Interesting concept here, but poor execution can't make up for it

User Rating: 4 | A Killer's Dream X360
A Killer's Dream, available on XboxLive from indie-game developer Silver Dollar, has an interesting premise. You have the ability to identify the name of a killer from dream sequences. Part puzzle, part horror game, your job is to dream, observe the dream sequences, and when nightmare flashes of doom appear, search the screen for a letter and then remember a few letters to guess who actually was the killer. While not scarry at all (despite the background whispering and strange image-flashes) it is at times interesting to perceive - but the atmosphere breaks to much to maintain any belief in it.

So, the game has a few pretty obvious flaws that really hold it back from being something you'd actually want to play. For ease I will number these in no particular order:

1. While you dream, images (and i mean square pictures) float through the screen - these are nice and eerie for the most part, but do not simulate dream images. Mainly because you can see the edges of each picture - making you realize that this isn't a dream at all but a poor picture slideshow. This tears you out of what little belief-acceptance you had in the first place.
2. The flashes aren't coherent. There's no story being told through these images - they're just random shots of mildly creepy things, and don't serve any real purpose. Please! Fear is generated by having a sense of what to fear, not just an image. We need some context here.
3. Speaking of context, there is no story here either. Not only do the images not tell a story, but the narrator doesn't tell a story - even about what death we're investigating, how the death occurred, what the circumstances where, etc. We need something! Not just a picture slide show.

It's really too bad, because again, I do like the concept here. It just doesn't do anything to draw you in, and when you're in, doesn't do anything to keep you there. 4.0/10