 If you're
anything like me, then you're the kind of gamer who, having spent the last month and a
half white-knuckling through Shadow Man, has been skeptical about the advance press
on Nocturne. After all, we've heard it all before, haven't we? How many times have
you read, for example, about the upcoming title that is supposed to be
"unforgettable, astonishing," that "sinks its teeth in and doesn't let you
go" and "will be causing some hellacious nightmares"? Of course, what would
you expect of a title that is supposed to be "one of the most scary [sic] and
exciting games of the 90's"? Ever hear of Thief? Half Life? How's about
the Alone in the Dark series?
Alright,
alright, enough bravado. I should just admit right now that all this hamfistedness is, at
best, a half-hearted attempt to avoid talking too directly about Nocture. Why?
Well, because the advance press on this title is spot on. No, it's freakin' DEAD on, at
least in respect to graphics and sound. If you want superior game design and playability,
then Nocturne is for you. Of course, if you want a solid game that also delivers
the creepy, convincing storytelling it promises, then you're going to have to wait.
 Actually,
"creepy, convincing storytelling" sounds just as bandy-legged as some of the
raves printed on the Nocturne box [cited above] and doesn't really begin to
describe how hair-raisingly rich the Nocturne story really could be. But more on
that later. Let's first talk about the game's technical excellences.
 Undoubtedly,
most players have already read about Nocturne's incredible graphics. These praises
are not idle hype. Terminal Reality's infinite polygonal design makes for an amazingly
lush and believable looking game, a fact that becomes all the more impressive when one
considers that players will--or at least have the opportunity to--traverse at least three
startlingly variant realtime 3D environments: spooky, ill-weathered Continental Europe; a
grimy, grisly Texas jerkwater; and the galvanized grey streets and seedy speakeasies of
1930's Chicago. In all of these locales, the single most amazing feature of Terminal
Reality's design is the realtime meteorological phenomena that provide so much of Nocturne's
grainy, noirish atmosphere. The European villages, forests and castles, for example, are
always dank and dilapidated, and the overcast skies alternately rumble with ominous
thunder, rend themselves with lightening, and pour down relentless torrents of rain.
Likewise, the streets of Nocturne's Chi-town are abandoned as the water towers and
high-rises that make up the city's skyline loom like expectant, malignant sentinals.
Weather and setting in this game are so evocative that they become characters in their own
right, even as they provide the backdrop for Nocturne's, er, protagonist ... the
Stranger. And this last point deserves some discussion.
 Other
reviewers have compared playing Nocturne to reading a well-conceived and written
thriller, or watching a classic film of the same genre. But I think these critics
overstate themselves a little. While Nocturne's story is more sophisticated than
those of most multi-media entertainments, primarily because of its compelling weaving of
historical verisimilitude and popular interest in fantasy and the occult, it doesn't
really go far enough to convince the player that the Stranger has any motivation, either
hidden or obvious, to accept the directives that make up the game's missions. In other
words, for all of its visual and sonic depth and breadth, Nocturne's story is flat.
 In all
fairness, other reviewers have pointed out as much, especially in respect to the four
separate episodes of which the game consists. While they point out that each mission is a
complete story--or game, in other words--unto itself, the fact that none links to any
other except in the most tangential and superficial way doesn't seem to be a problem for
them. I contend, on the other hand, that welching on a potentially fantastic story--one
that could up industry standards forever, in fact--is tantamount to a sort of treason.
That's right; I feel ripped off. I say this, again, because the Stranger, despite his
mysterious identity and unbridled hatred of all things undead, mutated or otherwise evil
and his perplexing cynicism concerning the efficacy of good, in thought or deed, is not a
believable avatar of justice. While some players may not give a damn whether or not the
Stranger is on some vendetta, a crusade, or even a quest for any respite from boredom, the
character's lack of, well, character makes the game less enjoyable. Perhaps Nocturne's
writers have left it up to the players to be fearful and so, vulnerable, but even that
possibility doesn't save the game from its own ironic lifelessness.
It almost
seems as though the folks who obviously worked very, very hard to make Nocturne a
truly remarkable, ground-breaking gaming phenomenon simply bit off, zombie-like, more than
they could chew. This title's background story about Teddy Roosevelt's founding of
paranormal activity investigative agency, the Spookhouse, like Lucas's Indiana Jones
movies, readily assumes a place in the American historical and mythological imagination.
Unfortunately, this potentially brilliant narrative quickly disintegrates when held to the
same standard of excellence exemplified in Nocturne's realtime sound and graphics.
 When all
is said and done, PC gamers who are looking for a break from deathmatching superhuman
meatheads against one another are advised to consider how different Nocturne's
Stranger really is from the zombies, ghouls and werewolves he blows away so effortlessly.
Sure, Nocturne provides players with plenty of puzzles to solve, but if undead
problem-solving is your bag then this reviewer might recommend Grim Fandango. And
there's always Shadow Man for sheer terror. Playing this latter title, I felt like
something always lurked underfoot or spied over my shoulder. Proceeding through Nocturne,
on the other hand, I wanted to know whether this title's writers were trying to say
something essential about human nature and what it is capable of--keep in mind that
Nocturne takes place before WWII, and in places and times where and when specific specters
of evil, as it were, began to collect and swell--or whether I was simply hounded by a
bugbear that hungered for roughage with which to stuff my imagination.
You gonna
eat that ... ?
--Greg
Matthews |
