Gameplay

How does it play?

OK, visuals and nifty technology are nice, but this isn't a movie - gameplay is still the most important thing. Is Nocturne hard to play? Using the third person interface does take some getting used to. At first I found myself moving around very clumsily and falling off the train a lot. Using the mouse and keyboard though, it doesn't take all that much practice to get used to the controls. You aim up and down with the mouse and use the keyboard to move around just like any action game. Movement does rely a bit on inertia - you're not going to stop on a dime after a run or a running jump, so you'll need to be aware of that if you're near any edges. If you want to grab any items or use any ladders and such, you'll need to holster your weapons.

Grab that doctor's bag

Scaling a ladder

Doing "use" near a usable items results in an, uncontrolled animation that can take a while (climbing ladders) or be very quick (hitting a switch or grabbing an item). These aren't exactly canned animations though. Nocturne uses "inverse kinematics" to allow the Stranger to use or pick up items in a natural looking manner. Check out our Nocturne Interview for more on this.

Autoaim?!?

You've got a choice of manual or auto aim with the weapons. All you macho cowboys out there are probably thinking "what kind of a wuss uses autoaim?" The truth is, even an experienced fps player should consider using autoaim in the beginning because in this limited ammo game, you're not going to want to be catching air with your bullets. Hitting targets without assist is more difficult than it might seem because your point of reference always changes when the Stranger moves or turns.

I can glock you both...

...at the same time!

With auto aim on, passing the targeting light anywhere near a creature will snap the sight to a vulnerable area. You can pull it upward to try and force a head shot (say, on a zombie), but generally the auto aim sight likes to "stick" to the chest where creatures are less vulnerable. Later on as you get better and more used to the controls, you can turn on manual for more reliable head shots. However, this will disable the Stranger's ability to aim and shoot at two different targets independently; that's an auto aim only feature.

Double barrel shotty - accept no substitutes

Dynamite gibs 'em every time

Other weapons

The other weapons in the beta were the shotgun, dynamite, and the shovel/hatchet. The shotgun is pretty much a short range, but largely manual aim weapon (even with auto on). With its large spread it is relatively hard to miss but it still takes some amount of skill and patience to get a really good hit with the shotty - its damage reduces a lot with range from the muzzle. If you ever run out of bullets, you're stuck in hand to hand with the shovel or hatchet. These dole out a good amount of damage at least to zombies, but leave you very vulnerable to attack if you should whiff on a swing. Finally we have the dynamite: these sticks pack a big punch and are great for hitting several enemies close together. You throw them as you would a hand grenade: holding down the fire button lights the stick and draws out the firing arc to a certain range. Just release and you've tossed it. Don't hold it too long though!