Deadly Premonition is a 2010 open world survival horror video game developed by Access Games. Set in the fictional rural American town of Greenvale, Washington, the story follows FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan as he investigates the murder of an eighteen-year-old woman, which bears similarities to a series of murders across the country. Deadly Premonition was originally released in February 2010 for Xbox 360 and in March 2010 for PlayStation 3; the Xbox 360 version was published by Ignition Entertainment in North America, Marvelous Entertainment in Japan, and Rising Star Games in Europe. Marvelous Entertainment released the PlayStation 3 version exclusively in Japan. A director's cut edition for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows was released worldwide by Rising Star Games in 2013. A port for the Nintendo Switch, Deadly Premonition: Origins, followed in 2019.
North American cover art
Hidetaka Suehiro, lead director and writer, in 2011
Survival horror is a subgenre of horror games. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical action games through limited ammunition or weapons, health, speed, and vision, or through various obstructions of the player's interaction with the game mechanics. The player is also challenged to find items that unlock the path to new areas and solve puzzles to proceed in the game. Games make use of strong horror themes, such as dark mazelike environments and unexpected attacks from enemies.
Alone in the Dark (1992) is considered a forefather of the survival horror genre, and is sometimes called a survival horror game in retrospect.
The Silent Hill series, pictured above, introduced a psychological horror style to the genre. The most renowned was Silent Hill 2 (2001), for its strong narrative.
