Gameplay

Combat

Make no mistake - Nocturne features a ton of fighting and combat. Gun freaks rejoice - the Stranger uses an assortment of weaponry, but his favorites are a pair of .45 caliber semi automatic pistols. To aim these weapons, each is fitted with a cool (but anachronistic) laser sight. Different types of bullets can be fed into the pistols. Besides the hand cannons, you'll also be able to blow away spooks with shotguns, crossbows with wooden stakes, flamethrowers, and the symbol of 30s weaponry, the .45 caliber Thompson sub-machine gun (Tommy guns). What's really astonishing is that the two pistols can actually be aimed and fired independently (at two different targets). So don't throw away your favorite sidearms just because you picked up a big shotgun. The pistols will be more useful in bringing down large hordes. Remember that no matter what you're firing, there's always going to be some kind of visual aiming clue to help you out.

That's no jack in the box

Guard that lady

Other stuff

Nocturne is not just about running and gunning though. There's a good deal of open ended puzzle solving and specific objectives to achieve. For example, you will have to round up survivors in the Texas town and bring them all to the safety of a run-down church. You'll be rummaging around and picking up items as well, and these will be needed to do everything from the mundane (opening locks) to the exotic (mixing ingredients to cast spells). The sidekicks will be there to help you out in combat and also provide you with information and new weapons/items to use in your quests. All of this is is controlled by a simple keyboard/mouse interface now familiar to just about all gamers.

Ack! Zombie Cow!

Shotgun to the chest oughta do it

Summing it up

It's painfully obvious by now that Nocturne has "hit game" written all over it. Buzz is growing steadily for the game, and the market is ripe for the return of the horror genre. Appropriately enough, Nocturne is due on shelves by Halloween. Mark your calendars, kids - you're going to want to skip the trick-or-treating this year because all the cool kids are going to be playing Nocturne and scaring the living bejeezus out of themselves on their computer. Turn out the lights and lock the doors because it's going to be a hell of a ride!

Be sure to check out our interview with Terminal Reality about Nocturne. In it they discuss weapons, spill the beans on the cloth modeling and lighting, and mention their animation system, which uses principles of inverse kinematics. What does that do? You'll have to read the article to find that out, and a whole lot more!

Before you do that, click over to the next page and gawk at the two extra special shots that Terminal Reality hooked us up with. Special thanks to their PR stud Jeff Smith!