Dreamscapes: The Sandman HD Collector's Edition
Score: 95% ESRB: 12+ Publisher: G5 Entertainment Developer: Shaman Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure/ Puzzle/ Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Graphics & Sound: First off, let me say that I have played a lot of G5 adventure/ hidden object games and am pretty much the G5 expert on staff at this point. That being said, Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD is my absolute favorite G5 game to date. It’s inventive, fresh, interesting and fun. The graphics in Dreamscapes: The Sandman are fantastic. There are lots of little details throughout each area, as well as little animated creatures in each level to give it a wonderful sense of depth. Beholders are The Sandman’s minions, little creepy eyeball creatures hiding throughout each level to spy on you. Finding them all is a mini-game itself. The look of each character is very realistic and believable, except for a misstep in synching the voiceovers with the animations, but more on that later. The game centers around a young woman’s dreams and nightmares, and each nightmarish level is just as horrific as her corresponding happy dreams are lovely and sweet. Everywhere in the game, you are reminded of The Sandman and his hold on the main character’s dreams. Even when you click on an area for further exploration, you’ll see sand pouring out from the edges. The background music is terrific, but it can be a bit overpowering until you get used to it. It goes from eerily sing-song to sweeping and dramatic, depending on the area you are in. The voicework is quite good as well, except for the voice of The Sandman. He dramatically pauses between every couple of words and it is grating. Aside from that, I found the voicwork to be perfect, especially the girl who voices Laura Young, The Sandman’s primary focus.
Gameplay: Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD is a game that revolves around the life of Laura Young, a musician who has just turned 21 and is giving her first solo performance. After she faints on stage and lapses into a coma, Dr. Sanders, a former coma victim himself, vows to bring her back from the brink using a volunteer to enter her dreams and go to battle with The Sandman. Here is where you come in as the generic volunteer. Once you enter Laura’s twisted dreams, you’ll explore the areas that open up to you, each one a sweet and benign childhood dream of hers turned into a terrifying nightmare. In each area, you’ll see Laura trapped in some fashion and you’ll have to rescue that part of her psyche to proceed. Your main goal is to find the scattered pieces of her shattered dreamcatcher to once again protect her from The Sandman. You’ll do this by finding items to help you solve puzzles presented to you along the way in the form of blockades to your progress, as well as environmental puzzles meant to slow you down as well. The puzzles in Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD are some of the most innovative and fun puzzles I have come across to date. You might encounter a physics-based puzzle where you have to rotate a box (and your iPad) to move the ball through a maze, but moving the box also rotates parts of the maze. There are puzzles requiring you to prepare a recipe in the correct order, and others involving a picture that needs to be put back together. Some are codes to be decrypted and some are locked to be bested. You will even have to arrange marbles to represent the solar system, so you better know your science! There’s even a DDR type of rhythm game where you need to play a song by tapping the piano keys at the correct moment. Most are fairly quick and fun and I rarely required the Skip button. Getting through the puzzles means banishing The Sandman from that dream world and what was once horrific transforms into something magical looking and beautiful. As I mentioned earlier, there is essentially a mini-game going on throughout the actual game and while most hidden object adventures have something like this, Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD makes it much more fun than simply looking for roses or cherubs. The Beholders are all animated and there are different types. Once you find one, you have to then tap it to banish it. I found myself searching out the Beholders in each level first and foremost, especially once I realized that upon completing a level, you get locked out and can’t go back to find the ones you might have missed.
Difficulty: Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD has two difficulty settings: Regular Mode and Expert Mode. Regular Mode has sparkles that alert you to areas where something can be done and it has a super fast Hint and Skip recharge, if you get stuck. Expert Mode doesn’t have the sparkles, plus the recharge on Hint/Skip is much slower. Honestly, Regular Mode has the fastest Hint recharge I have ever seen as it fills almost as soon as you use it, but the game is so well designed that you won’t have to go to it too often. Sometimes, I’d get stuck in some of the many fetch quests the game presented, but the challenge level is at a good rate and I had fun throughout and never really got frustrated with it. If you selected Expert Mode and want to go back to Regular Mode, you can always do so in the Pause Menu, so you are never locked into that mode.
Game Mechanics: Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD requires you to tap to pick up items, as most iPad games require, but it also uses things like having you rotate your iPad to complete certain puzzles. While the capability is certainly there, I don’t see this used too often in games and it really added a fun factor since it was different. Since this is the Collector's Edition, once you complete the main game, you will be treated to a side game where you can save someone else from The Sandman’s clutches. It’s a good bit of added content and a nice side-story. You’ll also get access to gameplay videos, the many songs from the game, concept art and game art. While not necessary, the side-story is worth the price of admission, especially since the game sets itself up for a sequel, while still managing to wrap up the story quite nicely. There is a navigation button in the bottom right corner that when tapped, will show you the other locations where you can travel. To return to the previous location, simply click the bottom of the screen or click the Back button, also in the lower right. Your Hint and Skip buttons will also be found in the lower right corner, while your inventory sits waiting for you at the bottom of the screen. If you tap on an area and see a magnifying glass, you can explore it further with a double tap. If you pick up an item and don’t know what to do with it, you can tap that item in your inventory and then tap the Hint button for a specific hint about that item. A picture will pop up to explain, but it is a puzzle unto itself. It’s quite handy and fun. My only complaints were the voice of The Sandman, which was a bit overdone and aggravating, and the poor animation/lip synching when characters would speak. Also, towards the end of the extra content side-story, my iPad locked up and I couldn’t progress in the puzzle or move from that page. It required a complete restart of my iPad, but fortunately I didn’t lose any progress. Even with these few issues, Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD is the perfect adventure game to while away a few hours of your time. It’s got a compelling yet creepy story, fantastical art and locations, great music and best of all, fun gameplay. Highly recommended.
-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins
Related Links: Dreamscapes: The Sandman Collector's Edition HD | iTunes
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