As mentioned in my review for Saw II, the concept of deciding your games ending with your own actions in a completely unrelated prologue with a completely unrelated character is interesting, Flesh and Blood just didn’t stick the landing. What if then, a different Saw game could?
Personally I don’t believe you could make a true to film Saw game unless it was some kind of Wario Ware or Rhythm Heaven type game, but if you’re willing to just take the vibe like the Zombie Studios duology then you can make things work. For this version of a Saw game, I’m taking inspiration from the likes of Telltale games, Supermassive games and even the original Resident Evil 2 (but not in the way you might think).
This article is a little more ‘Spitballing Ideas’ than other ‘Designing’ articles have been but I think that’s part of the charm.
There’s not even much you would have to change from the original games. I’d sack off the idea of having a main narrative following a character like Tapp and the people in his orbit. Every character should be completely unrelated to the other, their only similarity being that they are trapped in Jigsaw’s game.
The main change here as just alluded to above is that there are multiple characters and you would control them all, with your actions having consequences. The multiple characters wouldn’t necessarily cross paths with each other but they would tread similar ground. The idea being that a perfect run would have you controlling different characters at the perfect times to ensure they can progress and that the relevant items are there when they are needed.
Of course each person would have their own traps they have to escape from but due to the nature of the game you couldn’t really have the elaborate puzzles that require the second person (IE Tapp solving the puzzle to free somebody else). I suppose if you wanted to introduce a timing element in which you would have to maje sure one of your other characters was in a position to help.
I don’t know if the game would work better chapter based or just one continuous adventure in which you could freely switch between characters (Ala Grand Theft Auto V). I think there would have to be some sort of limit as having free control of everyone at all times would mean there’s no real decisions to be made.
Combat is a (lacklustre) element of these games and I’m not sure if I would include it here. If I did, I don’t think I’d use random goons. I think each character would have a stress meter of some description from failing puzzles or being hurt and if they get too stressed, they crack and hunt down the other players. This would mean you lose control of the character but could maybe see where they are like sight jacking from the SIREN games.
If there’s a stress meter, then other stats could be useful - health, stamina, combat prowess. Maybe the characters size - bigger characters can move heavier objects, smaller characters can fit in tight spaces. This would be useful for creating new paths for other characters or help solving their own traps.
I realise I’m describing a Dark Pictures game or one of the SIREN games with extra steps but I think those games have the perfect elements to mix with the SAW IP to give it a really good game. I suppose we’ll have to see what ends up happening with SAW: Genesis, though I don’t have much faith in the concept.
