For all those Kinect owners thinking about picking up Rise of Nightmares, now you can try out the game for free. SEGA has finally released a demo for their horror Kinect title earlier today. Make sure you have 334.26 MB free on your harddrive to play the game.
The demo is Kinect only, so you will have to have the device to play the game.
Leave it to SEGA to be the first to dive in and attempt to offer something new and unique when it comes to a crazy peripheral like Microsoft’s Kinect. When the Kinect launched, SEGA released Sonic Free Riders. Free Riders was, in my opinion, an under-appreciated launch title that attempted to offer more than what other launch titles were offering. While Kinect Joy Ride and Adrenalin Misfits were pretty basic, and appealed to the family friendly party game crowd, Free Riders actually required skill and practice. The racer touted weapons that required a variety of actions to execute, different vehicles and stances and a number of hazards that again called for various actions to overcome. While not a perfect attempt, I applauded SEGA for what did work and for the boldness of attempting a Kinect title that featured so many methods of control. Now, SEGA returns to Kinect with Rise of Nightmares, a SEGA AM1 developed horror title which resembles SEGA’s famous The House of the Dead series. Like Free Riders, Rise of Nightmares puts a motion controlled spin on a well established genre (survival horror), promising a variety of weapons and actions as well as a Kinect first: body controlled free movement. Just how well did SEGA do? Read on!
I’d think any true blue SEGA fan has a special place in their heart for The House of the Dead franchise. Being an arcade lightgun classic, and spanning three console generations, The House of the Dead has produced a number of sequels, spin-offs and even ventured outside of the video game world by way of two horrible films. When Rise of Nightmares, SEGA’s latest Kinect title, was revealed at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, little was known of the game aside from “save your wife from an evil scientist”. Was it internally developed? Was it a House of the Dead title? We just couldn’t tell based on the short and creepy trailer. But now that time has passed, and the game is in stores, we have all the answers. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll take a look at five reasons why I think Rise of Nightmares sits well alongside the beloved House of the Dead series, despite not carrying the series title, and why HotD fans should check the game out!
Today saw the release of Rise of Nightmares in North America, and to help satisfy our craving for zombie craziness, SEGA has posted an interview with the game’s producer and director (Satoshi Ito and Ryuta Ueda, respectively) to their blog. The interview covers a wide range of topics, such as those discussing the target audience, the aims of the development team, the game’s lack of firearms, the composition of the music, as well as the title’s similarities to House of the Dead.
Rise of Nightmares is being created by the team behind House of the Dead, what similarities can we expect?
Ito: Actually, I’m the only one in the Rise of Nightmares team who used to be a member of the House of the Dead team, and I worked for the first original House of the Dead title. As for “similarities” with House of the Dead, there are lots they have in common; such as: having the player stand while gameplay, first-person view, and life-size zombies are coming closer, but the major similarity is that developing a Kinect title is much alike with developing an arcade game (AC), which is one of SEGA ‘s greatest talent. When developing a new title for AC, we usually think about what to carry (or to ride on), where to place the buttons, and how to play the game. At the first phase of House of the Dead development, we have tested various things like implementing a mechanic where the player can kick by pedaling. House of the Dead has ultimately turned out to be a simple game, but we have made use of those trial-and-error experiences for this title.
The rest of the interview can be found at Sega.com.
The game comes out in Europe on Friday September 9th.
MEGA64 releases a Rise of Nightmare online commercial, an epic 3 and a half minutes commercial. So if you like wormholes to other dimensions, garbage cans and Dr. Who references; you’re going to love this.
Its always good to see anything from the MEGA64 guys and glad we don’t have to travel dimensions to enjoy good Kinect games.
SEGA haters, Kinect Haters and zombie game haters please sit down and shut up. SEGA’s latest Kinect exclusive title “Rise of Nightmares” releases today and early reviews have been positive. In fact, many seem to be VERY positive. Gaming-Age.com said:
What I love most about Rise of Nightmares is that it actually works. Having finished the game I’m still very impressed with how responsive all the movement controls were, and how well they meshed together to perform a very cohesive experience.
vgrevolution.com gave the game a 7/10, however in the areas that matter for a Kinect title, those being gameplay and controls, the game rated 8/10. YouTube review channel StuffWeLike loved the game.
We here at SEGAbits promise to have our own review up soon. In the meantime, check out other reviews and if it sounds like your type of game, pick up a copy! The game releases today in America and this Friday in Europe.
Yet another quirky trailer for Rise of Nightmares, Sega’s zombie-slaying Kinect exclusive, has hit the net. The trailer highlights the unique control scheme and shows how much people are enjoying it, (or not).
Rise of Nightmares releases this month (September 2011) exclusively for Kinect. Who’s getting it!?
The website Electronic Theatre has reported that Rise of Nightmares has been delayed throughout Europe and won’t make its promised debut next month. So when is it coming out? According to the site, there is no release date set.
The reason I’m running it as a rumor is because I never heard of this site. None of the bigger sites have confirmed it, SEGA hasn’t confirmed it either. But will I be shocked if its delayed? No.
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