Nightmare Creatures
Encyclopedia
Nightmare Creatures is a survival horror video game released for the PlayStation and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...

 in 1997, and Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...

 in 1998 as a North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 exclusive. It was developed by Kalisto Entertainment
Kalisto Entertainment
Kalisto Entertainment SA was a French video game development company founded by Nicolas Gaume at age 19.The company began as Atreid Concept in 1990 and later created the distribution label Kalisto in 1992, which became Kalisto Entertainment's namesake. In late 1994 Atreid Concept became part of...

 and published by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

.

Plot

The story behind Nightmare Creatures draws upon gothic horror elements of the 19th century. The story begins in 1666, when a devil-worshipping cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

 called the Brotherhood of Hecate
Hecate
Hecate or Hekate is a chthonic Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and crossroads.She is attested in poetry as early as Hesiod's Theogony...

 were conducting sinister experiments in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 so as to take over the city, and then the world. The Brotherhood tried to develop an elixir that would endow them with superhuman powers. However, rather than creating their intended superhumans, their experiments created only nightmarish creatures. When they decided to use these creatures as an army of conquest, one of their number, Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...

, set their headquarters on fire, resulting in the First Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

.

The game takes place in 1834 when London falls victim to several evil occurrences. Monster sightings are reported along with news of people mutating into ungodly creatures, and that the dead are waking from their graves and walking amongst the living. All of London is in a panic and vulnerable to the schemes of Adam Crowley, a mad scientist and occultist enlisting the help of the Brotherhood.

A book is dropped off at the home of Ignatius Blackward, a priest and occult expert. He finds it is the lost diary of Samuel Pepys, which contains the Brotherhood's research. Knowing he needs help, Ignatius sends the diary to a renowned American immunologist named Dr. Jean Franciscus of New Orleans, who shows up with his daughter Nadia. The doctor is murdered and the book stolen. At the funeral, Ignatius and Nadia are approached by a man who gives them a note reading: "Know about Adam Crowley, Brotherhood of Hecate --- HVHJ." Ignatius and Nadia head out to an address listed on the note, hoping to seek out Crowley and to neutralize the monsters.

Ignatius Blackward

A servant of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

, Ignatius travels the world to fight all forms of evil. From his many travels he has managed to acquire several exceptional skills, such as being an expert linguist, knowledge in Kabbalist
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

 writing as well as occult and shaman rituals as well as an expert with the Bo-Staff. Ignatius is called back to London by a parish in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

 who are desperate for his aid in solving the disappearance of certain members of the parish.

Dr. Jean Franciscus

A historian and an expert on secret societies, Dr. Jean Franciscus, with his daughter Nadia, crosses the Atlantic. Arriving in London, he meets up with Ignatius and begins his inquiries. One morning Ignatius has a vision, and is taken by a sudden desire to go see Jean at his hotel. He finds the doctor fatally wounded, in his last breath manages to say: "Murder. Adam Crowley. The Brotherhood of He... the journal is gone."

Nadia Franciscus

Returning from her meeting, Nadia finds Ignatius knelt over the body of her father. When she demands an explanation, Ignatius repeats the last words of Jean to her. Nadia promises to avenge the death of her father by finding his killer, Adam Crowley, and defeating the Brotherhood of Hecate.

Adam Crowley

An old alchemist, and the newest leader of the Brotherhood of Hecate. Having discovered the manuscript of Samuel Pepys, Crowley wished to use the powerful secret, magic to create a superior breed of beings to dominate the world. In his pursuit for world domination he attracted the interest and gained the support of several businessmen, bankers, doctors and other members eminent in the society to finance and participate in his malevolent schemes. However the society did not foresee that Crowley would create monsters out of his project, and therefore tried to stop him, only the society was caught in a grip of fear by Crowley's power, until the secretary of the Brotherhood known as Henry Victor Holy Jail decides to take action into his own hands. Henry takes Samuel Pepys' manuscript and drops it off, outside Ignatius' door and later leaves a message for Nadia. Adam Crowley is the assassin of Dr. Jean Franciscus and Ignatius and Nadia need to find Crowley in order to bring an end to his plans, otherwise London will become hunting ground for the nightmare creatures.

Gameplay

Secondary weapons such as pistols, mines, fire bombs, and magic spells can be used in addition to each character's primary weapon. The game features an optional adrenaline bar which causes health to be lost if it runs out, and players are forced to continuously seek out and win battles to keep the adrenaline bar full.

Port differences

While the PC and Playstation ports were essentially the same, the Nintendo 64 version saw a handful of minor changes. Given the limited storage capacity of the N64's cartridge system, all full-motion videos were removed. Brief segments of scrolling text are used at the game's start and following each level to advance the plot. The platforming elements were made much easier in the N64 version, and the health-depleting adrenaline meter could also be turned off in the options menu, allowing players to explore the environments at a more leisurely pace.

Film

On December 8, 2000, a Nightmare Creatures film was announced, but never got into production.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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