Disaster Report (2002)

Disaster Report may have gotten some flak due to its cinematic nature or localization that changes everyone's name to Keith and Kelly and blondifies everything, but by no means is this a bad game.

Sure, it's short, the survival is simple, and its cinematic nature is more than enough to turn off people looking for an open-world survival experience similar to something like Pathologic. However, the set pieces it sets up are actually quite gripping and a pleasure to the eyes (which is good since the game itself chooses bland Tokyo aesthetic, which may work for some but not many). Buildings break and fall, water rises dangerously, and the player navigates through these dangers with quick thinking and the invaluable ability to brace oneself during an earthquake.

Racing a tsunami up a skyscraper? Check. Swimming around deadly park whirlpools? Check. Escaping a beautifully lit collapsing baseball stadium? Check and check.

Higher difficulties make it difficult to survive (mainly staying quenched through consistent use of water), but the game never becomes so absolutely frustrating on regular difficulties when you really need that drink.

Again, this is a short game, but it knows how to handle non-linearity; the player can choose to take care of one of two partners, resulting in alternate paths and situations. While it doesn't cover the entire game, it's very refreshing and gives Disaster Report some good replay value.

Is this game perfect? Nah. Mediocre? Not exactly; it's a wonderfully original concept that manages to create an exciting experience despite being a little rough around the edges.