" Did you see that, Zach?! Crisp as a Spring morning! F.K... In the coffee!!"

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This game is terrible.

The graphics, even upon release, looked more at home on the previous generation hardware than it did on the 360/PS3. The frame-rate never stays at its target of 30 fps, and at some moments were the gameplay shifts to multiple POVs for chase segments it stays pegged at a solid 15 fps, if that. The sound consistently clips, making you wonder if there is something wrong with your system (there isn't). The controls are tank-like and clunky, but functional. The gameplay takes place in a barren open world with basic collectible filler as well as some side quests. Filler is a apt way to describe a bulk of the game. The distance in between missions to travel through the empty world is way too far, sometimes taking 15 minutes just to drive to the next place while seeing nothing along the way. Additionally, many of the enemies, of which there of two variants, just take way too much time to kill. Particularly, the second variant, which you run into later in the game that likes to stick to walls and ceilings can take 5-10 minutes to kill and the game loves to throw multiple in a row at you; truly an eye-roll, groan inducing, experience every single time this enemy showed up.

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This game is freaking amazing.

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Picture Twin Peaks, but on steroids. Everything starts weird and ends ludicrous, but it all somehow works. The plot initially starts as fairly stereotypical hunt for a serial killer, but BLOWS THE FUCK UP as the game goes on; going off the rails in the best way possible by the end. The cast of characters and the plot can and will be your main motivation for finishing this game. Every one of the characters is memorable, with the backstory and motivations behind the main characters being particularly fascinating. The David Lynch influence is particularly evident in the way the game likes to put strange dialogue in or out of place music, such as playing a happy tune during a conversation about a grizzly murder. Special Agent Francis York Morgan (please call him York, that's what everyone calls him), skirts the line of blatant rip off, at least for the first part of the game, when comparing him to Twin Peaks main character Agent Cooper. In a way I can't really describe, the game starts to pull you in. Despite the terrible graphics and bad pacing, the game is still able to invoke a sense of relatability to the characters making you care or hate them, an intense atmosphere during critical or plot-twist moments, and a sense of mystery by leaving just enough ambiguous. The fact that the game is able to bring even half of the story elements to a close in a reasonable fashion is an achievement enough.

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This game is the definition of a hidden gem and I am so excited for the sequel coming this summer. 8.5 delicious cups of coffee out of 10.