Sometimes you pick up games because they just look different and intriguing. And usually I recommend the idea if you can get them for a cheap price. After all, who knows what you might find inside, right? It was with this attitude I picked up and put this game in my backlog so long ago... unfortunately, the answer to what we might find this time was "not exactly a lot" or what I was hoping for.
Story: Howard Philips has not been sleeping well, but concidering the recent events, this would shock no one. His uncle Edward, a famous writer who he adored, passed away. But when he does manage to sleep, he keeps relapsing into the same wierd dreams. What are they? Well, that's what we are here to find out.
You will play the roll of Howard as he goes to his room and calls it a night, living his dreams with him as you explore deserts, vacation resorts, and even a nightmare or two, personifying issues he has with recent events, himself, and complications that have probably brewed all his life. Do not expect a massive epic story to follow, as this is nothing of the sort. Rather it is small, personal and reflects what a normal human being might feel in such moments. It's not a lot, but what is here is pretty good.
7/10
Graphics: Right from the opening screen, Dream is going to show itself trying to be a realistic looking game. You will immediately be taking a camera view of one of the rooms of the house Howard resides in and give you an idea of how the world is going to be displayed. The room looks clean and clear, but basic with and older style decorations about the walls. It looks nice, but also simple compared to the things we see in games today. And yet the detail within everything in the house is clearly crafted with a passion to make this game all it can be on all fronts. And this is the look you will get immediately as the game starts and Howard wakes up from falling asleep in front of the TV and decides that yes, indeed it is time he should go to actual bed and not be passed out with open chinese food cartons in front of him.
You will play from a first person perspective and even that in itself was handled with care, going so far as to give Howard a model despite the fact that you are looking out from him. Look down and you will see your body and legs if you are walking around. Mirrors will also give you a view of yourself, completing the picture in this regard.
But this house is hardly the only place you will be spending your time in while playing. It is just the landing space you will enter when you start the game, load your saved game, or between dreams being completed themselves. Within the dreams where you spend the majority of your time, you will explore vast deserts, tombs, offices, and even an amusement park roller-coaster if you can find it. What is here is very well made, and that house is the bare minimum you can expect in quality from any of it. Enjoy the visual feast you are about to have.
8/10
Sound: Sadly there is really very little in the sound department for this game. Most of what you hear will be descent enough in the form of the musical sound track, but nothing that is going to wow you by any means. Nor are there a lot of sound effects in the game, partly because there are so few characters. As I think back, I only belive I heard 4 voices in the entire game... Howard, Edward, and two voices over the phone at two specific parts of the game. There is no other speaking in the game at all, and even Edward is only heard between "nights" in a dialog that expands as the game goes on. There just isnt a lot here... at all. It works for atmosphere, but that's about it
6/10
Gameplay: Dream is also not exactly what I would call packed with gameplay, either. In essence you will start your session by going to bed and in the dream that follows you will start in a white realm with a circle to display all the inventory items you have picked up so far. However, understand that you may not get much use out of these items since they are absolutely not necessary in any way to finish the game. In each direction will either be an empty space or, if you have unlocked it, a portal which will lead to one of the three dream-worlds you will explore.
In each world, there are several things to look into which may offer some insight into Howard's mental state at this moment as well as strips of paper which can help explain the common symbolism dreams may have in the imagery contained and not just in the game. But for all there is to see, the game opens up via puzzles you can complete. In each dream you will find a smattering of these, most of which will open "side dreams" to allow you to complete your collection in the world between the dreams.
However in each dream there is a single puzzle that takes center stage and is much more intricate then the few others. This is the only one you must complete to complete the dream. Much like the others completing them will open a new portal, but in this case it is a black portal leading to the final challenge of any given night: the nightmare.
These nightmares generally happen back inside the house and require you to deal with events within. Unfortunately the word "nightmare" should probably be in quotes as these are not scary and not even really uncomfortable and outside of the first one, not even a challenge. It's just a set of events to disturb Howard before you complete them and the night.
6/10
Bugs: I also unfortunately can not say this game ran flawless for me either. Early on it crashed to the desktop. I do not know why nor did it give me any messages. It just crashed and did so exactly once in my entire play-through.
Overall: This is a really hard game to recommend to many gamers. It has very little actual gameplay to speak and unless you are looking to collect everything, your inventory is pretty pointless. Instead the game promises to be a much more atmospheric experience, but any given dream will show you about what you are exploring within 30 minutes of arriving. Even the promise of things getting a little scary the first nightmare suggests quickly evaporates.
Rather, if you are coming here, you are here to experience it all with Howard and see how he deals with it all. On that front it actually works well and you will sympathize with him. But there is little else here.
Score:
6/10
System Requirements:
- 2.0 Ghz Dual Core processor
- 2 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 8800/GT220 or equivalent with Shader Model 3 support
- 2.6 GB hard drive space
- Windows XP/Vista/7
- Ryzen 7 (2700) 3.2 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 1660 (6GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64 Bit)
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