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Dreamkiller is a new first-person shooter where players control Dr. Alice Drake, a psychologist with the ability to enter people’s dreams, and who is “the last guardian of your peace of mind”. Alice is a punky-looking heroine with piercings and tattoos, definitely not a standard psychologist type. The Doctor’s mission is to delve into patients’ dreams and destroy the hordes of nightmares infecting the sub-conscious.

The Doctor has 12 patients in need of her unique talents, all with different problems, from arachnophobia to mania-phobia, to agateophobia.  Each level takes place in the dreams of one of these 12 patients, giving each its own original environment, art style and enemies. There is also a second layer within each level, like a dream within a dream, where the enemies and environments are different from those of the main levels.

Alice will try to kill as many enemies as she can, using a variety of weapons and supernatural special powers, including a telekinetic force push and a fireball shot out the mouth of Alice’s dragon tattoo, before taking on an end level boss.  If she beats the boss, she will free the individual’s mind from its nightmares, and cure the patient’s specific mental affliction.  Dr. Drake starts each level with only her special powers, but can find various scattered weapons to aid her mission.

All the weapons in the game have dual-fire attacks; if the doctor finds a grenade launcher,  it will not only launch grenades but also radiate a wave blast.  Although the Doctor will only be able to carry one weapon at a time, it will have unlimited ammunition, and the ability to upgrade  to different ammunition types, including lightning bolts, lasers, sticky grenades, and my favorite, happy thoughts.  As is often the case, each weapon has its own distinct disadvantages, like slow reload time, slow firing speed, or poor accuracy. No need to worry though, as you can upgrade each weapon to reduce their drawbacks.

In addition to the weapons and the previously mentioned special abilities, Alice is be able to perform a transportation jump to a surrounding area, giving you the option of jumping away if things are getting too crowded. She can’t go through walls but she can jump to a clear area or an area of strategic advantage in the local vicinity.

The levels have been designed to reflect the infinite possibilities of the mind and you are thrown into weird worlds with spiderlike creatures, or cityscapes with freaky generic businessmen, or a puppet master theatre, complete with scary dolls. No matter what your surroundings are, you’re guaranteed a frenzied, nonstop, old-school shooter experience, with nowhere to hide.

As usual, you have a HUD for keeping track of essential information, like a health level, energy gauges for your special powers, and a kill counter that activates an alternate mode, in which enemies are more visible and your attacks become more powerful.
In addition to the single player story, there are also several multiplayer modes, including a 4-player, Quake-style deathmatch. Other modes include time trial, conquest and capture the flag.
If you’re the type of gamer that likes re-playing games on different difficulties, you’ll be glad to hear that Dreamkiller has 3 different difficulty settings, all with dream-related names-  Bad Dream, Nightmare and Insanity.

The gameplay is split up by various cut scenes that consist of motion comic style images and a voiceover. The images are dark and atmospheric and have a high level of detail, but the overall feel is a lot different from the frantic action in the game.

Dreamkiller is the latest project to come from Mindware Studios, who has previously developed only 2 titles in its 7 year history.  Cold War, and more importantly Painkiller: Overdose, of which Dreamkiller is the sequel, were developed using Mindware’s own in-House engine. This engine, simply called Meng, is again used in Dreamkiller with the addition of PhysX technology, most recently utilized in Batman Arkham Asylum, to add a sense of realism to the game. I’m not sure if this works that well, as the game’s visuals are pretty far away from realistic.

The concept of this game is one that has been used well in films like Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Cell,  and the gameplay and visual style is close to Bioshock, so this game has lots of potential, but with frequent mid-level loading, and a risk of gameplay getting overly repetitive, I think it would be better waiting for the price to go down before giving it a play.

Dreamkiller is currently available on Steam and is also scheduled for release on the XBox 360.

Neilio is a freelance writer. If you liked his article please check out his Amazon Store.

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If you’re anything like me, you love gaming, and you love horror movies. Deadly Premonition combines the two in an action packed, gore fueled, third person shooter.

You play Agent Francis York Morgan, an eccentric, 30-something FBI agent with a love of Tom and Jerry cartoons. York specializes in profiling, and he uses these profiling skills to uncover the truth about a series of gruesome murders that lead him to the creepy, isolated town of Greenvale.

Agent Morgan has had his share of life-changing incidents, including the death of his parents, which has left him with some mental scars, but that’s nothing compared to what he will experience among the mountains of the Pacific northwest.

He is sent to investigate the “Red Seed” murders and is led to believe that a killer from the towns past has returned to finish his blood-soaked killing streak and to halt Agent Morgan’s investigation permanently. Agent Morgan must work his way though the town, on foot or by car, examining crime scenes and interviewing the inhabitants in a bid to further his investigation.

There are a lot of dangers to look out for in this strange town, the worst being a freaky girl that walks backwards and likes to reach her arm into people via their mouths. Quicktime events will be used to escape from these deadly situations. On your journey around the town you will see a lot of bleeding trees, symbols written in blood on walls and on ceilings, and you will need to be careful not to run into any crazed villagers, as most are equipped with baseball bats, chainsaws, pick axes and golf clubs. Expect a frosty reception.

You’ll be glad to know that you wo’nt just be using your hands to fight them, as the town has its very own gun shop, called “Panda Bear”, owned by the local gunsmith, Wesley. Weapons include pistols, submachine guns, knives and the old favorite, a metal pipe. Other characters you will meet include Ushah Johnson, the primary doctor and autopsy expert of Greenvale, and Thomas Maclaine, an assistant form the town sheriff’s department. Also, any information York finds out about the investigation is reported to a mysterious contact known only as Zach. I’m sure Zach’s involvement will become clearer in the later stages of the game. Some other character profiles are available on the official website (deadlypremonition.com), as well as background info, wallpapers, and an option to listen to some of the soundtrack. You can also gain added insight into the towns paranormal activities via Agent Morgan’s Twitter page (@agent_york).

Cut scenes in the game include flashbacks and images of grisly deaths, and in one particular scene, players will assume the role of the town’s mystery serial killer, as he cuts down villagers with his axe.

For me, the visuals of the game are nothing to shout about. It looks pretty standard, but with not a lot to go on but a handful of screenshots and one trailer, it’s hard to make an informed judgement. Hopefully, towards the release date, we will see a lot more inspiring game footage and screens.

Back in 2007, this game was known as Raining Woods and was set for a multi-platform release, but recent news indicates that Deadly Premonition will be an Xbox exclusive. The game’s name and story had to be changed due to its similarities to cult classic TV series Twin Peaks.

Publisher Ignition Entertainment has released statements claiming this title has been developed to evoke emotional responses from the player in an attempt to make the game as suspense-filled as possible, and they promise an “astounding” ending if players can solve the series of interlocking mysteries.

The game is being developed by Access Games, based in Osaka, Japan, and this is only their second original game since their inception in 2002. Other games they have been involved with include Ace Combat X and Spy Fiction. Given their relative inexperience in this genre, it’s hard to gauge how good this title will be, and with games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill already out, Deadly Premonitions will have to be something special to compete with these old favorites.

Due out in early 2010, Deadly Premonitions is set for a budget release in the US, but as yet there is no release scheduled for the UK and Europe.

Neilio is a freelance video game writer.

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