Nocturne Review

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            Nocturne

Review by Old RoosterMarch 2002

In the fall of 1999, Gathering of Developers, one of my favorite publishing houses, made a brave and controversial overture into the adventure/action genre with Nocturne. Touted originally for its, at that time, high-spec engine, the game was one of the early titles to use what we are now more generally accepting—a third-person approach to adventure/action. Admittedly, there is considerable killing (a la Resident Evil), but there is much, much more to Nocturne than the famous billowing raincoat of “The Stranger,” our enigmatic hero and monster hunter. Nocturne is not just another pretty face. Let’s revisit this wonderful game.

The World Is a Dark Place

As the back-story goes, in 1902 a secret government agency, known as “Spookhouse,” was formed to combat unpleasant supernatural anomalies—like vampires, werewolves, hackers, and assorted demons of the night. Research is carried on, including weapon development, but primarily Spookhouse sponsors “wet” field work. Into this setting comes the Stranger—a mysterious, quietly effective, and deadly super-agent assigned to four distinct quests between 1927 and 1935.

The quests, or novelettes, each have 4 to 11 chapters and are playable separately. They include the following.

  • Act I—Dark Reign of the Vampire King—The Stranger and his half-vampire associate, Svetlana, travel to Germany to retrieve an artifact, having to deal with a few little obstacles along the way.
  • Act II—Tomb of the Underground God—Stranger and another associate, Hiram, who feels “grave danger” (he’s right!), start with a thrilling train ride and end in Texas, to find if the dead truly walk in Redeye (they do!).
  • Act III—Windy City Massacre—”There’s been some peculiar activities in Chicago.” (This is new?) “The Mafia is employing the Undead.” A German scientist helping Al Capone forms the backdrop for what develops into quite a “fragfest.”
  • Act IV—The House on the Edge of Hell—Set up by a chilling history from Doc Holliday (Stranger’s equivalent of Bond’s “Q”), our hero is confronted by incredibly difficult and frightening encounters, largely in a possessed mansion, reminiscent of the Bates pad in Psycho.

It is best to play these in order, for purposes of character introduction, but due to still rather high hard disk space requirements, I found it preferable to load them one at a time.

How Is Nocturne Set up and Managed?

Installation is smooth, with at least 500 MB free hard disk space required. Recommended specs are much preferred to minimum, although there are some adjustments allowed—even a software mode! I found running 800×600, 32-bit was fine, with infrequent slowdowns.  Teen or mature settings, as well as sound and control options, are available.

These controls, allowing gamepad or mouse/keyboard combination, are what we have grown to know and love with such titles as Alone in the Dark 4 and In Cold Blood. Primarily, you’ll be using four movement keys, a draw weapon key, and a fire/pick up/open/converse key. That huge overcoat stores inventory. Quick and regular save/load is available.  All in all, controls work nicely and, although movement isn’t as fluid as a first-person perspective, it’s about as good as it gets with this third-person, three-quarter view approach.

The shifting camera angle may lead to a rare case of blindness in corners, but this engine handles the great majority of the game effectively. Which brings us to the question of …

How Does Nocturne Look and Sound?

From the famous billowing raincoat to breath mist on a cold day, graphic quality is outstanding. There is a lack of facial/mouth mannerisms, which may bother some. Cutscenes are rendered in-game, with a motion picture level of detail and realism. The overall atmosphere is done in shades of grey, fitting for the themes of the ministories.

Voice acting, especially of the jaded Stranger, is superb. Ambient sounds, from the gentle rush of a gas streetlamp to footsteps, to the approaching moan of zombies, all contribute to the tension and terror. Music is presented much as it may be in horror films, giving a crescendo of warning when an attack is imminent.

“I Don’t Like People, and I Hate Monsters” —The Stranger

Some have thought of Nocturne as a shooter, even a Resident Evil clone. This trivializes the carefully constructed set of novelettes available for your hair-raising pleasure. The game brings back, for this old guy (who could use some hair-raising), memories of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, as well as other classic black-and-white horror films. Another memory is evoked of an old radio program—The Shadow (“What evil lurks in the hearts of men? Only the Shadow knows.”).

There is exploring; there are keys and levers; you need to wend your way through dark and foreboding graveyards, castles, and towns, talking to residents, gathering information. Of course, there are fiends of every description along the way (think X-Files).  I’d like to be there when a “sentinel” first happens upon you as you play. This hideous, foul-smelling thing will be glimpsed scurrying to meet you around the next corner. Yet, except for some frantic moments, this is more of a quiet, tension-building, bump in the night, adventure thriller.

We’ve given a brief overview of the four short stories, and we encourage playing them in sequence. There is shooting, a lot of it in story 3 especially, but it seems secondary to the unraveling of the mysteries sending you to Texas, France, and Chicago. Weapons are fun and fancy, featuring auto-aim, flame-throwers, a gun-mounted lantern. But don’t buy Nocturne expecting Quake. This is as much an adventure as an action game.

Is Nocturne Fun and Recommended?

The mysterious Stranger, an antihero for whom one forms some admiration and attachment, will hopefully appear in further stories. Interestingly, what Acclaim Studios has tried to do, with limited success, in resurrecting the comic-book licence of Shadow Man, Virtual Reality has nicely pulled off by creating an agency (Spookhouse) and a protagonist (Stranger), along with a colorful supporting cast.

From the helpful manual to sound, graphics, story, and play, Nocturne is one of the best adventure/action (horror) games I’ve played in the last two years. Games like this make major strides in reinvigorating the sometimes static adventure genre, as well as the frequently boring and redundant action world. Writers and developers are realizing the value of story, atmosphere, puzzles, NPC conversations—overall, richness and creativity in productions, which can border on being an art form. From my perspective, Nocturne crosses that border as a cross-genre production of depth and quality; indeed, a gaming work of art.

Games Nocturne Brings to Mind

  • Resident Evil series—due to the presence of zombies;
  • Alone in the Dark 4—perhaps the game Nocturne is most like;
  • Blair Witch series—same engine; not nearly the same quality games;
  • In Cold Blood—story quality and engine efficiency is parallel;
  • Clive Barker’s Undying—about as scary as Nocturne, and prettier.

What I Liked the Most

The overall and individual stories are nicely done, even compelling; graphics and sound are stunning; gameplay is varied and long.

What I Liked the Least

System requirements are high (though not so much by today’s standards); there are occasional bad camera angles; rare frame-rate problems do occur. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Terminal Reality Publisher: Gathering of Developers Release Date: October 1999

Available for: Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

PII 200 (PII 400 preferred) 64 MB RAM (128 MB preferred) 500 MB HD space (1 GB preferred) 3D card if using acceleration

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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