Game Review: Nightfall
by: Kirk Hiner
Friday, April 23, 1999

I got an email recently from an ex-girlfriend with whom I had to split up because she took a job with Microsoft.

Okay, so I'm lying. We really split up before she took the job...so I guess we were really only saving time. But the point is, in the email she spoke of her new boyfriend and said how much I'd like him.

Are you like me? Do you hate when people say that? Perhaps it's because my dad once said, "It's called liver...you'll like it," or my friend Jenny told me, "It's about a talkig pig who wants to be a dog...you'll like it," but now, whenever people tell me I'll like something, I automatically don't. Being a semi-professional critic, I now have to fight this reaction quite often. It's not fair going into a game with preconceived notions, be they good or bad. Good, and you can easily be let down. Bad, and you'll dislike the title before you even play it.

So along comes Nightfall from Altor Systems, Inc. I read the releases of how the MacWorld Expo attendees clamoured that this game is going to revolutionize the gaming industry, that it's a major strike for "Mac only/first" titles, that it's what Mac gamers have been waiting for.

Wait a minute. I'm a Mac gamer, and I don't recall waiting for a game where you have to swim through the pyramids. I'm waiting for "Fallout 2," and that's pretty much it. Well, that and the resurgance of the T.V. show "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." but that just ain't gonna happen.

So I played Nightfall, waiting to be blown away like everyone else. Sadly, I wasn't. I wasn't completely disappointed either, but I don't share the enthusiasm for this title that seemingly everyone else in the Macintosh community does.

Here's why. First, the graphics, which are the major selling point of the game, weren't hardware renderable by my Game Wizard Voodoo2 card. The software rendering was passable, but not thrilling. Second, the sound effects were pretty much non-existent. If Altor's intent is to submerge us in another world, there has to be some noise. It was hard to get lost in an Egyptian tomb when pretty much the only ambiant sounds to be heard were coming from my washing machine. Third, the default controls in Nightfall were annoyingly difficult to use. You move your character (first person point of view) with the mouse, using the conventional method of placing the cursor on different areas of the screen and clicking to move in that direction. This works fine when your only choices are forward, backward, left and right. But when you can scan 360 degrees and look up and down, this method becomes too sluggish and difficult to control. And don't even ask me about trying to swim this way. An article on that would be better served in "Popluar Mechanics."

Now we come to my main bone of contention with adventure games, the story. If I end my life having only imparted two items of wisdom to my fellow humans, let them be these: "Never charge the corner, especially with your neck" and "Above all else, tell the story." Nightfall is full of puzzles. Some of them are a lot of fun, some are a pain, and a few are completely pointless. But the whole time I was solving them, I was thinking, "Why am I bothering with this? Why are these even here?" There is no opening movie or written prologue, save for the overused bit about the crazy, ridiculed scientist on the verge of making the discovery of the centry. The plot does move a little as you discover notes left in the tomb and read the scientist's journal, but not enough to capture the imagination or even generate any real interest.

There. I'm done complaining. Call it tough love, if you will, because I really did want to love this game. Altor Systems deserves a lot of credit for not only developing an adventure game when most other companies are abandoning the genre, but also for upping the stakes as far as presentation goes...and doing so on the Macintosh only. Fact is, if you've got a Rage card and enjoy exploration and puzzle solving for their own sake, then Nightfall should easily entertain...if you can get around the awkward controls. Nightfall also comes with a lot of tools for programers to work with the game's engine, if you're into that kind of thing. Me? I'd rather play a game then build one. Call me crazy.

But I'll be keeping a close eye on Altor to see what they put out next. With a couple of refinements in compatibility and interface--and some major refinements in story-telling--this company could position itself as one of the premiere developers of adventure games on any platform. They've got the technology and the drive...and the Macs...now all they need is time. Well, that and a story to tell.

So if you are like me and you react the opposite way people intend, then great. Although I didn't like and don't recommend Nightfall, I hope it flies off the shelves. I want it to sell, and I want Altor Systems, Inc. to keep up their innovative development. Maybe they'll need the services of my ex's new boyfriend. I'm sure they'll like him.

 

Genre: Adventure

Format: CD

Developer: Altor Systems, Inc.

Publisher: Altor Systems, Inc.

Minimum Requirements: PowerPC (100MHz), System 7.5.3, 9MB RAM, 3MB hard disk space, 640x480 color monitor supporting thousands of colors, 4x CD-ROM

Network Feature: No

3Dfx Support: RAVE

Retail Price: $30.00

Availability: Out now

 

Raised on Intellivision and "Tron," Kirk Hiner has been an avid gamer ever since he was tall enough to look through the viewfinder on the Battlezone upright. Although he makes a living using a PC (not by choice) to design websites for Dynamics Online, Inc., Kirk never strays from his 9600/200 or 3400c for computer gaming. When he's not playing the latest Logicware release, he can either be found working on his next "never to be published" novel, rereading anything by Kurt Vonnegut or watching RAW is WAR.

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December 02, 2008