Knee Deep (PlayStation 4) Review

Knee Deep is, before anything else, a narrative-driven game that borrows from some very interesting places. It would be a standard adventure title if it didn't do so much to set itself apart, but, really, that's what it is. Your journey through the small town of Cypress Knee feels on-rails, as you won't be controlling your characters' actions at all—just their decisions—and it's absolutely fantastic.

The bedrock of the gameplay is that it's all presented as a play, albeit on a multi-million-dollar stage that's far more advanced than most plays. Characters will walk onto platforms and be pulled towards the camera, as the stage turns behind them to show their transition to other locations. Walls raise as characters transition into buildings, and everything adheres to the theatre theme so well; the actors even sound like they are yelling to get their voices to carry across a large amphitheatre. For this alone, Knee Deep deserves a rare level of praise few games can often hope for. It's not just unique; it's surprising the level of detail the game holds just to remain unique.

Everything you do in Cypress Knee is handled by simple decision making. Players are told early on that you can't fail, and that's evident as the game simply has characters' mood towards you change as you make these decisions. Some of these decisions are purposefully meaningless, it would seem, as Phaedra's strange responses seem like they are meant to be funny, and Jack's belligerent responses are seemingly cathartic. One of the deeper characters, K.C., seems to have given up on the world, and his cynicism just builds his character more as time goes on.

The biggest decisions are handled when you post stories. Phaedra, real name Romana, is a disgraced blogger, while Jack is a journalist with serious home troubles. K.C. is a private eye hired to investigate the central case, which involves a Hollywood actor killing themselves in a very macabre way. All of them have to send in stories, whether to their client, blog or newspaper. You can choose whether to play it safe with the story, be a bit more reckless, or go full rogue and post something incredibly edgy and possibly offensive.

It's often leveraged against choice driven games that the choices don't really matter. Knee Deep doesn't leave that problem much room to rear its ugly head. Choices make a difference, almost immediately, in dialogue and how characters view you. It means players actually feel like they need to stick to their choices, the weight actually mattering in the here and now.

One of Cypress Knee's more maleficent groups is the Church of We. They provide a very ominous backdrop to the story, which leads to one of Knee Deep's biggest accomplishments. Many people have accused games of not tackling bigger subject matter than alien invasions and massive wars. Knee Deep manages to fit everything from religion to divorce in its depths. This means it may offend or drive some players away, but at least it can be said it was willing to take risks.

Despite all its charm and depth, Knee Deep suffers some flaws that drag it backwards from perfect. For one thing, there's an issue with its theatre aesthetic that can't be overlooked. There are times where the music is simply too loud, and it's hard to hear what the characters are saying. Also, the character models are rough, almost appearing like mannequins. The animation remains very fluid, and the environment is top notch, which makes the dull and lifeless character models all the more obvious.

One of the most jarring things, though, is the mini-games. Knee Deep is fantastic when it's just making choices to advance the story. The mini-games are massive disconnect, and frankly, they're not very fun. For instance, an early one has you arranging a QR code to make the broken pieces all fit together, like a jigsaw puzzle. It's not only incredibly boring, and the controls are very odd, but it actually gives you visual cues when you have each piece in the right spot. It's almost like the developers knew it was boring, so they gave you a cheat to get passed it.