Rise of Nightmares

Basically, it's Donkey Kong as directed by Eli Roth, if he spent most of the production locked in his trailer playing Resident Evil 4.

—Zero Punctuation

Rise of Nightmares is the first survival horror game and the first Mature rated game for the Xbox 360 Xbox 360.

While vacationing in Europe, specifically Romania, Josh and his lovely wife Kate themselves on an elevated train going through the stormy mountains. Their trip gets even bumpier after a discovery is made by Kate when she tries to tell Josh something important.

The nightmaresrise.

Tropes used in Rise of Nightmares include:

• Action Commands: Failure to do so results in messy death.
• The Alcoholic: Kate discovers that Josh is hiding a flask in his jacket. We receive hints about a past drinking problem.
• Apocalyptic Log: The tapes you discover journal the experiences of a British private detective who is searching for Viktor. The guy turns out to be a bit of an ass. Cue his eventual demise.
• Asshole Victim: A few of the passengers on the train have snarky attitudes, which almost assures their painful death. Later, we get a peek into their minds and see just who the real assholes are.
• Bald of Evil: Viktor, Marchosias and Max, but he's mostly just an asshole.
• The Baroness: Mary.
• Belly Dancer: Yeli, late in the game.
• The Big Bad: Viktor.
• Bigger Bad: Mary.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Most of the zombies have mechanical arms, some with large, sharp blades, others with FREAKIN' BUZZ SAWS!
• Blondes Are Evil: Mary.
• Body Horror: In droves.
• The Brute: Ernst. Just...don't...move.
• Can't Take Anything with You: Remember that AWESOME meat mincer that you got that ground zombies into chunky salsa? Well guess what, YOU LOSE it at the next save point! No matter what condition your current weapon is, you must quickly find a new one once you pass a save point.
• Creepy Doll: Happy. Hopping. Jesters. Brrr.
• Creepy Crossdresser: Viktor's insanity and grief over his accidental murder of his wife Mary led him to dressing as her.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Some for others, some for you.
• Death Trap: This game has them in droves, including but not limited to: closing walls, floor spikes, flying spikes, falling chandeliers, electrified puddles, spinning blades, and an eldritch altar on which you must match the pose of a statue or be immolated.
• The Dragon: Marchosias to Viktor.
• Eldritch Abomination: There are hints of something like this lurking about, but we never know for sure. Azoth, the mystical gauntlet, the tattooed Lovecraftian-style zombies and the parasites could lead us to believe that something...unnatural is guiding all of this.
• Eldritch Location: A couple of places in the game where you do battle. Could also be percieved as a Dream Land.
• Eye Scream: The main menu screen has a diagram of a human facial profile with the eyeball distended. Also, one of the weaker types of zombies has a eye popping out of the socket.
• Face Heel Turn: Marchosias. Asshole.
• Fan Disservice: The zombie nurses, eldritch females, the altered Monica and Jane, and Viktor dressed as Mary. Eugh...
• Fan Service: Katja, Yeli, Monica, and Jane (whom Josh will comment on if looked at.)
• Foreshadowing: A few instances, but some of the most inconspicuous occur in the design of the tarot cards. Play through the game and then look at "The Fool." You'll see it.
• For the Evulz: "AAAAH! Why the fuck did you do that!" "Why not?"
• Good Thing You Can Heal: There is no health bar per se, no life potions, hell, there's not a single first aid kit to be found. Good thing, indeed.
• Hack and Slash: There really is no finesse to it. Just they way we like it.
• Hair of Gold: Monica.
• Harder Than Hard: Torture Mode. Yikes.
• Heel Face Turn: Ernst. Sad, really.
• Henpecked Husband: Viktor by Mary. Subverted with Josh, as Kate does not want to be the "nagging wife" about his drinking.
• High-Pressure Blood
• Implacable Man: Ernst is apparently this game's version of Mr. X/Nemesis.
• Infant Immortality: Though Viktor tries to steal Josh and Kate's baby's O'Zhuvindo (life force) to ressurect Mary, in the end, Josh is able to rescue him. This trope is also averted when Viktor attempts to make his infant son "perfect" and kills him in the process. This is only referred to, not seen.
• The Ingenue: Monica.
• Ironic Nursery Rhyme: Mary constantly sings a German lullaby. Lovely voice from a creepy broad.
• Jump Scare: YMMV, but Ernst's "Don't move or die" music can cause this effect.
• Kill'Em All: Every survivor of the train crash ends up being killed (most pretty quickly once the zombies start to rise), or turned into an Altered and then killed. By the end of the game the only ones left alive are Josh and his baby.
• Love Makes You Evil: Viktor's love for his deceased wife Mary made him do monstrous acts to bring her back. This includes killing countless victims and using their bodies as experiments in order to further study the art of raising the dead.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Josh's arms seem to be Made of Iron, given the things they can deflect.
• Mad Scientist: Viktor is one of these. It is inferred that some of his "science" is dark magic granted by an unknown entity.
• Magic Music: Pretty music in a hellhouse is a bad sign. Plus, the Banshee. My god the Banshee.
• Meatgrinder Surgery: Viktor is talented at this.
• Mercy Kill: Pretty much anytime Josh kills one of the survivors turned into Viktor's experiments, but especially Monica.
• Multi Melee Master: Melee is the only means of combat in the game except for Azoth, an seemingly eldrich relic which shoots energy blasts, and Ernst's chain-bolts, so be prepared to have very sore shoulders. From crappy old pipes to bloody chainsaws to a surprisingly effective pair of hedge clippers, there is no end to the hacking and slashing.
• Musical Trigger: "Josh...can you hear that music? It sounds...so familiar..."
• Ominous Music Box Tune: One of the doors is unlocked by a hand-cranked musical lock, much like a hurdy-gurdy. Crank too fast or too slow and...well...just don't.
• One-Hit Kill: While Ernst is patrolling, getting noticed as he nears you is instantly fatal.
• Press X to Not Die: There are quick time movement events sprinkled throughout the game. Seconds are precious in these instances.
• Puppet Permutation: Josh meets up with two of the original survivors, Max and Monica, now held up by strings controlled by Mary's Jester Dolls.
• Puppeteer Parasite: Viktor, the mad genius, is little more than a vessel for a vile parasite that takes a different body once the old one wears out, while Viktor's intelligence and personality are carried over with it. The little beast gets very personal with Josh later, stealing his identity.
• Regenerating Health: Once you know how to block or back away during a fight, dying is pretty easy to avoid. Just wait until all redness goes away and you're all good.
• Save Point: There is no option to save the game whenever you want, so be ready to play until you pass the next save point.
• Scare Chord: This happens when you must stand perfectly still in order to remain unnoticed by Ernst, but YMMV.
• Scenery Gorn: Blood-soaked floors. Walls splattered with gore. Stained torture devices. Human remains strewn about. Yup. This trope fits.
• Schmuck Bait: These can be described as many of the "Look" commands. Also, one of your first companions bends down to examine blood and--SCHINK!
• Slashers Prefer Blondes: Poor Monica. Later on, we find that Mary was killed by Viktor also.
• Twist Ending: During the post ending cutscene, we see a man covered in bandages boarding a train with Josh and Kate. He sits besides Kate and opens a bag to reveal parasites. It is left up to debate whether this is either Viktor or Marchosias. This could also fall under The End - or Is It?.
• Unwitting Pawn: Happens a few dozen times. It will piss. You. Off.
• The Walls Are Closing In: Among the plethora of deathtraps in the mansion, this perennial favorite makes a pointed appearance early on.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Viktor's motives behind his depraved methods are to resurrect his wife and baby. We feel a miniscule speck of sympathy for him, then we find out HE killed them both (unintentionally, sure). Back to the slashing.
• Wicked Cultured: Viktor. His Establishing Character Moment is torturing a victim to the cheerful strains of "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from The Magic Flute.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: There are some zombies who vomit green sludge at quite a distance. Normally, not a problem. In Torture Mode, where EVERYTHING can be a problem, it's one of the grossest and most embarrassing ways to die.