Rise of Nightmares - Kinect Compatible (Xbox 360)

Rise of Nightmares is a horror game controlled entirely with Kinect.
You play as Josh- an alcoholic- on holiday with his wife as a last ditch attempt to save his marriage.
Whilst travelling through Eastern Europe the train is attacked and de-railed, and his wife kidnapped, leaving him and the other survivors stranded in a dark forest. They seek refuge in an ominous looking castle..........

GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS

The most important thing to consider is whether or not you'd feel comfortable with the control scheme, as it does require some degree of co-ordination on your part.

From a standing (neutral) position, by placing either foot forward - your character (in game) moves forward, similarly by placing a foot backwards you move backwards.

Turning is achieved by twisting your shoulders (to the left/right).
To interact - just hold one hand out, to fight - put both hands up like a boxer.

The controls felt awkward at first, but became more instinctive after a few hours play. It's responsive and Kinect picks up movements well.

The `auto walk' option (activated by raising your right hand) helps if you're struggling, (although I rarely used it).
It also helps to point you in the right direction if ever you're unsure where to go next. But it can't be used in certain rooms (those with traps.)
Head-tracking works in cutscenes and side-stepping during boss-fights only.

When fighting, you automatically lock on to the nearest enemy, health recovers gradually, you can defend (by crossing your arms), and can only hold one main weapon at a time - which can degrade and break.

There's a variety of one/two handed and projectile weapons (axes, chainsaws, explosives etc) and a few other `special surprises'! You can target an enemy's limbs with melee weapons, and use your feet to kick them back (useful when surrounded.)
One handed weapons can be held in either left or right hands, and you can always use your `kick' attack - even when defending.

The variety of enemies give combat an element of strategy, e.g zombies - some spew acid, have weapons, armour, can self destruct etc, which effects how you approach each situation.
There are creepy clown dolls, banshee's that can deafen you with screams (cover your ears - no really - Kinect can detect it,) and a Frankenstein-like giant who has poor sight and detects you by movement and sound (so you have to stay perfectly still/quiet when he's close!)

A few rooms require you to dodge mechanical traps, they look daunting - but are easy to get past if you think about what you're doing.

The game also features context based events and some simple puzzles - which use Kinect in a number of interesting ways. They mimic real-life movements and add a lot of variety to the combat heavy game play.

The game has an arcade-like feel, the combat has depth, but the adventure elements are fairly simple, although there is a good variety to them, and always something new to see and do just around the corner.

GRAPHICS

The graphics, whilst not the best are suitably atmospheric. The character models/monsters are detailed, lip synching and animation is fine. There is no screen tearing or slowdown.

Some locations feel `empty', (early on), but the environments become larger, and the art style more fantastical the further into the game you go.

SOUND

The in game music fits the setting. Character voices are a little cheesy and the script OTT, but it fits the b-movie, tongue-in-cheek style.

There is one irritating part in the graveyard when one character keeps repeating the same line of dialogue whenever you walk past, but apart from that it's fine.

FEATURES

It's a single player game, has multiple difficulty settings and is rated +18 for a reason (excessive gore / bad language.)
The story mode has nine chapters (providing approx 10 - 12hrs play time), plus three 'challenge levels'.

The presentation is good - and the menus are easy to navigate.
The environments are open to exploration, but story progression is linear. There are collectibles - detective tapes, tarot cards, and secret events, plus there's a chapter select option.

OVERALL

I found Rise of Nightmares to be a refreshing, unique and immersive experience that uses Kinect in a number of innovative ways.
In turns scary, tense, goofy and funny, it's a little rough in places but overall a worthwhile and memorable experience.
But, I stress, the whole experience depends upon whether you can feel comfortable with the control scheme and the level of co-ordination required.

RECOMMENDED
If you like B-Movie horror
If you like The House of the Dead, Splatterhouse or older Resident Evil games.
If you bought Kinect for new game experiences.

AVOID
If you feel the control system sounds too odd or complicated.
If you're expecting AAA blockbuster quality.
If you're expecting a serious in depth adventure game.

The controls for this can sound daunting but in truth I got used to them within the first 15-30 minutes of play. At the beginning you are rather concious of the 'lag' from when you perform an action to when the game carries it out, however within the first 45-60 minutes I found that I no longer noticed a lag... I reckon it's so small that you can begin to unconsciously predict it and time your moves accordingly.

Surprisingly for me at least, I found the story better than I had first expected, the game takes the time to set the scene and guides you through with decent cut-scenes. The graphics are in a sort of 'House of the Dead' style in which the gritty style seems well suited to the game.

There is a wide variety of weapons which is good, and the game is pretty good at getting the targeting of individual limbs correct which proves helpful if your foe has a particular fleshy part you want to target - usually the head is a good bet :)

In addition to the storyline you can find 'tapes' left by a detective who was here before you and your group, and these were pleasantly interesting to listen to. I found myself scouring every area to make sure I didn't miss one because they always left me wanting to know what happened next.

The variety of enemies is good and some well thought out variations require some thought before you tackle them. For example if you find a banshee (who's screams making you have to cover your ears - a great touch as Kinect recognises this) you will be vulnerable to non-banshee enemies who will attack you undeterred by the screaming while you are still covering your ears. Other enemies who use some kind of projectile vomit can cover a lot of your screen with green-stuff, a good tactic is to try and lure an enemy between you and your ranged foe and wait your moment.

When I got this game I brought the Kinect up from the family room (unlike most Kinect titles this is NOT a family game). However I originally found the game unresponsive even after tweaking with the Kinect calibration and trying to exaggerate my movements. Then I came to a realisation... I was wearing black Jeans while using Kinect on a dark blue carpet (as opposed to the shiny wooden flooring of the family room). I quickly swapped into a pair of cream shorts which, to my immense satisfaction, solved the problem entirely - they are now my dedicated Rise Of Nightmares shorts :)

Over all I think this game is a very promising start to full-on Kinect games, apart from having some bad points such as the inability to look up and down, I would say this game is a definite buy for anyone who wants to see how Kinect can handle a full game rather than only mini-games. It certainly surprised me with how well it copes. It is exciting to think that developers are still fiddling with Kinect and hence future games should improve quite a lot further from this. The one thing this game requires is patience and for you to try and immerse yourself in the game and it's controls. Also, never forget the golden rule of Kinect - close the curtains (or someone might see you)

.......it's alot of fun once you get the hang of the control mechanic. I did wonder if I'd made the right choice in buying this game this evening but the assistant at my local Asda store said he'd refund me if I didn't like it, unusual but I took him up on his offer and purchased the game.

Initially I made sure the Kinect was properly calibrated, takes a few minutes but is well worth doing. Once the game starts take your time and learn the onscreen prompts for the movement etc, it doesn't take long , although having said that, my initial reaction was that the graphics were pretty good but how am I gonna learn and remember the various moves.....shouldn't have worried as once the story starts you are prompted all the way through and after about 10 or 15 minutes I was instinctively and almost automatically playing the game and starting to enjoy the title.

The game is pretty gory and bloody , I wouldnt say I was scared but I did get the feeling of the hair standing up on the back of my neck a few times in the half hour I played it.

Give it a chance people and persevere with it for around 20 to 30 minutes and you will get the hang of the controls and really get into the game. A great title in my opinion and hopefully the start of things to come. I like the sports titles but I wanted something different to do with the Kinect and this title has certainly given me food for thought and should see the Kinect take gaming in a different and fun direction. Excellent stuff, enjoy everyone.