Nosferatu: The Wrath
of Malachi is going to surprise a lot of people. It hasnt gotten very
much attention from the mainstream gaming media, and most gamers have
learned by now to avoid bargain priced games, but if you do choose to
pick it up you are in for a very satisfying experience. Everything about
Nosferatu has been designed with one thing in mind: To scare the hell
out of you. Not only is it scary, but also the first person shooter
underneath all of the gothic themed horror is extremely solid. This
makes for a game that plays great and will keep you on the edge of your
seat the entire time you spend with it. There are a few problems with
it, but for under $30 you could do a lot worse.
You play the game as
James Patterson. His sister is getting married to a mysterious man known
as Count Malachi, so the entire family has traveled to Transylvania to
attend the wedding. When you arrive at the spooky Castle Malachi, you
find a dark and deserted keep instead of a party. Armed with only a
sword cane, you explore the castle to try and find out what
happened--only to discover that the truth behind Mr. Malachi is more
horrific than you could have possibly imagined.
The real hook in
Nosferatu is that the castle is randomly generated every time you begin
a game. Other than a central courtyard that is always the same, the
North, South East, and West wings of the castle will be different every
time you begin a new game. The monsters you face are also randomly place
around the map every time you load a game so you never know what you are
going to face next. The concept of a randomly generated castle is cool,
but there are a couple of problems with the way it is executed here.
First of all, the game can throw new castle layouts together very
quickly because most of the rooms and corridors are boring and
unremarkable. Thus, the whole castle looks and plays pretty much the
same every time. Another problem is that since the number and type of
enemies are placed on the map at random, the difficulty in the game is
unbalanced because you can and will be faced with certain monsters
before you are ready for them. The only solution here is to load your
last save and hope that the game gives you some enemies you can handle.
Other than the
randomly generated castle and random placement of enemies, Nosferatu
plays just like any other first person shooter. The weapons you have are
all appropriate for the theme of the game, so youll be using muskets
and flintlock pistols along with a cross and a cup of holy water. The
enemies youll face range from guard dogs to John Russo-style (I.E. they
are fast and agile) zombies to full vampires. You have to use specific
weapons to take out specific enemies, so like I mentioned above,
sometimes youll run into enemies you arent equipped to deal with yet
so you have to re-load. In a cool addition, when you meet up with a
vampire wandering the castle and kill it, you then have to track down
its casket and put a wooden stake through its heart before it has a
chance to recover.
One other twist
Nosferatu throws into the mix is that you are under strict time limits
to save everyone. You have a family portrait that you can access at any
time, which lets you know who you have rescued and who has already been
killed by the vampires. When you meet up with your family members, they
unlock their luggage and give you new weapons (because everyone brings
weapons to a wedding) or information about your next task. The time
limit serves its purpose well and adds a lot of tension to a game that
is already pretty nerve wracking.
Definitely the best
thing about Nosferatu is just how scary the game really is. Much of the
game is very dark, and there is usually an enemy waiting to pounce on
you in every dark corner. Every clap of thunder and sudden flash of
lightning will make you jump, and it is hard not to get scared when the
silence is broken by the sudden scream of an enemy or the loud noise of
a group of birds suddenly flying out of a tree. There are also some
creepy images youll come across such as a corpse hanging from a tree in
the cemetery. Nosferatu also does a great job of letting you scare
yourself. There is a lot of action in the game, but there are a lot of
pauses as well where youll be wandering around waiting for an attack
that never comes.
The way the game is
presented is worthy of some praise as well. The game looks and sounds
and feels just like an old horror movie. The graphics are gritty and
dark and the sound is just what you would expect from an old Universal
horror movie. The combat also reflects the quick cut style of horror
movies with the way the enemies will attack you and then seemingly
disappear only to be right behind you when you turn around.
Even though the
graphics match the desired old-school horror movie theme fairly well,
they are still pretty disappointing. The castle itself lacks detail, and
youll see the same textures for paintings or shields on nearly every
wall in the game. The characters arent very detailed and the animation
is extremely jerky. Compared to other FPS titles released in the last
two or three years, Nosferatu looks downright ugly.
The sound, on the
other hand, is absolutely brilliant. Sound effects for the weapons and
the sounds the enemies make are all perfect. The evil laughter that
echoes throughout the castle or the shrill screams that pierce the air
are excellent. The soundtrack is also very good with an orchestral score
that would fit into an old horror flick perfectly along with several
different themes that pick up right as the action is about to start. The
sound is outstanding and does a good job of tying the survival horror
meets first person shooter gameplay together.
Overall, Nosferatu:
The Wrath of Malachi is a surprisingly good first person shooter that
fans of survival horror videogames and old -chool horror movies should
definitely pick up. The graphics arent as spectacular as some of the
other FPS games out there, but they suit the horror movie theme and
combine with the excellent sound to provide an atmosphere that can only
be described as chilling. Nosferatu is a scary game that is satisfying
because it tries to scare you in so many more ways than Oh no, you are
low on health and ammo ... like so many other survival horror games
rely on. Not everyone will like it, but Nosferatu is definitely worth
checking out for horror fans.
Eric Qualls (11/24/2003) |