Dreamkiller First Look Impressions

  • By shaunmc, GameSpot
  • Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:08 am AEST

First-person shooter protagonists have been all over the place, going from historical wars to remote planets to the depths of Hell, just to name a few examples. One place that remains largely unexplored, though, is the human subconscious. That's where you'll be headed in an upcoming shooter from...

First-person shooter protagonists have been all over the place, going from historical wars to remote planets to the depths of Hell, just to name a few examples. One place that remains largely unexplored, though, is the human subconscious. That's where you'll be headed in an upcoming shooter from Mindware Studios called Dreamkiller. We recently had a chance to witness a demo of the Xbox 360 version of the game, due out for release this October.
Dreamkiller puts you in the shoes of a female doctor named Alex Drake. The single-player portion of the game is spread across 12 levels, which are set in the dreams of 12 different patients of Ms. Drake. Essentially, you're jumping into their minds of her patients and blasting the hell out of their worst fears. Each patient has their own unique dream world to explore, featuring various demons and mythical beasts.

The level we were shown had an insane asylum theme to it, with creepy, whispering sound effects in the background and lots of visual scares like empty wheelchairs suddenly rolling in front of you. The enemies are pretty interesting, like the straightjacket-bound people with giant, clamping jaws like venus flytraps, or the Hell Angels who look more or less exactly what their name suggests: winged angels with a distinctly demonic theme.

The weapons all seem to be pretty over-the-top hardware, like a minigun with an alternate fire that allows it to lob grenades. You find them scattered around the levels in decidedly old-school weapon portals, which are pick-up points that let you swap out your current gun for something different. Each gun can be upgraded by collecting experience points.

Although we weren't able to play it, Dreamkiller strikes us as a fairly old-school shooter in the way it equips you with extravagant weapons and sends streams of enemies rushing at you at a pretty fast clip. The challenge isn't so much in dealing with any one enemy or negotiating with the environments, but rather with surviving wave after wave of similar enemies. If that's the type of shooter you're after, you can expect to see Dreamkiller released this October on PC and Xbox 360.

43 Comments

  • melisa06

    Posted Sep 15, 2009 8:06 pm PT

    Very cool and nice thank you...
    sesli sohbet
    sesli chat

  • djTeka

    Posted Jul 16, 2009 3:15 pm PT

    I'd say its Painkiller mixed with Psychonauts, latter just for traveling into minds.

    I love how all these graphixxxsnobs are whining about everything in the screenshot.
    Wait until we have more than one picture to judge whether a game will suck or not.

    I bet they are the same people who will download it to see how much it sucks (since they don't want to waste their good money on a game that they think sucks), see that it doesn't, then keep it and not pay for it since they already have it.

  • pidow

    Posted Jul 12, 2009 10:23 am PT

    I will lend you(Gorgeous_eccent) my grandson's 360, he moved up to a SP3. I will be playing this game on PC.

  • Gorgeous_eccent

    Posted Jul 10, 2009 4:47 am PT

    Why the game i love is always a damn xbox(360) game? i can't afford a xbox with my pocket money

  • iveyeli

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 7:53 pm PT

    sounds fun!

  • 60spaure

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:22 pm PT

    Why not on the PS3? This s****.

  • spikeleetaunter

    Posted Jul 6, 2009 10:26 pm PT

    That's something to look forward to.

  • Beast_of_Deas

    Posted Jul 3, 2009 4:15 pm PT

    I agree with 'DiesektdFrawg' because the game looks like it could come out either good or bad. From the preview it sounds like a game that would be worth playing for a few hours but not a game that you would actually buy.

  • zieon007

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 10:37 pm PT

    painkiller 2 anyone????

  • darthblazit

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 9:29 pm PT

    Ooooh. . . COOL! Wheelchairs that suddenly roll out in front of you! Gimme a break. And from the looks of that screenshot the graphics look lame too. Wait til this one hits the bargain bin or buy it used on Amazon.

  • DiesektdFrawg

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 6:39 pm PT

    This could turn out to be really good or really bad. The good things are that it is a largely unexplored and imaginative creation, or so it is said, and original games are typically more fun than games that have explored the same content time after time. Something about this game, though, rings monotonous. Dealing with wave after wave of similar enemies doesn't, in this environment, seem like it would be fun to play. Any zombie mode gameplay is typically pretty fun, and that revolves around defending yourself against similar creatures, but something just seems a little off about the deepness of it. Zombie games force you to think about your next move carefully, and the open-ended-ness of the gameplay compliments this. This game, on the other hand, seems more linear with the same style of gameplay, without too much thought involved in how to handle the enemies. It's really too early to tell, though. This could turn out to be one of the most immersive and intriguing games the world has ever seen, and it could turn out to be a complete flop. Only time will tell...

  • grimmr46

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 1:57 pm PT

    It's to early to tell, I'll wait till this one cooks a little longer..

  • LeoGoBezerk

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 5:34 am PT

    Finally something like painkiller or serious sam. I'll get this.

  • chilipepperman

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:52 pm PT

    this could be fun, like Painkiller, but in the mind!

  • kickballer

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:40 pm PT

    This game doesn't sound to bad.

  • SilentCard

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 2:10 pm PT

    Um, Psychonauts much? Though the minigun does look very entertaining...

  • FlyingHombre

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:38 am PT

    Kinda looks like your typical, overdone FPS.

  • Matic

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:35 am PT

    it doesn't seem something that I would be attracted to -.-
    kinda lame, and the name of the game is nothing special too

    But it could surprise me, I'm gonna wait for more footage and gameplays

  • Setsuka13

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 10:31 am PT

    Doesn't look awful. I guess we'll have to wait for some gameplay footage.

  • 264con

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:32 am PT

    I saw plenty of good games this is not one of them.

  • Mr_Bigtime

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:08 am PT

    looks boring..and look at the weapon modeling..lame..anyway.have fun when it is out.

  • Rimorbod

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:37 pm PT

    I don't know what is more creepy- the demons or the woman that can carry the machinegun from the screenshot like it's a toy.

  • HVPinc

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:41 pm PT

    Psychonauts meets Painkiller meets a whole bunch of meh.
    Hope its good but i'm not holding my breath

  • chimera667

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:22 pm PT

    this sounds like a painkiller ripoff. over the top guns, demons, weird "creepy" enviroments.

  • Tricky1510

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:56 pm PT

    weaksauce.

  • astrotek

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:10 pm PT

    /agree with spectralmerc
    This is definitely taking after the Painkiller game style.

  • spectralmerc

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:00 pm PT

    I think this is the spiritual successor to Painkiller, much like Bioshock was to System Shock 2. Even the names are similar.

    Can't wait =)

  • asmoddeuss

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:17 pm PT

    At kvan33 , is not a joke ^^ . Anyway we don't know much right now, so we will need to try it. The story line isn't bad at all, but lets see if it will be fun. As for the name , it really sounds they stole the name from Painkiller that actually is an awesome game.

  • kvan33

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:02 am PT

    This..this game is a joke right?

  • pidow

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:28 am PT

    Time will tell if it is worth while to buy.

  • akrampa

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:50 am PT

    I loved the story ill buy it for sure.Though something like that as an idea is not new since i recall i saw a movie some years ago with a doctor that entered a killers mind to find where his last victim was; but its still a great story!!cheers

  • RedReckoning

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:37 am PT

    Very original storyline. I like the out-of-the-ordinary weaponry. I mean come on! A gigantic gatling gun whose alternate fire is to lob grenades! AWESOME

  • Warlord_Irochi

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:57 am PT

    @matethemouse

    Yup, thats something new... if we keep aside the character choices in UT

  • matethemouse

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:01 am PT

    Maybe sometime a FPS with a female protagonist?

  • nikola96

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:27 am PT

    Interesting story.

  • TheHolyDevil16

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:04 am PT

    meh...

  • DemonicDemono

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 1:04 am PT

    "If that's the type of shooter you're after, you can expect to see DREAMILLER released this October on PC and Xbox 360."

    Uh oh, someone didn't spellcheck

  • Weddum

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:47 am PT

    Hmm this is nice, FPS games need more of this type of game. Which is to say, shooters focused on actually shooting things. Most modern FPS games have lost the plot, its nice to see some developers sticking to the series roots for us old school shooter fans.

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:36 am PT

    furthermore all of this has been done simply the story and reason is different. play painkiller ditch this game.. save yourself the 30 bucks difference.. while your at it spend some time with serious sam.. you clearly have all been living in a cave regarding nonsensical shooters.

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:35 am PT

    dreamkiller.. painkiller anyone noticing the poor use of trying to hide the theft of a game.. i smell a copyright!

  • Ca9ine

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 11:42 pm PT

    I like it!
    Been a long time since there's been a straight up shooter like this.
    My impression of the game, by its screenies, is Doom mixed with Bioshock.

  • Taegre

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 10:17 pm PT

    Gotta admit, I don't think we've had a straight Doom-styled FPS since... well... Doom 3. This might not get critical acclaim but if the weapons and level design hold up, this could be a great cult hit.

  • Duke_51

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 8:40 pm PT

    Sounds like a cool concept, and it's fresh, too. This one should be interesting.

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