Rise of Nightmares

What I love most about Rise of Nightmares is that it actually works. Having finished the game I'm still very impressed with how responsive all the movement controls were, and how well they meshed together to perform a very cohesive experience.

Rise of Nightmares had me in a sweat for most of the game, either from constantly being in movement when hacking and slashing through zombies, or from the sheer terror that I felt moving from one area to the next, never knowing what was coming up.

While still not a system seller, the fact that a game like this can and has been made for Kinect is a great step, and helps move things forward for the system. The level of immersion is a step in the right direction, and beats the rumble of a controller. You try not to squeal at least a little bit the first time something jumps on your character and you have to push it off of you. I dare you.

It's the first adults only game for Kinect, and it's one that will test your nerves: flesh, blood and gore en masse won't please everyone. For Kinect, it's one of the best games available.

This is virtual reality without the goggles and the gloves, and if you own a Kinect you should at least experience it once.

We're quite impressed with how well the Kinect controls worked in Rise of Nightmares. The combat itself, while repetitive is sloppy fun, as you lop off heads and kick someone back into the middle of next week – or maybe even an elaborate trap. Still, more could've been done with walking.

Rise of Nightmares is a fun Kinect game for those looking for some blood.

If you have a Kinect already, Rise of Nightmares should be in your library. It's a devilishly fun game that showcases the power of the Kinect and allows you to punch the undead in the face.

Rise of Nightmares is a fun game that harkens back to the House of the Dead series and with the controllerless capabilities, it definitely takes this genre to a new level. This makes it a much more immersive experience. In terms of originality, the gameplay is not the most original content of the year but as a Kinect title, it works quite well.

What's truly shocking is the fact that there is a real, substantiated horror experience tucked behind its Kinect veneer.

Rise of Nightmares is the first proper core game for Kinect. What the game lacks in the story- and graphics-department, it more than compansates for with innovative and intuitive gameplay. This bodes well for Xbox 360s motion sensor.

Rise of Nightmares is flawed fun.

It's important to remember, however, that underneath the trite atmosphere and awful writing, there lies an experience that allows you to physically sift through a pile of skulls and, later on, toss explosive spheres of arcane energy at your enemies.

It's fun, but faulted. Kinect does its job, but there are a few drawbacks that you must come to terms with to be able to appreciate this crazy adventure. Given kinect games' price, it's well worth a go if you have had enough of animals, sports and cute things.

A game with mixed results. It uses Kinect like never before, it is well executed and it marks the way for other games to follow, as it is one of the few "traditional" games adapted for Kinect-only gameplay. But it also has it flaws, and sometimes it is difficult to go back, turn or pick up weapons, and this harms the enjoyment of the game.

Rise of Nightmares is a decent horror game with great ideas and a spooky atmosphere but is let down by clunky movement controls.

Rise of Nightmares is an interesting attempt to bring something new to the Kinect, and for that it gets my vote. Though it stumbles along the way, it's a unique experience to play through, fighting off the undead and sprinting from abominations without a controller in sight. It's got its flaws, but if you got an interest in the horror genre, and a Kinect, take a stroll through a haunted landscape in Rise of Nightmares.

Overall, Sega's Rise of Nightmares makes valiant attempt at a creepy matured rated action horror game for the Kinect.

It's hard to recommend this one at full price, but if you're pretty patient I have a good feeling you will enjoy the experience Rise of Nightmares offers. If you're pretty sick of Kinect already, this is not going to be the game to sway you over.

It's an arse-ugly game to watch, but not without charm. [Dec 2011, p.]

Once over the control issues there is a pretty decent game to be played. However, it is hard to get over the feeling that the game could have been better off removing the movement controls and having a story driven fully on-rails hack em up type game.

It may not be perfect, but the hardcore gamer should be optimistic about the future.

Being the first true hardcore game for Kinect, Rise of Nightmares falls short of the challenge. Its b-movie aesthetic and nice combat system quickly gets tiresome due to the... nightmarish movement mechanics.

Movement and combat never really come together in a cohesive matter. When you're overrun by the undead or your weapon suddenly breaks and you need to defend and retreat, it becomes painfully obvious that the game can't handle multitasking or movements made in quick succession, and will perform only one (and sometimes none) of the many actions you need to survive.

Kinect has confused the gaming cosmos. Rise of Nightmares certainly isn't a good game - but just about passes for a good Kinect game.

Rise of Nightmares is a missed opportunity. The idea of a first person horror game made more immersive thanks to motion controls is a very good one, but it fumbles in the controls department due to a clunky exploration system and a too simplistic and repetitive combat system. It deserved to be better thought out and developed.

The use of Kinect in Rise of Nightmares is both its strongpoint as its weakness. It immerses you in a great survival-horror experience that has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained. But at the same time, the controls deliver so many frustrating moments that we can't really recommend it.

Awkward motion controls and shallow combat make Rise of Nightmares a frighteningly unremarkable adventure in zombie killing.

Rise of Nightmares is an interesting idea, an ambitious project followed by a catastrophic implementation. Walking on 3D locations sounds really promising, but its charm disappears after 10 minutes because of a too twisted control schema: considering this was the first horror hardcore game for Kinect, we can only hope for a brighter future for this genre.

Could have been properly ace if it has used Kinect and a controller in tandem. [Dec 2011, p.95]

It's a shame that a title that actually tries out some new ideas for Kinect doesn't manage to leave a better impression. For once though, the blame shouldn't be put on the motion sensor, but rather a lack of attention to graphics, sound and story.

More time in the oven (it may be years yet) may prove a glorious revolution. For now, the heinously awkward movement controls are as low-rent as the storyline.

It's not awful and, in a House of the Dead-while-standing-up kind of a way, it's acceptable, but only really worth buying if you have nothing else for the Kinect that you spunked money on and you've seen it going dirt cheap somewhere.

It's a mediocre survival horror game that demonstrates a lot of ambition on the part of Sega, but it clearly needed some more time in development.

SEGA deserves some respect for trying, but this fails (again) as becoming "the Kinect game for hardcore players".

Rise of Nightmares is gross, linear, ugly. Kinect does a good job in recognising movements of the videoplayer, but the control scheme is simply ludicrous and not functional.

Sega shows that they understand exactly how to make interesting Kinect challenges. Unfortunetly, the controls just doesn't cut it when the action get to hectic and in the end, Rise of Nightmares is a letdown.

Instead of embracing the technology on its own merits, the game is actually more an exercise in forcing Kinect to ape the functions – sometimes for good, but mostly ill – of a standard controller.

It's repetitive and full of admirable yet ultimately failed experiments, and there are many better titles worthy of your attention.

For better or worse, Rise of Nightmares doesn't support a standard controller. Even if it did, the game would still be just as guilty of blandness. Combine this sin with the constant control struggles, and it's tough to recommend this game for even the most desperate Kinect owner.

Just like the mad scientist whose baffling plot drives the action, Rise of Nightmares is a failed experiment.

If you get through it once, you won't want to re-live the experience.

Average at best, and a shining example of a control scheme struggling to find its strengths in a full game.

An excellent example of Kinect limitations – frustrating controls with an annoying delay in this case make Nightmares a forgettable piece with gore scenes and plenty of obscure weapons. [Nov 2011]

It's quickly frustrating. [Issue#77, p.91]

Rise of Nightmares was supposed to be a great game with excellent Kinect controls that was perfect for the hardcore gamers. However, due to poorly developed controls, Rise of Nightmares is a failed project.

The bottom line is that Rise Of Nightmares isn't as engaging or exciting as AM1's established brand. It's also too adult in its content to appeal to the younger users who might enjoy its gimmicky use of Kinect.

On the one hand it's a bold attempt at creating a real action adventure game using your body as a controller, but on the other it's an awkward, ugly mess that doesn't use its horror setting nearly as well as it should.

An admirable attempt to create a 'real' game for Kinect, but despite the simple arcade style gameplay the technology just can't keep up.

The ironic thing about Rise of Nightmares is that the control scheme is so basic it comes off feeling like a game for kids, when it tries so damn hard not to be. Even if you like the novelty of chopping off undead heads longer than I did, a bad horror game is a bad horror game. And Rise of Nightmares is a monster.

Could have been a passable romp through a zombie-infested castle of terror, but the frustrating controls, lack of horror elements, and sub-par presentation make it a game that's difficult to recommend, especially for the mature audience it's meant for.

If the game had been as unique as the controls, and it didn't just try to directly map first-person action gameplay onto a less responsive format, Rise of Nightmares could have been something pretty special. This game may not be that great, but it shows that the Kinect itself has potential.

Rise of Nightmares suffers from the syndrome of great ideas but poor execution.

Quotation forthcoming.