It's pretty scary the first time Rise of Nightmares gets up in your face, spitting acid and snarling. But then you get a grip on it, look deeper, and realize that there's no intelligence behind its eyes, just a bundle of remembered impulses.

Rise of Nightmares offers a spine-tingling horror experience that uses Kinect controls to give players new encounters filled with fearful anticipation and terror.

The phrase "for a Kinect game" must grate on Microsoft's nerves, but that is simply the state of the games at this stage in the platform's lifecycle. This is also a problem for those who have the expectations of a motion-control-only game being as refined as a traditional release that's had the...

Rise Of Nightmares is available to purchase from Play.com . At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

To be honest, picking up the Kinect camera was more of an excuse for my fiancée to get a hold of the "new"Â S-style Xbox 360. While the launch window had a couple of above average games, the "Wii shovelware train"Â reared its head and I can't say I've fired up the camera for the better part of...

Brings the scary, but forgets to keep it there.

Fairly original; tight Kinect based motion controls; will satisfy the most stringent gore hounds

Dated graphics; repetitive areas; not enough variety in enemies

Total Immersion - When the Kinect first launched, Microsoft wanted gamers to feel as they were in the game. They wanted to show that players can have that same feel of immersion as they would have if they were using a physical controller.

When it needs to it delivers a satisfying experience but at the next turn throws frustration in your face. I wouldn't mind but it's in unequal measures.

A Nightmare You Can Forget