Players take control of a young man named Thomas in Neverending Nightmares. Players run from one nightmare to another inside of Thomas' mind, and nothing is ever as it seems. Thomas' nightmares seem to always revolve around the horrors of his childhood including the death of his sister, and players will also experience shocking events from the inside of an insane asylum. The game features a branching storyline with multiple endings so that players will ultimately need to choose an ending for themselves in order to find out what has really happened to Thomas, but the narrative always seems to be interesting no matter which paths are chosen.
Gameplay in Neverending Nightmares is simplistic enough for even the most casual gamer to pick up and play. Players control Thomas in 2D environments and can only run through levels and stop to interact with certain objects. The game uses a selection of colors that has only important items in color, so the majority of the game is seen in black, white and the occasional spatters of bloody red. Thomas has an invisible stamina meter that drains, as the character runs. The character gets out of breath easily, and players will need to slow down once the character starts panting and wheezing. This creates a sense of frustration when traveling across long hallways when no enemies are present, since players will just want to get to the next area and find out what is behind the next door instead of constantly slowing to catch their breath.
Neverending Nightmares uses additional steps to slow players down beyond the main protagonist's stamina. Staircases are littered throughout the game, and players must walk slowly up or down them in order to progress through to the next room. Only one time throughout the game does anything noteworthy happen on staircases, and the slow travel can easily frustrate players. The game also introduces enemies later in the game that can only be moved past while slowly walking across the floor without making any noise. This means players will be forced to slowly walk through the entire chapter in fear of having an enemy come out of nowhere and rip their throat out. It's unclear whether the developer chose to force players to play the game more slowly to lengthen the game's short campaign that can be completed in just a couple of hours or if it is used to make the game more tense, but many players will be frustrated with certain sections of the game regardless of the intent.
Neverending Nightmares does a good job of setting up scares throughout the game. The title isn't simply full of jump scares, as the creepy environments and unsettling imagery present throughout the game goes a long way in making players feel uneasy even when nothing scary is actually happening. Players will die many times during the different chapters of the game, whether by design or accident, and things just seem to get darker and scarier the longer the player remains in a dream.
The presentation of Neverending Nightmares is fairly strong. The game looks good and runs smoothly. The art style is reminiscent of a cross between the famous paintings of Van Gogh and the book Where the Wild Things Are. The use of black lines across the screen create a haze that makes things difficult to see while also letting players know that things are about to get scarier the harder things become to see. The game's control scheme is fine and easy to play with keyboard or controller, and some nerve wrecking themes helps further establish the tone the game's creepy environments and characters already do a wonderful job of providing to players.
Neverending Nightmares is a short game that will last players only about 3-4 hours and 1-2 hours with each consequential playthrough. The game contains 9 chapters in total and 3 different endings. The game does feature a chapter select screen that makes finding the game's different endings more easily than it would otherwise be. Neverending Nightmares made us jump out of our seat multiple times while playing, so we really think horror fans will enjoy the new title. Neverending Nightmares is immersive and full of horrific surprises, and only a few questionable design choices hold the game back from being a must play for PC and Ouya gamers. Neverending Nightmares is out now on Ouya and Steam.
Neverending Nightmares is now available for Ouya and Steam for PC, Mac and Linux and can be purchased for $14.99. For more information on the game, check out the official Neverending Nightmares website.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- Branching Storyline and Multiple Endings
- 9 Horrifying Chapters
- Steam Trading Card Support
- Achievement Support
Game Information:
Developer & Publisher: Infinitap Games
Platforms: Ouya, PC (reviewed), Mac & Linux
Release Date: September 26, 2014
