Act I - Germany

Werewolves and Vampires, Oh my.

There are four completely independent Acts in Nocturne. They can be played in any order, but Act I, Germany is probably the best place to start out because it seems to be the least difficult one. Almost all the Acts begin with a briefing at the Spookhouse; this one has Colonel Hapscomb relating the story of the YathGy, a powerful relic said to bestow great powers to vampires. Spookhouse has narrowed down its location to Castle Gaustadt in Germany. The Stranger's mission is to head out to Gaustadt with a partner, Svetlana Lupescu (a half vampire - a dhampir), to retrieve the YathGy and bring it back to Spookhouse for safekeeping. There's a catch of course. Apparently there are few inhabited villages anywhere near the castle. Oh and the forest surrounding it is crawling with werewolves.

The town is cool

That's a big wolf

Act I encompasses three main areas: a small village called Falkenburg that is being terrorized by the vampire in the castle, the forest, and the castle itself. Sounds cool, but as it turned out, Germany was the weakest of the four Acts. There's not too much to do in the town, which was rather disappointing, given the impressive architecture and size of Falkenburg. The tromp through the forest didn't do that much to liven things up either; it was pretty much a linear werewolf shoot-em-up. The castle itself was more interesting, and having to deal with vampire brides and other mutant vampires was quite chilling. The puzzle solving here was pretty weak overall though - the castle is pretty much a lock and key hunt.

Eeriely lit room

Crossbow bolts stay stuck in bodies (torso)

Still a cool mission

I do give points to the Germany mission for having the best ending. There's quite a plot twist thrown in right at the end of the Act, one that totally blindsided me. Overall, Germany is a great mission for familiarizing yourself with the controls; just be sure to pay attention to the dialogue. The story alone is worth playing the mission. Don't forget to visit Doc Holliday before leaving Spookhouse either - she's got some cool weapons for you, including a vampire frying device called the "Charged Radiance Emitter." Basically it's a massive spotlight that will fry any vampire in one shot (not unlike the UV light from Blade). The only problem is that it takes forever to charge up.

Hello Vampire bat...

...meet artificial sunlight