I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started playing Dreamscapes: The Sandman. I think I've started to lower my expectations for games that haven't been released in a collector's edition first. I'm always expecting non-collector's editions to be just mediocre games...

Well, I was in for an extremely pleasant surprise when I fired up Dreamscapes: The Sandman today, because... let me tell you... this game is ridiculously awesome in every way.

We come into the story when Laura was a little girl and discover that something is haunting her dreams and tormenting her while she sleeps. However, her father gives her a dreamcatcher that chases away all the bad dreams, until now. Present day... Laura is giving her first concert. As we watch, she sets aside the dreamcatcher, and walks slowly on stage. Amidst the bright lights and the glow from the stage, Laura makes out at the very edge of her vision, a man, walking into the concert hall. She abruptly falls to the ground, unconscious, and in the hands of the Sandman. Cue creepy music... now.

Here's where we come in. We are the individual who has volunteered to attempt to enter Laura's dreams and free her. Sort of her prince charming... yeah, that's right... we play a dude. I was a bit put out too, but don't worry, it doesn't get in the way of the story. (Unless of course, you are a dude, and then, good for you for scoring a leading role in a casual game. :P)

Anyhow, I think you get the point of the story. While, it's not the most original piece of plot to hit the gaming world, it has enough meat to it to draw me in and hold me with its tasty morsels of drama and suspense.

What's next? Oh yes, the graphics... they were GORGEOUS. Extremely realistic and yet artistic at the same time. Although, I will say the people in the game had those lifeless eyes that kind of creeped me out a bit... if you've ever seen the movie The Polar Express, you'll know what I mean... kind of those soulless black pits staring at you from some dark, unknown pit. So be warned... just don't look at them too long or you'll develop a case of the creeps. What are you staring at?? What??

Of course, there was one exception, and that was this thing... yes, yes... that's a gremlin... and I wanted to take that thing home with me and love him and hug him and squeeze him and name him George... he was that adorable... look, he wants me to feed him! So freaking cute!!

The scenes themselves... what can I say about them... they were beautiful to look at, instilling both a sense of unease and awe. The range of colors for each scene were so varied as well, from dusty purples and yellows to a dark and beguiling red to a luminescent and verdant green...Just utterly breathtaking to behold. Truly a talented artist breathed life on Dreamscapes: The Sandman and made it become so much more than your ordinary, run-of-the-mill game.

The music... oh the music. Hardly noticeable at first, until I realized I was holding my breath in certain scenes in time with the short striking bursts of violin strokes, hard at work keeping the suspense levels at fever pitch and making me unconsciously perch at the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. As if that wasn't enough, they peppered in every now and then a soft, but notable, sound of a distant scream, as if someone somewhere was in terrible pain. Just amazingly well-executed.

I was also pretty pleased with the voice acting. Every character I came across did a great job with inflection and just seemed suited to their roles. Now, I'm not a voice acting snob like my sister, Liz, is, but I think even she would be hard pressed to find something wrong with it here.

I will mention one thing, and this has more to do with the script writing... I felt that in some places the words weren't quite right that were used. For example, Laura mentioned that she loosened her guard... you mean... you let your guard down? Not that it was necessarily wrong... just a bit awkward here and there and that made me think to myself... wait... that's not right. Again, nothing too bad that would detract from the game, just worth noting.

Gameplay... hey Liz... Liz... guess what? There's no hidden object scenes in this one AT ALL. The objects are scattered throughout the game, so there's no real scenes that make you sort through endless piles of junk, and I was just fine with that. Elated actually. I always feel like hidden object scenes can sometimes get in the way of the flow of the game... hey, there's a big hairy ice wolf staring me down... hang on, Mr. Ice Wolf, I'm just going to sort through this pile of rubbish over here so I can find the flamethrower to kill you.... know what I mean?

In case you think you might be missing your search and hunt scenes in this game, don't worry. They've incorporated something much more fun and obsessive. In almost every scene, there are these creatures called beholders who are spying on you. It will tell you how many there are in the scene and how many you have left to find. You have to hunt those little buggers out and get rid of them. You don't want them reporting back what you're doing to the sandman afterall, right? There's more than 100 of these things to find in the game, so you'll certainly be busy hunting them down... believe me... it becomes obsessive after awhile...

The flow of this game without the hidden object scenes is seamless. And the mini-games are worked into the story so well that they just blend into gameplay without a second thought. In fact, with one particular mini-game, I felt like I was in a scene from one of the best movies of all time... The Goonies, where they had to play the right notes on the piano in order to lower the bridge and get to the next area... any game that can do that for me... is freaking awesome in my book.

Overall, I can't believe how much I enjoyed Dreamscapes: The Sandman, especially since I almost dismissed it simply because it wasn't a collector's edition. I guess the old adage is true... you can't judge a book by it's cover, and you certainly can't judge a game by what edition it's released in... don't miss this one guys... seriously... it's a keeper.