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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">Pixel 
                        Obscura: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        <font size="3">Saturn's in Retrograde</font></font></i></font></b><br>
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 

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                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 10&nbsp; <br>
                      February 1, 2000&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><loonystart></font>
             
              </p>
              
            <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There are 
              three basic &#147;movements&#148; to the opening, and this first 
              part, &#147;the argument&#148; if you will, is a stunningly atmospheric 
              introduction. By utilizing video and what looks like 16mm film, 
              the piece projects a creepy documentary feel that radiates a frightening 
              desperation. Like<i> Texas Chainsaw&#146;s</i> farmhouse and the 
              video dream sequences of the abandoned church witnessing the rebirth 
              of an ancient evil in John Carpenter&#146;s <i>Prince of Darkness</i>, 
              what is so disturbing is that these overgrown fields and reedy streams 
              are so recognizable yet that the moment you recognize them they 
              are rendered suddenly &#147;untranslatable.&#148; Even the use of 
              the police adds to this unsettling feeling, the assumption being 
              that they can maintain order. When that trust is violated, particularly 
              by less than normal means, there is a deep sense of having lost 
              any hope of being saved by an authority that, whether we like it 
              or not, most people look to in the end for some kind of final reassurance 
              (this might account for some of <i>X-Files</i> popularity and certainly 
              speaks to Dan O&#146;Bannon&#146;s comic yet frightening <i>Return 
              of the Living Dead </i>where we get to see just how graphically 
              &#147;the cavalry&#148; can be overwhelmed).</font></p>
            <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The heroes 
              of <b>Nocturne</b>, however, seem quite up to the task. The second 
              movement finds us introduced to the agents of Spookhouse, the government 
              agency dedicated to battling the darkness. The characters and their 
              designs recalled two comic series, Mike Mignola&#146;s truly excellent 
              Hellboy and Steven Seagle and Matt Wagner&#146;s Sandman Mystery 
              Theatre, the latter reflected quite heavily in the Stranger, the 
              be-goggled, fedora wearing, grim faced star of these proceedings. 
              Now, I am not suggesting that the gang behind <b>Nocturne</b> even 
              knows about these books, much less drew inspiration from them, but 
              they draw from the same dark 1930&#146;s pool of murderous forces 
              and occult agendas, a style that has a real pulp beauty about it. 
              Backlit and surrounded by smoke or hit straight on by beams of light, 
              staring into the face of doom, they are the secret hope. The third 
              and final movement of the piece lets us finally see what they war 
              against.</font></p>
            <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Zombies and vampires 
              run amuck. Intercut between shots of the Spookhouse operatives preparing 
              for combat, we see the dead arising, a man being chased through 
              the woods, a vampiric girl smirk at us over her shoulder, a bloody 
              corpse sprawled out before her, zombies staggering in the dark and 
              frantic eyes darting back and forth. One of the nicest touches is 
              the use of spots of concentrated light mimicking flash light beams 
              to pick out the rotten, tattered figures and bared fangs, as if 
              we are sharing the moment of horrible discovery. Again, we see this 
              wonderful breakdown of normal experience, a falling out between 
              what should and should never be able to happen.</font></p>
            <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">But it is happening. 
              The screen being cut down to video dimensions, <b>Nocturne</b> has 
              a sweat inducing air of claustrophobia, the world crumbling inward. 
              Rapid cutting, for once finding a good reason to be so frantic as 
              opposed to just looking &#147;cool,&#148; both bleeds everything 
              together and, ironically, also isolates each individual shot as 
              a unique horror filled moment, a trap of seconds. This is a bleached 
              and faded world cast into sudden relief by a streak of vibrant red. 
              But what really stands out in <b>Nocturne</b> is the music. A cross 
              between James Horner&#146;s Aliens soundtrack and Stravinsky&#146;s 
              &#147;Rite of Spring,&#148; the score is superbly effective in underlying 
              the fractured, disorienting visual tone of the opening. Not having 
              a grasp of musical terminology to the extent that I believe the 
              score deserves, and feeling a bit insecure about trying to fake 
              my way through it, let me just say that the music is refreshingly 
              classical in its outlook and is exceedingly well written, a perfect 
              fit that demonstrates that these Nocturne fellows really care about 
              their work.</font></p>
            <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And what a fine piece 
              of work it is; <b>Nocturne</b>&#146;s prelude is an example of how 
              to bring the perfect balance of artistic merit and entertainment 
              to this emerging video game genre. Both electrifyingly new and aware 
              of the past, the piece is a gorgeous little slice of realist horror. 
              It may not be the three-hour epic that I pined for in the last column, 
              but in its own way the opening of Nocturne is indeed a masterpiece.</font></p>
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              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">- 
                Joshua Vasquez is the resident film critic here at loonygames. 
                He also writes for the Internet film site <a href="http://www.matineemag.com/">Matinee 
                Magazine</a>.</font></i></font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 2000 Dan Zalkus. Pixel Obscura is &copy; 2000 Josh Vasequez. All other 
  content is &copy; 2000 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  so don't do it, or we'll cut you in twain.</font></i></p>
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