compense ses lacunes par son ambiance extraordinaire et un foisonnement d'idées. A l'inverse d'un jeu d'action/exploration classique, le danger ne vient pas ici de monstres humides mais d'un terrain capricieux, qui risque de se fissurer à tout moment, à n'importe quelle secousse de trop. A ce titre, il constitue une vraie bouffée d'air frais dans le registre survival, destinée à tous ceux qui pensent qu'une bonne idée vaut mieux que des artifices techniques.

This game came and went a little over a year ago and passed into gaming obscurity until now. I’m replaying it and I have to spread the word on what was one of the best adventure games I have ever played on the PS2. Agetec is known for some off-the-cuff games and I’m glad they gave developer Irem a shot and published their game here in the U.S.

Often, it seems developers are very eager to adhere to well-worn premises and gameplay mechanics out of fear of alienating potential customers. This was obviously not a concern for Irem when it was developing Disaster Report, which has an original premise and some unique gameplay mechanics and takes inspiration from a myriad of sources. Disaster Report is a straight adventure game that's also a stealth action game and often a survival horror game, though you'll be fighting natural elements rather than flesh-starved zombies. All told, it's a unique and entertaining game that's over too soon and is shouldered with some unfortunate blemishes.

The survival horror genre has definitely seen its ups and downs over the years, especially in the eyes of devoted fans like myself. From the brilliance of Pony Canyon's PC masterpiece Alone in the Dark to the terrible failure that was Infogrames' psychological mess known as The Ring, it's been an interesting ride to say the least -- and one that has seen all manner of premises, backdrops, and unexpected story twists. Amazingly enough one angle that hasn't been tried is to move away from the horror aspect of the genre altogether, and focus on the survival segment alone. That is, until now.

Disaster Report is not a game for everybody. It's very slow moving and will take a lot of patience. There is almost no action except for a brief segment in a mall very late in the game and the only real enemy are falling buildings. However, if you’re sick of killing the undead with a wild array of weaponry, this one is well worth a look.

Avec un concept original se rapprochant d’un Ico (toutes proportions gardées, le jeu étant à des années lumières de son aîné) mais doté d’une réalisation exécrable, SOS The Final Escape s’adresse aux joueurs en manque d’originalité. Amateurs d’action pop corn qui en met plein les yeux, passez votre chemin.

The Bay Area has a certain shaky reputation. From the Great San Francisco Quake of 1906 to the recent 1989 jostle that collapsed a bridge and stopped a World Series, it feels like life here is simply waiting for the other shoe to drop. Scientists predict that one day, thousands of years from now, the entire West Coast will sink into the ocean. I'll be dead, so what me worry...but what of Johnny Liu Jr., Jr., Jr. III? Will he be prepared?

There is simply no reason for a Playstation 2 game to look this bad. I mean, the framerate chugs when you're walking for Chrissakes! Sorry, but looks no matter, especially for a title that aims to be as cinematic as Disaster Report.