The main problem I have with Rise of Nightmares isn’t the Kinect controls — sure, it takes some getting used to, but I got what I wanted from them 70-percent of the time. I also didn’t have a problem with the C-movie quality story or the unimpressive graphics because I usually enjoy bad survival horror games. In fact, this zombie-filled first-person brawler channels the weird vibes of Sega’s House of the Dead video games more than anything else, which works for me too.
My beef with Rise of Nightmares is that it takes too long to figure itself out, and the game doesn’t explore the horror theme nearly enough. Up until Act 4 I must have killed a hundred or so zombies using punches, kicks, and whatever weapons I could get my grubby hands on. Most of the arsenal favors the melee end of the spectrum (think knives, pipes, and hatchets), but there are instances where I can throw test tube concoctions and scalpels at oncoming monsters — or chainsaw them into little bits. Weapons break often, so a majority of the game boils down to fighting, surviving, and then searching for a new one before you’re attacked again.
