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Nightmare Creatures II

Score: 75%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Universal
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action

Graphics & Sound:

Nightmare Creatures II does offer some very nice visuals, not as great as you would expect from Sega's ultra powerful machine, but they get the job done. Some levels are very well done, while others look very bland and boring. Some of this might be from the fact that the DC version is essentially a port from the PSX version. Maybe if some of the textures could have been redone for the DC version, things would look a bit more crisp and vibrant. For the majority of the game, you find yourself in dark cellars, creepy houses/castles, the undergrounds of London, or the streets on London themselves, all of which fit this nightmarish game perfectly. The environmental effects suit the levels; lighting storms, rats running the London streets, flickering lights and candles all add to the creepiness of the game. The in game sound effects are decent; various monster sounds along with the various weapon sounds can be heard on your adventure. Music doesn't get much better then this, as I'm sure you'll agree once I say these two simple words - 'Rob Zombie.' I mean, can you get a more perfect musician for a game like this? Me no think so. Zombie's music is all-original and fits this game perfectly.

Gameplay:

Wallace, Adam Crowley's personal lab rat must stop Crowley from acquiring a powerful magic artifact known as the Glyph. If Crowley is successful in getting the artifact, he will embrace immortality and impose his reign on Earth forever. Wallace, our hero, is a rather scary looking individual who walks with a limp and is covered in bandages, but hey, how would you expect to look after years of experiments, torture, and mutilation? Once you take control of Wallace, you must travel through multiple fighting stages filled with Crowley's evil monsters. Your main goal is to have revenge against Crowley, all while saving mankind - that and the fact that he has his eyes on a pretty young lady that needs some saving. You go Wallace. :) The majority of the time is spent defeating the multiple monsters that make up each level. The occasional adventure element is also found in the game and includes roaming the huge levels, either jumping, swimming, grapping on ledges or ladders, plus you must occasionally find a key, switch, or a stick of TNT to open a door. The heart of Nightmare Creatures II is it's unique battle system, which enters a cinematic 2D type of mode whenever you encounter an enemy. You will be remained locked onto that enemy until either you kill the enemy or you are killed. It's pretty much simple stuff. Use your various combos, or weapons/power ups to defeat the enemy, and when the enemy is weak enough, you can either kill him with a fatality move, or just continue to beat him to a bloody pulp. The game is really a basic beat-em-up game at heart

Difficulty:

Nightmare Creatures II isn't too incredibly difficult. Just make sure you brush up on your various combo moves learned in the 'Therapy' option on the main title screen. The key to you living or becoming part of the living dead lies in these combos, as you will be using these very frequently throughout the game, along with various weapon upgrades and power-ups. Also, you must remember to block the monsters attacks often, or you're dinner. The game also has various save-points placed throughout areas in each level, something that's essential in this game, as the game's levels are huge.

Game Mechanics:

The game controls really nice, and the simple controls allow anyone to virtually pick up the game and start playing. Only problem I had with the control is I wish they had implemented a camera or look feature to see everything in the huge worlds. Although I immensely enjoyed the overall 'horror' theme in the game, along with the music, and the fantastic character design, the most important part of the game really hurt this title, that being the Gameplay. Sure it's fun for the first few levels to go around hacking and slashing at all the enemies, but after doing the same combos and same fatalities over and over, it gets a little old. I really loved some of the adventure aspects implemented in the game, placed in the game to no doubt give you a break from getting the walls bloody from yet another monster. I think maybe a little bit more balanced gameplay could have really helped the game. Not saying that anyone shouldn't experience this game. The mentioned features such as the theme, design, and music should be experienced at least once, and no doubt fans of the beat em' up type games will truly enjoy this one. Overall, a really nice game that could have been a lot better. Maybe I'm more used to the arcadey type beat em's like Zombie Revenge and Dynamic Cop. Defiantly worth the rent, or pick it up if it sounds like your cup of tea.

-Raider, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Duran

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