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              <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E"><img src="../../images/icons/shelf_final.jpg" width="191" height="240" align="left"><loonystart>Vol. 
                2, Issue 7<br>
                December 22, 1999<br>
                </font></b></h5>
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              <div align="center">
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">The 

                  Top Shelf:</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="6"> 
                  Nocturne</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
                  <a href="mailto:hb@loonygames.com">Noel &quot;HB&quot; Wade</a></font></p>
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              <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../../images/letters_new/t.jpg" width="19" height="38" align="left">he 
                20th century was a time of great scientific and social change. 
                One of the best effects of this, was the phenomenal growth in 
                sci-fi and fantasy writing. Vast amounts of &#147;pulp&#148; fiction 
                (in the form of comics, short stories, radio shows, and magazines) 
                were published; often telling vivid tales of the fantastic and 
                unbelievable. Sure, many were slightly clich&eacute; &#150; and 
                not &#147;bestseller&#148; material &#150; but they WERE entertaining; 
                and many childhood dreams were spawned by them.</font></p>
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                    <div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/cgi/image.pl?image=/content/2.7/shelf/images/n1.jpg&amp;w=640&amp;h=480&amp;back=/content/2.7/shelf/index.php&amp;name=The%20Top%20Shelf"><img src="images/n1_sml.jpg" width="109" height="82" border="0" alt="click to enlarge!"></a></font></div>
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                    <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000253"><ignoreme>They're 
                      coming to get your Barbara...(30k)</ignoreme></font></i></p>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Enter 
                Terminal Reality; and their latest offering: <b>Nocturne</b>. 
                <b>Nocturne</b> is a horror/sci-fi/adventure game that is remarkably 
                reminiscent of the old &#147;fantastic&#148; fiction from earlier 
                in this century. Like its pulp brethren, it isn&#146;t the best 
                story or the best game you&#146;ve ever dealt with; but it IS 
                a remarkably fun and immersive game, despite its few quirks. The 
                game is set in the time between the Great Depression and the Second 
                World War; and stars &#147;The Stranger&#148; (whom you control), 
                a shadowy monster-hunter who is part of a secret government organization 
                that dispatches super-natural threats to the world. Although you&#146;ll 
                quickly find out that &#147;The Stranger&#148; isn&#146;t very 
                chummy with them, the &#147;Spookhouse&#148; crew (the government 
                agency mentioned in the last sentence) consists of everything 
                from voodoo-magic practitioners, to a half-human/half-vampire 
                female (complete with Transylvanian accent), to an outcast Demon. 
                The missions span several years; and are varied in their purpose 
                and goals.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The action 
                is played out in 3rd person &#150; but fear not, moving-camera-haters! 
                Rather than being stuck in one viewing angle, or have a chase-cam 
                follow you around, <b>Nocturne</b> cleverly has a different camera 
                angle for each location. This mixes things up quite a bit; and 
                the camera angles / scenes sometimes automatically change to provide 
                a better view of the action. Unfortunately the system isn&#146;t 
                infallible; and you will occasionally get frustrated with the 
                angles. This is especially true when a partner or ally of yours 
                blocks the view of some big monster cutting your character to 
                ribbons. But overall, it&#146;s a nice breath of fresh air &#150; 
                and if you&#146;re like me, you&#146;ll be relieved not to have 
                some stupid chase-cam getting stuck in corners or smashed up against 
                the back of your character&#146;s head when you step into a corner. 
                </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Graphically, 
                the game is pretty top-notch. Don&#146;t expect <b>Quake III</b>-engine 
                detail; but then again, this game came out before <b>Q3A</b> &#150; 
                and is in a totally different genre entirely! The poly-counts 
                ARE substantial; and the lighting helps smooth everything well. 
                Speaking of lighting, I have never seen a game as thoroughly designed 
                to be played in darkness as this one. ANY glare from lights in 
                the room will ruin the experience. I wonder if the Terminal Reality 
                offices HAVE windows, but seriously: the grim, dank, and foreboding 
                atmosphere that the game creates is complimented well by it &#150; 
                and who doesn&#146;t love the extra suspense you get when you 
                do something like watch a scary movie in the dark? As for getting 
                things adjusted just right, fear not: the game comes with a monitor 
                calibration routine to help get things set up just right!</font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></loonystart></font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. This review is &copy; 1999 Noel Wade. All other content 
  is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  goldarn it.</font></i></p>
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