Ambitious, unique and completely bizarre, Raw Danger holds a huge place in my heart. It is with great pleasure for me to write this piece, exposing a game that dared to be different, was criminally overlooked and in some cases, not even released. So if I could ask you, dear reader to abandon all your preconceptions of video game mechanics, aesthetics and conventions. Tonight we slide open the sluice gates of suspense and poke fun of Pandora’s Box as we immerse ourselves in the Raw Danger!
After my enjoyment of SOS you can imagine my excitement to read about a sequel in the works. Given the fact that these games were very niche and probably only sold a small amount outside of Japan it was hard to follow the games development. I went on what little information I had at the time and confusing release dates lead me to wonder if it was even coming out at all.
After reading up on forums and asking staff at local game retailers I was upset to find that Raw Danger was never released in the UK probably due to lack of interest. I wasn't ready to give up though, after further research on forums I had heard of UK residents importing a copy from Europe where it had been available for a while and not only that the game was in English (aside from the manual and the blurb on the back), excellent! So after a fiddle on with my limited linguistic skills I managed to secure a copy from ebay France. Needless to say it was worth the wait.
Much like it’s predecessor Raw Danger follows the story of survivors of a natural disaster hoping to escape from a city before it’s too late. This time we are able to take control of five characters instead of just one and also a sixth special guest.
- Joshua Harwell, Awkward young student and main man of the game. Disaster strikes Joshua while he’s working at a large banquet and he ends up fighting to escape with co-worker (and obligatory love interest), Stephanie. He also gets to ride a jet-ski down a motorway!
- Amber Brazil is caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, becoming a murder suspect when she visits her brother moments after the killer leaves the crime scene. Amber is able to escape prison when an earthquake hits the police station. Her scenario has light stealth sections, featuring the persistent pursuit from a police detective comparable to T-1000.
- Issac Schiller, Middle aged taxi driver gets roped into escorting a fiesty reporter around the city who hopes to get the big scoop. His campaign involes driving a taxi which handles like a trolley on ice.
- Paige Meyer, Quiet teen student stuck at high school during the disaster. Paige gets lumped with a girl who would constantly bully her, as well as being stalked by a creepy perverted teacher.
- Ivan Kozlov, Obligatory amnesiac and researcher for NorCal Pharmaceutical. Ivan realises his work may have something to do with the natural disaster going on in Geo City.
- *Spoilers* The final, “Secret” character of the game is Keith Helm (The hero from the last game). To absolutely no fanfare Keith is unlocked after completing certain requirements in the other chapters. Being an expert on disasterous scenarios Keith feels he has to butt in and steal the show using his amazing journalism powers.
Some of the character have special “Skills” for instance Joshua can give warm hugs, Amber is able to pickpocket and Ivan can listen to his car radio.
With bland visuals, awful animation and terrible box-art it’s easy to see why this game could’ve been overlooked but here are some interesting features that bring the game back around.
As you go through the game interacting with people and the environment, you effect the events that may happen in your future playthroughs as the other characters for better or worse. Making for some interesting outcomes that actually can make a difference and be an incentive for replaying the game.
In the previous game the main threat the player faced was earthquakes and the particular gimmick attached to SOS was hydration; having to drink water to maintain stamina. In Raw Danger we have to deal with constant rainfall and floods and the gimmick this time around is keeping our survivors warm, we do this by changing into dry clothes, huddling up to a makeshift fire and also eating hot food. Great original mechanics here but we’ve only scratched the surface to what makes Raw Danger so special.
As I mentioned before Raw Danger is a very bizarre game with a weird sense of humour. Just to bring up an example, It’s obvious that the game was made in Japan and as a result all of the characters were originally designed to look like Japanese people, nothing out of the ordinary there. But when it came to making the transition into the USA and Europe the developers must have thought to themselves How can we make this appeal more to a western audience? I know we'll change the colour of the characters hair (and make one of the characters African-American).
In an unusual move, all of the characters and NPCs in the game (bar two) are blonde. What you have now is a city almost exclusively arian, creepily reminiscent of The Children of the Corn.
It doesn't stop there though other ridiculous features include the return of the collectable compasses for SOS that come in all shapes and sizes, imagine navigating yourself through a hazardous environment with a plate of curry.
Changing clothes is essential for survival but it also provides plenty of room to dress your character like a complete plonker. You can start your adventure decked out in Matalan’s finest and end up wearing an anorak made out of carrier bags with a Groucho Marx mask on or even look like a cross between a Pirate and Santa Claus. In a side quest going through all of the campaigns the player is given opportunities to persuade a psychotic jewel thief to hand over precious jewels which can potentially unlock a secret “Super Anorak” which is day-glo pink colour and lined with those jewels you’ve collected. Madness. Conventional fashion has no place in times of struggle.
During gameplay you’re also given a certain action that when exploited, makes for some hilarious moments, for example one of the shoulder buttons has your character cup their hands around their mouths and shout “Hey!” in the context of some scenarios this makes sense like alerting a rescue team to your whereabouts or distracting someone. From the top of my head though I can only think of two instances where this is required to be used in game. Every other time I would use it as a Tourettes Button, disrupting a solemn occasion or shouting at a squatting man’s arse just to break all immersion and illusions of realistic story.
To top it all off though, the weirdest, most unconventional feature of the game is the story and dialogue choices. It is very common now in games to let the player choose their own story through dialogue choices usually molding the player character into a Good guy, Bad guy or Neutral alignment. Have the character be cool, romantic or funny. Raw Danger certainly does that but instead you usually have the options to be Nice guy, Arsehole or Weirdo. I’ll give some brief examples to get help paint the amazing and terrible possibilities in this game.
(Spoilers again!)
Playing Joshua’s scenario you become separated from Stephanie when the floor crumbles beneath her. After a brief assault course of rubble and flooded areas you find her unconscious on the floor. Rushing to the scene you are given three options
- Shake her gently?
- Slap her?
- Sniff her?
In the finale of Amber’s scenario it is revealed that her travelling partner turns out to be her brother’s killer, who has been following her to get a hold of some MacGuffin, Amber knows the location of. Of course the options through dialogue choices can be used to express your shock and hatred for the murderer but Raw Danger being the saucy game that it is, gives you the option to also Confess your undying love for the murderer and outrage that he would turn on you, Lick the murder weapon and even become angry at the fact that he was able to murder her brother before she got the chance. Baffling.
There are copious examples of the lunacy you can achieve, that I could write about ad nauseum but I won’t. What I will finally reveal is The Greatest Sequence in Videogame History!
( link to video http://youtu.be/NzfnwRVr6Sw )
The final scenario unlockable in game, we are placed in the shoes of Keith Helm, hero from the previous game in the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series. Following the tragic events of SOS, Keith has been left with a gammy leg and a cane and unfortunately for him he has to escape a multi storey mall, walking at a snail’s pace up escalators while water gradually floods each floor.The whole level can be compared to peeling an orange with a toothpick and I think it perfectly sums up the whole game. I would have loved to have been a fly on a wall when the dev team thought “This, is our finale!” It’s an absolute spectacle to watch or play, hilariously tense it’s like nothing else you will have seen and it begs the standing ovation that great acts of theatre receive.
Offhand its hard for me to think of games being funny or even me physically laughing whilst playing but I have wept tears of joy playing this game. If at this point you are still unable to grasp my love for this wierd and wonderfull game then I have failed, but if any of this madness has resonated with you and you get the sense of humour in this game. I urge you to track down a copy and experience it for yourself.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Please put your hands together for Raw Danger!
Thanks for reading,
Kris
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