Rise of Nightmares

Rise of Nightmares is a 2011 Kinect Xbox 360 Survival Horror title in which the player uses their own body to control the character.

Plot
Whilst in Romania, struggling alcoholic Josh and his wife Kate are travelling by train alongside several other tourists. Josh drops a flask of alcohol he had hidden, and Kate leaves in disgust. Josh attempts to meet back up with Kate, making his way up the carts and interacting with the other tourists before coming across a fortune teller, Yeli, who gives him a grim fortune. As Josh proceeds up the cars, he comes across one soaked in blood.

Fearing for Kate's safety Josh runs in, only to witness a giant undead and mechanical monster known as Ernst, kidnapping his wife, slicing the train guards in two and fleeing. Josh and Yeli both chase Ernst, only to discover the monster has disconnected the train carriages, and the section they are in becomes derailed, with Josh being knocked unconcious.

When he comes to, he finds the train cart in a river. He attempts to save the ticket collector but fails, and ends up crossing the carriages to make it to a cave where the rest of the crash's survivors are hiding. One Romanian survivor refers to the land where they have ended up as cursed, with a disgruntled businessman leaving the cave out of annoyance only to be killed by something in the woods. Fear sets in to the other survivors and they begin to explore the cave instead.

After making their way through the swamp and losing another ally, they meet up with another group of survivors in a cemetry. A survivor enters the churches cellar to explore, but screams. Josh charges in to investigate, and finds the survivor with a corpse that they claim moved. Josh investigates the body, at which point it reanimates alongside several others and begins to attack the group. Josh defends the group as they escape, but one woman bumps into Ernst, who decapitates her and then proceeds to subdue Josh and render him unconcious.

Upon reawakening, Josh finds himself strapped to a chair by Viktor, the mad scientist who created the zombies that attacked them and watches helplessly as another survivor has his hand cut off with an axe by Viktor, before having the axe buried in his skull. Viktor tells Josh he is next, but recieves a phonecall that means he must leave. He hands the axe to a zombie nurse and tells her to finish the job. Luckily for Josh, the zombie is decapitated by a Romanian survivor who has snuck in, frees Josh and the two begin to explore the death trap lab to find Kate and other survivors and escape.

Gameplay
As a Kinect game, the player's entire body is the controller.

To move forward the player must place one leg in front of the other with bigger strides equating to a faster walk. There is also an automove function in which the player holds a hand up if they so wish, although the autowalk will not help them avoid traps. Turning their shoulders will help players guide Josh in that direction, attempting to navigate the various death traps found in the lab such as rotating saws or falling guillotines that will bisect Josh should he get too close.

Doors can be activated by holding a hand to them to interact, and levers can be pulled exactly how the player would activate them in real life with a pull.

Combat is done by raising your fists up which will automatically put you into a guarding position. Players can pick up weapons and swing them with the swings trajectory dictated by the players thrusts. Players can also use their feet to kick opponents.

Weapons break after a short amount of time, although there are many weapons around that can be picked up and swapped out, all with various different effects. Weapons include basic melee weapons such as a survival knife, throwable vials, more fantastical weapons such as 'Shock Knuckles' which allow the player to land punches that electrocute enemies and the 'Azoth', an eldrich gaunlet that allows Josh to unleash devastating electrical blasts from his hand by having the player hold one arm up and place their other one below the elbow to charge the blasts.

Boss battles usually including quick time events in which the player must perform an action such as 'duck' or 'side step' to avoid devastating attacks before going on the offensive. Some enemies such as the Banshee require the player to cover their ears as they approach her to avoid her dangerous screams before kicking her to stop her wailing.

Ernst will roam the hallways and is unkillable. His eyes are poor, but his sense of sound is very good so players must try and hide and remain incredibly still when Ernst comes around as if he gets too close or notices you it's an instant death.

Trivia

 * Rise of Nightmares is the first M rated game to released for the Kinect.
 * Firearms weren't included as weapons specifically to increase the sense of dread and tension of fighting enemies off with your bare hands or melee items.