Nocturne

Terminal
Reality/Gathering of Developers
Projected Release Date: October 31, 1999

What
better choice for the “Dark Horse” winner than what was undoubtedly
the darkest, most exciting game at the E3? What is Nocturne? It is a dollop
of Kolchak the Night Stalker, a smidgen of The X-Files and a sprinkling
of The Untouchables. Set in the 1930s, you play as the Stranger, a member
of a clandestine government organization that investigates strange occurrences
and supernatural phenomena. It is a game steeped in classic horror and pulp fiction
as werewolves, zombies and vampires attempt to possess your soul.

Two weeks
after viewing an exclusive demo of Nocturne, the vivid images are as fresh
in my mind as the classic Universal horror films of my childhood. Mark Randel–the
founder of Terminal Reality and the progenitor of Nocturne–has obviously
made this third-person action/adventure his life’s work as evidenced by the attention
to minutia in the graphics. Real-time volumetric lighting and the use of real
fog heighten the atmosphere to almost unbearable levels of anticipation. Watching
your flashlight cut a path through the darkness, never knowing what unspeakable
horror it may settle on–this is bone-chilling horror that defies you to play
alone–with the lights out and the headphones on in the middle of the night.

Nocturne
is divided into five different episodes that are unrelated, and care has been
taken to ensure that the adventure aspects are much more than the Tomb Raider/pull-a-lever
garden-variety puzzle. It does not do anything different, it does not do anything
we have not seen before; it just does everything exceptionally well.

What
do you think won for Most Original Adventure Game? You might just be surprised . . .