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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">The 
                        Top Shelf: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        Nocturne</font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 

                        <a href="mailto:hb@loonygames.com">Noel &quot;HB&quot; 
                        Wade</a></font></div>
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                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 7<br>
                      December 22, 1999</font></b></h5>
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           <loonystart>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The result 
                is definitely pleasant; and the extra work that was put into the 
                cloth-simulator was really nice. In case you haven&#146;t heard 
                about it, many of the game&#146;s characters have wings, or robes, 
                or coats, or other objects of that nature. The Terminal Reality 
                guys have done a standup job of recreating the effects of wind 
                and movement with these objects. Occasionally you&#146;ll notice 
                someone&#146;s rear-end sticking through their hanging cloth, 
                or a clipping/bounding-box problem with it; but again, it&#146;s 
                a minor thing. Luckily (from what I can tell), the TR folks have 
                done a marvelous job of optimizing the engine; as it runs smooth 
                as butter on my system &#150; with nary a hitch or pause.</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/n2.jpg&amp;w=560&amp;h=419&amp;back=/content/2.7/shelf/index2.php&amp;name=The%20Top%20Shelf"><img src="images/n2_sml.jpg" width="124" height="93" border="0" alt="click to enlarge!"></a></font></div>
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                  <td height="18"> 
                    <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000253"><ignoreme>Uh...is 
                      that a zombie cow? (31k)</ignoreme></font></i></p>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sound-wise, 
                the game comes through admirably as well. Sounds crescendo or 
                fade, based on the distance from the viewing point; and most of 
                the sounds seem appropriate for their action. The developers did 
                a marvelous job in setting the mood with the sounds; and the combination 
                of creepy sounds and the moody visuals will have you jumping in 
                your seat on occasion! A couple of sound effects seem disappointing 
                and &#147;too small&#148; for their actions; but yet again, this 
                is down to nit-picking small details.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On to 
                the big one: gameplay! The game&#146;s controls take a little 
                bit of getting used to; and the constant camera-angle changes 
                can be confusing to the novice gamer. Still, if you spend the 
                first 15 minutes of play feeling out and adjusting the settings 
                to your liking, I think that anyone can become comfortable with 
                controlling &#147;The Stranger&#148;. There are many helpers for 
                this, too &#150; like the auto-aim feature; something that I find 
                is useful even after you get experienced with the game. The inverse-kinematics 
                are pretty cool, as well. For those that don&#146;t know, inverse 
                kinematics is the use of physics-like routines to control animations 
                or actions. Thus, when &#147;The Stranger&#148; reaches out to 
                grab a doctor&#146;s bag (read: health kit), or flip a switch 
                &#150; he actually reaches out TO that object, and performs the 
                proper action. No pre-canned stuff here; so no hokey miscues or 
                &#147;off-target&#148; animations. While subtle, this really helps 
                with the immersion; since the characters always act appropriately, 
                with respect to their surroundings.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Unfortunately, 
                as with all of the other aspects of this game, there are a few 
                glitches. Clipping/bounding-boxes aren&#146;t always accurate, 
                sometimes causing odd behavior with the characters. Also, the 
                ability of your character to fall off ledges seems fluky to me. 
                Sometimes you can&#146;t drop off of a small ledge or area; as 
                if the game is protecting you from doing so &#150; but other times 
                you can lead the stranger right off a bridge to drown... And your 
                companion&#146;s AI routines are sometimes below Forrest Gump 
                level; watching them run right into already-triggered (and therefore 
                visible and obvious) traps to keep up with you is frustrating, 
                to say the least. There are also times where the levels are designed 
                to keep you from moving in a particular direction; but the artwork 
                / layout doesn&#146;t make this clear. </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Despite 
                all of these minor points, in the end Nocturne turns out to be 
                a wonderfully engaging (and frightening) adventure game! Anyone 
                who&#146;s wanted to play a part in a film noir production, or 
                be the stoic bad-ass in a horror/action flick, will really enjoy 
                it. Nocturne successfully scores big in every major category; 
                and that carries it through to being a good game. Like its soft-cover 
                cousins of older times, it may not be destined to top any best-seller 
                charts; but it sure entertains well &#150; and can whisk you away 
                to another place just as well as any of those news-stand storybooks...</font></p>
              <p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>- 
                Noel &quot;HB&quot; Wade is a regular contributor to loonygames. 
                Basically, he just wants attention. </i></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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