DreamWeb

The Good
Empire Interactive has been known for creating simulation/strategy games, but I wasn't even aware that they also created great adventures such as DreamWeb, created in 1994 and developed by Creative Reality. Ryan, a bartender who is employed in the big city, has a dream in which he is transported to the DreamWeb. There, he is asked by the head keeper to be the “deliverer” and assassinate the seven people who are bent on destroying the DreamWeb.

The game's interface is a lot different to many adventure games. You see, rather than employing a first/third-person perspective, DreamWeb uses a top-down approach, similar to the likes of Grand Theft Auto. A square window at the bottom-left of the screen shows what everything on the screen looks like up close when the cursor is over it. What I like about this is that it is useful for finding very small objects that are hard to spot in normal view. I had a hard time finding small objects in the games that I have played so far.

You access the inventory by clicking on the picture of Ryan. There are 36 slots in which to store items that you have picked up. Some of them have a yellow W icon at the top-right corner of the slot, to indicate that Ryan is currently wearing the item (normally clothing.) As you may not know, Ryan is an asshole. He may look innocent at the start of the game, but if you place the sunglasses on him, he looks like one mean son-of-a-bitch. One of Ryan's watches can also be worn, but the time displayed on the watch is irrelevant to the completion of the game. The inventory also have a drop icon, which is useful because if you no longer want something or the inventory is full, you can drop one of your items just like that.

The atmosphere is similar to Rise of the Dragon. There are a lot of locations that Ryan can travel to, but no matter where you go, the place is dirty. You'll notice it when you go outdoors that it keeps raining all the time and rubbish is left on the ground. Indoors are a lot better, but you still have to put up with dirty apartments, dirty bathrooms in bars, and people who just don't want to know you. The amount of litter in this game is disgraceful. You would have thought that there is a bin every five meters, and all you had to do was pick it up and put it in there.

The thing that grabbed my attention is the music. It sets the mood of the game and describes what situation you are in. If you about to kill one of the seven people, for instance, the music is of high-impact, but if there is no danger coming your way, the music isn't quite as powerful. I love the music played when you select your next destination. As usual, CD-ROM users are treated to full speech, and the voices are well-done and the script is well thought-out. The bonus track included is sensational, and if you are a fan of excellent-composed pumping CD-Audio tracks, I suggest that you listen to it. It is totally unrelated to the game

The puzzles are slightly easy, and the solutions to most of them are found in the Diary of a (Mad?) Man that came with the game. It also serves as copy protection. If you happen to have a pirated version of DreamWeb, you will have no idea what Ryan's access code for his own apartment is, nor will you know the password for logging onto his computer. The diary is a good read anyway, as it contains information on Ryan's background and his relationship with women, plus some funny bits.

The Bad
You can pick up rubbish left on the street and place it in your inventory. Most of the rubbish serves no purpose, other than waste the available inventory slots. Solution: just don't bother picking up at all.

The game is quite violent. There is one scene where Ryan puts an axe to a guard at the beginning of the game. When you kill one of the seven people, the blue orb that appears from the bodies makes the situation worse. Later, Ryan holds up a crystal, which leaves a bloody mess behind. I don't have a problem with the violence, but there is one situation that I considered over-the-top. You see, Ryan encounters a woman with half of her body chewed off. The woman really begs for you to kill her, and you have to shoot her while she drags herself away from you. Violence against women is just not on.

The Bottom Line
In DreamWeb, you have to kill seven people who are going to destroy the DreamWeb. You find out where they are by talking to people and gaining information from the computer. Parts of the game rely on you to do some digging in the game's documentation. The graphics, music, and atmosphere is excellent. An adventure game that is definitely not for kids, DreamWeb has a fair dose of violence, whether it's against men or women. Sex plays a small role in the game as well. You must be 15 or over to play it.

The Good
The Dreamweb.

A massive pool of pure energy generated by the thoughts and dreams of human beings. The Dreamweb is perfectly neutral, remaining on a constant balance between good and evil, and for it not to break apart, it must be kept this way. It is watched over by guardians old as time itself. They have become aware of 7 humans on earth who has formed an alliance. These 7 different people, counting such personas as a rock star, a military general, a priest, a powerful business man and a serial killer are all "gifted". Together, with their powers united and focused, they plan to unbalance the Dreamweb and exploit its power for their own sinister purposes. They must be stopped.

Enter Ryan.

A college dropout, who makes a living as a bartender in a grim future metropolis. Besides, his girlfriend Eden and his best friend Louis, Ryan has no real purpose in life. He has been haunted by dreams of the Dreamweb and of murder. He often finds himself on the brink of insanity. But this is who you are. Selected by the guardians you must destroy the 7 thus neutralizing the Dreamweb and saving the world from an apocalyptic future.

As many other reviewers has pointed out, this game is pure cyberpunk atmosphere! Once you find yourself in the world of Dreamweb, it's very hard to let go. The whole game has an amazing depth to it, with plenty of things to do and explore. Things such as entering door codes and the ability to use network computers (where you can read news, weather reports etc) just adds up to the level of immersion that you will eventually find yourself in. This is not your ordinary adventure game, this is a lot more violent, something which at the time made it so unique that you would get stuck, simply because you sometimes tried to solve puzzles in a pacifistic manner, rather than using brute force. However, this is just another reason why Dreamweb is so good, because you really have to set yourself into the mind of Ryan, who at all costs must save the world. The puzzles range between the classic adventure style and the aforementioned more obscure psycho mindset.

Technically, the game is build up in a perhaps bit unusual way for an adventure game, however it works, and the magnifying feature helps a lot. The graphics are pretty standard for its time, but the colours in the game all have this sort of dark shade to them, that works into the overall ambience. One of my favorite things in Dreamweb is undoubtedly the music, mainly consisting of looped electronic/ambient in WAV/VOC quality. From the Akira inspired intro, to the electro-dub music in Louis' appartment, the music adds a ton to the game and wouldn't be the same without it. However, what really carries Dreamweb is the fantastic story, and it is a thrill to see it unfold as you progress in the game. The ending is also one of the best and most original I've ever seen, and is just another area where it sets itself apart from other games of its kind.

The Bad
One of the obvious things in Dreamweb that can be frustrating is the object handling. As many has already pointed out, you can pick up just about every object you come across in the game. You can spend hours trying to combine various objects with each other, often in vain. This is one of the downsides of a game as interactive as Dreamweb. Another thing I miss in Dreamweb is character interaction. As good as Ryan works, I would really have loved to see some more interaction with other characters. Most characters you come across in the game, are either unwilling to talk or very hesitant to do so, and while this sort of cynic antisocial attitude blends in good with the dystopian setting, I wouldn't have minded to come across some interesting characters with their own personal motivations.

The Bottom Line
Simply put, one of the most eminent cyberpunk games released to date. This is a game that deserves to be played even today.

The Good
The music is one of the best I've heard in a game in a long time (I recommend you play this game with headphones), the city and characters really give you the feeling of a future, gray, decaying city (fitting the game's cyberpunk orientation). The main character, Ryan, is deep and well developed, something rarely seen in computer games nowadays. He really seems to have a personality of his own and is a sort of "anti-hero" (or reluctant hero).

The Bad
The top-down graphics aren't good for ANY adventure game, this not only leads to many frustrating pixel-hunting, but also detracts from the immersive factor that's predominant in this game. The huge amount of items you can pick up: while this is good because it adds realism to the game, it is a double-edged sword; because makes the puzzle solving much more difficult. The game playing window is, for some unknown reason, very small. And the game's too short (once you know what to do you can finish it in less than 2 hours)

The Bottom Line
Dreamweb is one of those obscure, mostly forgotten (or unknown) games that appeal to the player through a story worthy of one of the best sci-fi / cyberpunk novels, well-developed characters and the addition of a wonderful, immersive soundtrack. It may not have mesmerizing graphics, it may not be remembered as a milestone in the adventure genre. But it's one of those few games that leave you hungry for more after finishing it.