This year at Gamescom I was fortunate enough to get hands on with HyperSloth’s Dream, a first person, narratively open ended, puzzle game. Before getting hands/eyes on with the Oculus Rift enabled Dream, I was given a quick rundown of the features, ideals and elements in the game.
Enter Howard Phillips; with no direction in life he turns to his dreams to help find answers. Starting out in a hauntingly empty house, the progressive narrative opens up with subtle cues for investigation, such as the stack of unopened letters amassing at the door. Clambering into bed will transport you into a hub-like world where exploration will be your companion. Multiple endings are dependent upon on how well you navigate and explore your surroundings; on top of accessing hidden, side mission type areas, so a keen eye for thoroughness is key.
A large, open desert area was the first port of call in our dreamlike state, housing weird and wonderful puzzles along with collectibles-a-plenty. A persistent inventory ensures that backtracking through previous locales can also be beneficial too. After getting to grips with the excellent Oculus Rif in a large garden, complete with mysterious enigmas, I was let loose upon a room reminiscent of M. C. Escher’s famous Relativity lithograph. After climbing the myriad of staircases and reaching the top, a small jump, quite literally, proved to be my downfall; forcing a sarcastic repeat trek, much to the amusement of the attending developer…
Despite the game’s overall appeal due to the different gameplay styles on offer, there are other unique draws that will draw interest too. The fact you can complete the game without visiting every area; and the Metroid-esque revisiting of previous locations will excite those who love to scavenge every corner of the map. Expect the maps to “be saturated with secrets and puzzles” upon release later in the year too. It seems like length won’t be an issue either, what with simply rushing through the game taking around four hours and discovering all there is to offer, easily doubling that amount.
From what was on show, the game’s certainly shaping up well with a high level of fidelity shown across the board. The uniqueness of the various locations on offer combined with the excellent soundtrack penned by Norman Legies comes together to create an immersive experience; that’s further boosted by the integration of the Oculus Rift; I can’t wait to play through the full release.
