The graphics compare poorly with those of other games, with stiff character movement and a lack of the kind of lighting effects and texturing that make games like Splinter Cell and "Ico" so stunning. These flat graphics are somewhat counterbalanced by the scope and detail of the city and by those impressive moments when something huge falls into the street in a blast of dust and debris.
The game's engine has difficulty drawing complex scenes, though, and game play unfolds in slow motion when there is too much detail onscreen.
Disaster Report's weakest aspect is its sound effects. A character walking on concrete makes the sound of a pencil tapping a tabletop, and footsteps on a lawn sound like gravel in a cement mixer. At times one has to stop and puzzle out a sound. Is that a car alarm? Is that ragged sound supposed to be wind? Sometimes I couldn't figure it out.
At the other end of the spectrum is Primal, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Primal is everything Disaster Report is not: slick, professional, good-looking, well-acted. And boring.
Primal is the story of Jen, who lands in the hospital after she and her rock singer boyfriend are attacked by a huge monster. Soon a gargoyle named Scree takes Jen to a demonic realm where she learns to transform herself into various demon shapes to fight for her boyfriend's life. The player can control both Scree, who can climb walls and bring statues to life, and Jen, who can fight and use her various demonic abilities.
Primal sounds fun, but the experience is disappointing. Much of the game involves wandering around trying to figure out where to go next, a task made only slightly easier by Scree's advice and the game's rather sketchy map. When you stumble upon some antagonists, a fight ensues, but such conflicts involve little more than pushing a couple of buttons and running around a bit. It hardly even matters which button you push. Your foes don't seem very bright, and rather than ganging up on you they will often politely wait their turn to attack.
Primal is such a slickly made game that I had trouble giving up on it. I played it for hours, feeling bored, and then a few days later sat down and played it some more. I kept thinking it would get better: How could such a stylishly designed game not be fun? I still can't help but wonder whether the game improves later on -- if one of the demon forms I have not yet achieved is more fun to fight with, for example, or if other demonic realms are better designed. But I've already sunk about 15 hours into the game, during which I experienced about 45 minutes of fun.
Although I played Disaster Report for only about 12 hours, I got 12 hours of tremendous fun out of it. With the backing of Sony and a heavy advertising budget, it seems likely that Primal will outsell the relatively obscure Disaster Report, and that's a shame.
Disaster Report, whose game play belies its imperfect appearance, is like an unexpected gift, whereas Primal is like a gorgeously wrapped present that when opened turns out to have nothing inside.
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