Dreamkiller

Last updated
Dreamkiller
Dreamkiller.jpg
Developer(s) Mindware Studios
Publisher(s) Aspyr
Composer(s) Ján Dušek
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: October 12, 2009
  • EU: October 12, 2009
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multi-player

Dreamkiller is a dark fantasy first-person shooter where the player takes on the role of Alice Drake, a psychologist with the ability to enter the minds of her patients to fight the monsters appearing in their dreams. The game is developed by Mindware Studios and published by Aspyr for Microsoft Windows.

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay is heavily based on Painkiller . The player progresses through various levels, battling hordes of monsters. There are different weapons for the player to use, from a fire spell to a minigun. The action takes place in dreams, so locations are all based on a person's personal phobia: a zoo infested with spiders, an arctic area full of sunken ships, a factory-like place filled with living machinery, a hospital, a twisted forest, and more. Each level is preceded by a comic-like cutscene, and is usually culminated with a battle against a boss, which is an enforced version of an enemy previously encountered. The game has its own achievement system.

Plot

Alice Drake is a very special psychologist, who enters her patients' dreams and battles their fears, which take forms of insane monsters. As the game progresses, she is confused by the fact that the number of her patients suddenly increases, and their fears becomes more and more insane, usually manifesting and creating phobia suddenly, without a proper medical history. As she clears the minds of her patients, she learns of an evil entity, the Dream Devourer, that feeds on human dreams, corrupting them and bringing insanity. Eventually, she is forced to battle in her own mind, where she finds a way to locate the entity. In order to put an end to insanity it brought to the real world, she enters the Dream Devourer's domain and slays it.

Reception

Dreamkiller received an aggregated rating of 47 on Metacritic, indicating a "generally unfavorable" response with the highest rating being 70/100. [1]

GameSpot gave the game a 5/10, praising its level and enemy design but criticizing the gameplay for not being engaging. [2] IGN gave the game a lower score of 4.2/10, criticizing it for being "tedious and repetitive". [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Painkiller</i> (video game) 2004 first-person shooter video game

Painkiller is a first-person shooter video game developed by Polish game studio People Can Fly and published by DreamCatcher Interactive in April 2004 for Microsoft Windows and ported to Xbox in 2006. The game's single player campaign follows a dead man in Purgatory who is offered a deal to defeat the invading forces of Lucifer's army in exchange for being allowed to enter Heaven. The game was particularly well-received for its multiplayer experience and was featured for two seasons on the Cyberathlete Professional League's World Tour.

<i>Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time</i> 2005 video game

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in late 2005. It is the second game in the Mario & Luigi series, and is the prequel/sequel to the 2003 Game Boy Advance game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The game was later re-released for the Wii U as a Virtual Console title in 2015, available for purchase from the Nintendo eShop.

<i>Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!</i> 2005 video game

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, known in Japan as Viewtiful Joe: Scratch!, is a video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It was released in 2005 in Japan and North America. Capcom partnered with Nintendo to distribute the game in Europe and Australia in early 2006. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! is the fourth game released in the Viewtiful Joe series. The game's story opens on the set of director Captain Blue's new action movie in an amusement park called Movieland. When a mysterious group of villains known as Madow steal the only copy of the film, the superhero Viewtiful Joe and his younger sister Jasmine quickly give chase.

<i>Drake of the 99 Dragons</i> 2003 video game

Drake of the 99 Dragons is a third-person shooter video game developed by Swedish studio Idol FX and published by Majesco Sales. The game stars Drake, an undead assassin who is on a quest to avenge his murdered clan, the 99 Dragons, by recovering their ancient "Soul Portal Artifact" from antagonist Tang. Tang intends on using the artifact to harvest the souls of dead beings and power his undead cyborg army.

<i>Blue Dragon</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Blue Dragon is a role-playing video game developed by Mistwalker and Artoon and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. Blue Dragon is based on a design by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who also supervised development and wrote the plot. It is both Mistwalker's debut title and the first title to be helmed by Sakaguchi outside of Square Enix.

<i>Clock Tower 3</i> 2002 survival horror video game

Clock Tower 3 is a survival horror video game co-produced by Capcom and Sunsoft for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2002, it is the fourth installment in the Clock Tower series, and the first and only video game directed by Japanese film director Kinji Fukasaku. The plot and characters have very little relation with the previous Clock Tower games. The story follows 14-year-old Alyssa Hamilton who is part of a family lineage of female warriors who travel through time to defeat evil spirits. Alyssa travels from her time in 2003 London to the 1940s and 1960s in order to defeat these "Entities" and bring peace to troubled souls.

<i>Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology</i> 2006 video game

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is a Japanese action role-playing game developed by Alfa System and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is part of the Tales series of video games, more specifically a part of the Tales of the World spin-off series, which heavily emphasizes the crossover appearances of characters from past games in the series. The game was released in 2006 in Asia; July 2007 in North America; and September 2007 in Australia and Europe. The game saw two sequels, Radiant Mythology 2 and Radiant Mythology 3, though neither were released outside Japan, leaving it as the only Tales of the World entry to be translated into English.

<i>Hunter: The Reckoning – Wayward</i> 2003 hack-and-slash video game

Hunter: The Reckoning – Wayward is a 2003 hack-and-slash shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software and published by Vivendi Universal Games for the PlayStation 2. It is based on the tabletop role-playing game Hunter: The Reckoning, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. It is a sequel to the 2002 video game Hunter: The Reckoning, and was followed by Redeemer in 2003.

<i>Crash: Mind over Mutant</i> 2008 video game

Crash: Mind over Mutant is a platform video game developed by Radical Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360. The Nintendo DS version of the game was developed by TOSE. It was released in North America on October 7, 2008 and was later released in Europe and Australia on October 29 and October 31 respectively. It is the second game in the series not to have a Japanese release, after Crash of the Titans. It is the first game in the franchise to be published by Activision following its merging with the series' previous publisher Vivendi Games, and the last major console entry as a whole until 2017's Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a remaster of the first three Crash games.

<i>Summon Night: Twin Age</i> 2007 video game

Summon Night: Twin Age is an action role-playing game in the Summon Night series for the Nintendo DS. Summon Night uses a party based system of three characters at a time and a fully touch-based control system. The game was developed by Flight-Plan and published by Atlus. It was released in Japan on August 30, 2007 and in North America on June 3, 2008.

<i>A Witchs Tale</i> 2009 video game

A Witch's Tale, released in Japan as Witch Tale: The Apprentice Witch and the Seven Princesses, is a video game for the Nintendo DS. It was published by Nippon Ichi Software and developed by Hit Maker. The game was initially planned for a Winter 2008 release, but was pushed back to 2009.

<i>Bolt</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Bolt is a video game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and Microsoft Windows. It is based on the 2008 film of the same name. Mark Walton, Sean Donnelan, and Malcolm McDowell reprise their roles as Rhino, Penny's TV father, and Dr. Calico respectively. Miley Cyrus, who voiced Penny, is replaced by Ashleigh Prather.

<i>The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile</i> 2011 video game

The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up video game. It was developed by Ska Studios and released for the Xbox 360 via XBLA on April 6, 2011, and for the Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS on May 12, 2017 via Steam. It is the sequel to The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, also by Ska Studios, released in 2009. Players assume the roles of The Dishwasher and his stepsister Yuki, in two separate solo campaigns, as they battle through legions of enemies and try to unravel the secrets of their pasts. The main story revolves around The Dishwasher's quest for universal freedom and Yuki's quest for revenge against the three marks of power that robbed her of her life. The game was showcased at the PAX East 2010 convention.

<i>Alice: Madness Returns</i> 2011 video game

Alice: Madness Returns is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Spicy Horse and released by Electronic Arts for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is the sequel to American McGee's Alice (2000) and was directed by series creator American McGee.

<i>Pokémon Rumble Blast</i> 2011 video game

Pokémon Rumble Blast, known in the PAL region as Super Pokémon Rumble and known in Japan as Super Pokémon Scramble, is an action beat 'em up video game developed by Ambrella and published by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan on August 11, 2011, in North America on October 24, 2011 and in Europe on December 2, 2011. It is a successor to the 2009 WiiWare release Pokémon Rumble.

<i>The Evil Within</i> 2014 video game

The Evil Within is a survival horror video game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game was directed by Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami and was released worldwide in October 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

<i>Hyperdimension Neptunia</i> (video game) 2010 video game

Hyperdimension Neptunia is a 2010 role-playing video game developed by Idea Factory and published by Compile Heart in Japan, NIS America in North America and Tecmo Koei in Europe exclusively for Sony's PlayStation 3. It is the first installment in the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, and is followed by Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2. The game is a take on the seventh generation era "console war" among the three major home video game consoles: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

<i>Resident Evil: Revelations 2</i> 2015 video game

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is an episodic survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom as part of the Resident Evil series. The game is a follow-up to Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 5. It marks the return of Claire Redfield as the protagonist, and the first time Barry Burton is a playable story character in the main series. It is also the first Resident Evil game to not feature Alyson Court as the long time voice of Claire Redfield. The first installment was released in February 2015.

<i>Carrion</i> (video game) 2020 video game

Carrion is a horror video game developed by Phobia Game Studio and published by Devolver Digital. Described as a "reverse-horror game", the game allows players to control a tentacled monster whose objective is to make its way through a facility, stalking and killing humans in its path.

<i>Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul</i> 2001 video game

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul is a card battle video game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. It was developed and published by Konami and released on July 5, 2001 in Japan, October 16, 2002 in the United States for Game Boy Advance. It features a single-player campaign against opponents from the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime as well as a multiplayer head-to-head mode.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dreamkiller". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  2. 1 2 "Dreamkiller Review". GameSpot . Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Dreamkiller Review". IGN. 22 October 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2017.