.detuned Review (Can I Call it That?)

So the PlayStation Network has had a demoscene before, it was called Linger in Shadows. Aforementioned demo, was actually entertaining, and had some real potential for future demoscenes.

.detuned
Developer: .theprodukkt
Platform: PlayStation 3 (reviewed)

That potential, a year later has hit bottom with .detuned‘s release. At least the way I see it. At first I thought, “Hey, this’ll be cool if it’s like Linger in Shadows.” So I buy it, upon playing it, I notice that you are in “Demo” mode. Just some random animation of a guy sitting in a chair getting distorted to the beat, maybe getting up, just to sit back down.

You can of course skip it by pressing Square and entering interactive mode. Or watch it out, if you do, you can get a feel for what to expect in the interactive mode. It’s kinda cool, makes you think what you can do to the guy, and then watch it.

To my utter disbelief, the help section has some pretty vague tips. So I randomly pressed the buttons in generic patterns, and hitting R2 to “pump” the effect. This gave me some weird moments, the guy distorted, he got out of his chair, and then I tried another, and it went to default mode, not allowing the player to pile up effects.

So what else was there to do? I switched in some of my Distant Worlds music and tried to do it with that. Guess what? It stops as soon as the song ends, forcing you to choose another song. It also doesn’t allow you to save videos of what you did to songs. So anything you envisioned while watching the original demo is shattered.

It’s cool for like 3 minutes, after which, you can’t believe you just purchased this. It’s a waste of money, $3 is a bit much for something that most players will never touch again. I was under the impression I could in essence DJ my music and coreograph some sweet torture to the man, all the while recording it.

I was let down.

The Final Word
Even though Linger in Shadows gave me high hopes for demoscenes, this one isn’t really what I had in mind. Maybe if a little more had been added, I would’ve appreciated it more than a quick “lol wut” Trophy grab. Only more effort from .produkkt would have made it better.

– MonsterVine Rating: 1 out of 5 – Abysmal