Dreamweb

Title           Dreamweb
Game Type       Adventure
Company         Empire Interactive
Author		Neil Dodwell
Players         1
HD Installable	Yes
Compatibility   All
Submission      D.J.

Review
      WARNING: I am reviewing this game from memory.
      Dreamweb was one of the more disappointing games I ever bought. I
love these types (Monkey Island etc.) and Dreamweb promised to be an edgy,
adult version. I had high hopes.
      You play a fellow with bad dreams, very bad. It seems that some
great evil is trying to invade the Earth through the dreams of its human
inhabitants. Aiding this are a series of human co-conspirators, a General,
a rock star, a scientist, a corporate VIP etc. You must find these people,
infiltrate their hideouts and liquidate them. To accomplish this you must
get past a host of henchmen and waste a few innocent bystanders too.

      The interface has some neat innovations. The graphics are a nifty,
gritty, top-down view. The story has great promise but I found myself
waiting for the game to really get going. Instead it seemed to lose
steam, as if the authors got tired of it and just wanted to get it over
with, a sentiment I eventually shared. Certain seemingly obvious
complications failed to evolve (your girlfriend, who works for one of the
targets, is never lured in to the tangled web). The story eventually seems
to be just a vehicle for gory cut-scenes.
      Many problems are simply solved by shooting them. As is common with
these types of games, there is only one way through. Innovation is not
allowed; eg. a missing fuse had to be found. Wrapping the burned out one
with your tin-foil gum wrapper didn't get the job done. Such flexibility
would be welcome but is, perhaps, impossible. As the game wears on, puzzles
tend to have more and more arbitrary solutions and targets grease
themselves. The finale is an ultimate let down.
      There were some great moments but these seem fewer and less abiding
than the disappointments. All round, if it had promised less I might have
liked it more.

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