Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi

Review by MrLipid
November 2003

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is just a patch or two away from being a great, great game. As it stands now, it is a great idea crippled by a few really annoying bugs.

Something Borrowed, Something Grue ...

Nosferatu is not the first title to combine the conventions and game engine of a first-person shooter with the mood of dread that characterizes the best survival horror. Clive Barker's Undying owns that honor. Nor is Nosferatu the first title to require its hero to escort civilians to safety through a world filled with the undead. Nocturne showed how to do that. Nor is Nosferatu the first title to randomize huge chunks of its game world to enhance replayability. Diablo II added that twist some time ago. Nor is Nosferatu the first first-person shooter to offer players a single huge world to explore. Killing Time takes that prize. Nosferatu is, however, the first game to bring all those elements together and the result, but for a few unfortunate bugs, is very entertaining.

Our Story So Far ...

The basic premise is simple. You take the role of James Patterson, a young man attending the marriage of his sister, Rebecca. The wedding is taking place at creepy old Castle Malachi, deep in the heart of Transylvania, because Becky is marrying the son of a Romanian count. Uh-oh.

When you arrive, well after dark and a day later than your family and friends, you find that your family and friends (even your dog!) have disappeared. Well, not exactly disappeared. They are being held in the castle by dark forces (or simply hiding in the castle from the aforementioned dark forces), and it is your job to get them out.

You learn what you must do through title cards of the sort found in silent films like, for example, Murnau's Nosferatu, from which the game draws substantial esthetic, though not narrative, inspiration. Your first clue regarding the previous day's events at Castle Malachi comes when kindly old Father Aville spells out for you, after bursting through an upper story window and landing at your feet, just what sort of family your sister is marrying into.

Family Splatters

Oh, dear. Seems the Count is a vampire. (Anyone who wants to say, "Funny, he didn't look chewish," should do so now. But never mind that.) Father Aville informs you that "Dr. Amersfield, Aunt Emelie, Uncle Andrew and Gregory are hiding in the East Wing. You must find and rescue them!" Father Aville then provides you with a crucifix with which to vaporize any bloodsuckers you might encounter. That, and the cane sword you carry in your suitcase and the wooden stakes you've found scattered about, are the only weapons you have as you start your quest.

Once you find the key that unlocks the East Wing, you begin your search for the members of the wedding party. As you explore Castle Malachi, you'll find copies of Father Aville's Encyclopedia of the Undead. Each volume offers a bit of vital information on which weapon can subdue which threat. The cane sword, for example, while perfectly adequate against a possessed peasant with a scythe, is useless against a vampire.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to Work We Go ...

As you find each member of the wedding party and successfully guide her or him to safety, you are rewarded with items that can improve your odds against the undead: special keys, powerful potions, a sacred chalice that can be filled with holy water. (Turning ordinary water into holy water is one of Nosferatu's best effects. A flash of power from the crucifix and ordinary water starts to glow as if residing in a well-tended, bottom-lit swimming pool. Or the cooling vessel of a nuclear reactor.) And could any vampire hunt be considered complete without tasty, fragrant, cholesterol-lowering garlic?

Fail to rescue someone and you may lose access to whatever item that someone was going to give you. When that item turns out to be, say, a machine gun, the value of getting everyone out in one piece becomes clear. Botch too many rescues and you may not have enough firepower at the end of the game to take on the final boss, save the world, etc. And, unlike the previously mentioned first-person shooters, there is no way to acquire all weapons without actually playing the game. Imagine that.

You Got Your Nocturne in My Diablo II!

Fans of Nocturne know how challenging it can be to (a) locate civilians who've hidden themselves from the undead and then to (b) escort those civilians to safety. Fans of Nocturne also know that a number of walkthroughs are available to help them find those hidden civilians. This is where Nosferatu becomes truly diabolical. Or, at any rate, Diablo II-ical.

Other than a few areas that remain constant, the architecture of creepy (and enormous) old Castle Malachi randomizes at the start of each new game. And the randomization doesn't stop with the architecture. Power-ups, ammo and keys, as well as many of your friends and relatives, also change locations from game to game.

By placing civilian escort missions in a game world that is never the same from one game to the next, Nosferatu provides a level of engagement not usually found in first-person shooter or survival horror titles. Will I be able to find my friends, relatives and dog? Assuming I find them, can I remember the way back? Assuming I can remember the way back, can I keep them alive until we reach safety? Oh, and did I mention that all of this has to happen before the sun comes up? And that throughout the night friends and family will be killed if not reached in time? Sound like enough of a challenge?

Look Here First ...

As the comments of Father Aville indicate, action in Nosferatu is not completely random. Every game starts in the East Wing. Developer Idol FX has taken pains to provide players with just enough direction to keep play moving forward. Of course, it's one thing to know that one has to make it to the clock tower and another to figure out where the clock tower actually is.

(Massive disclaimer: I freely admit to using a trainer to keep me alive. Worrying about my own hide while searching the castle and escorting folks out of it seemed like one thing too many to have on my already heaping plate. And, having said that, I never would have believed that it would be possible to create a game where making the player invulnerable makes so little difference in the balance of the gameplay. Even making the civilians invulnerable would not change things all that much. Still have to find them and still have to get them out in order to acquire the weapons.)

Looking Good, Sounding Better

Visually, Nosferatu offers an appropriately dark and muted palette, suggesting a world long devoid of life. One can almost smell the musty stillness in the empty rooms. Empty, that is, until something awful falls from the ceiling, erupts from the floorboards, hurls itself through a window or, in the case of the shadow vampires, simply drifts like black smoke out of a dark corner.

A lush orchestral score, linked to location and action with a deftness usually found only at the movies, establishes and sustains a deliciously spooky mood. Fans of the work of Italian horror director Mario Bava will feel right at home in Nosferatu. And when the undead show up to play, the sound effects may have you experiencing the mystic transcendence of levitation.

And ... Action!

Given the action elements of Nosferatu, it's probably necessary to point out that there is no multiplayer mode. Too bad, given how much replayability could be enjoyed through the randomization feature.

One other action-related point. Nosferatu respawns its monsters every time a saved game is loaded. This means if you save your game in an empty room, the room may not be so empty once reloaded. While a trainer will keep you alive, the unexpected beasties may make short work of anyone you happen to be escorting. One solution is to save your game only after you've successfully walked someone to the sanctuary.

Points off for Bugs ...

As much as I would like to suggest that Nosferatu deserves a Gold Star, there are a few bugs (probably patchable—hint, hint!) that demand immediate and serious attention.

Bug Number One

One is the Isaac Newton Memorial Bug. This bug embodies the second half of Newton's Law of Inertia: A body in motion continues to move at a constant velocity in a straight line unless acted on by an external force. Or wall. Or crate. Or door. The INMB, once it kicks in, makes it impossible to stop moving. Press and release the up key and you keep moving forward as if the up key had never been released. Press and release the down key and you'll back up until you can back up no longer. Same with the right and left keys. Sometimes jumping up and down will briefly repeal the Law of Inertia. Other times it is necessary to leave the room and return. Unless, of course, one is on a rooftop and there is no simple way off. Except down. Way, way down. Even with the trainer, falls are fatal.

Bug Number Two

And then there is the Invisible Assassin Bug. The first time I ran into this one, I had just discovered a friend of the family. As the fellow walked toward me, he was repeatedly slashed by nothing I could see until he collapsed. Very odd. And very frustrating to finally find someone only to see him cut to pieces before he can even leave the room in which he was hiding. The IAB can also strike while a civilian is in transit. I had someone halfway to the sanctuary and then—surprise!—big (and ultimately fatal) wounds appeared with no apparent source. Was it horrifying? Well, yes, though probably not in the way the developers intended. Was it simply a matter of the clock running out on this poor fella? Perhaps. But it hardly seems reasonable to allow the game itself to do the killing, rather than the enemies in the game, simply because it was time for a civilian to croak.

Losing movement control in a time-based action game is very bad, and having folks die without apparent cause in a game based on rescuing them is worse. If anyone at Idol FX is listening, fix these bugs!

And in Conclusion ...

Nosferatu, much like Doom and Alone in the Dark, counts on its energy rather than its gloss to create a compelling universe for players to immerse themselves in. Unfortunately, the team at Idol FX did such a good job creating that universe that when a bug does kick in, the effect is jolting. For the moment, Nosferatu is a terrific idea, beautifully realized, that is a just a patch or two away from greatness. 

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Idol FX
Publisher: iGames Publishing
Release Date: October 2003

Available for:

Four Fat Chicks Links

Player Feedback

Screenshots

System Requirements

Pentium III 733 MHz processor
128 MB RAM
350 MB free hard disk space
4X CD-ROM drive
Direct X 8.1 installed (included on the CD-ROM)
Windows 98/00/XP
Monitor with 800×600 resolution, 16-bit high color video mode
100% DirectX compatible soundcard and drivers
100% Direct-3D compatible hardware accelerator with 16 MB VRAM
100% Microsoft compatible mouse/keyboard and drivers

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only. FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

For More Info, Visit: