Nightmare Creatures II (Dreamcast)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.9 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 06/20/2000
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 06/09/2000
• Originally published on GameSpot: Nightmare Creatures II (Dreamcast) Review

A month after the mediocre PlayStation release, Konami has unleashed an improved Nightmare Creatures 2 for the Dreamcast. The year is 1934. The location: a London genetics hospital run by Adam Crowley, a 300-year-old devil of a man. You play the role of Herbert Wallace, a reluctant research subject whose DNA has been altered in one of Crowley's experiments. Vicious demons haunt your dreams, as does the memory of a woman named Rachel. Before you're able to come to terms with these issues, an explosion rocks the hospital. Crowley has unleashed his demons, and it's up to you to stop them. What follows are nine huge areas, 12 unique weapons, and one heck of a nightmare.

While the PlayStation release featured stiff control and random collision detection, the Dreamcast port offers a more forgiving control system. The A, X, and Y buttons each perform different attacks, and they may be chained together for combination moves. Unlike the sluggish PlayStation release, attack response in the Dreamcast version is quick and fluid, resulting in a more humane difficulty level. By pressing X and A together, you can also finish enemies off with fatality moves - decapitating and disemboweling your way to Crowley's lair. Since combos and finishing moves are vital to your success, Kalisto has also added a much-needed therapy mode to the DC release. By selecting this mode, you can practice combos and attacks on an endless array of hapless zombies.

Speaking of violence, Nightmare Creatures 2 is not for the faint of heart. This game has more blood in it than a mosquito nest at Delta Burke's house. With each axe blow, bullet wound, or arrow impalement, splatters of red goop launch everywhere, staining everything. There's also plenty of dried blood coating the walls and ceilings. When it comes to character animation, Wallace's bandages flap in the air, his chest heaves with strained breath, enemy appendages flail desperately, and ghostly bosses undulate with undead vigor. Backgrounds are dark and detailed, replete with dripping water, stained tapestries, and countless breakable objects. A further improvement over the PlayStation release is the lack of load time during fatality and FMV snippets. No longer must you wait two seconds for fatalities to load or five seconds just to see a monster introduced.

If it took a Dreamcast to flesh out Nightmare Creatures 2's visual and control elements, it's going to take something much more powerful to fix its other flaws. While the game attempts to top Code Veronica in ambience and plot, the slow pacing, poor camera angles, and overused visual cues diminish its suspense. In Code Veronica, you're treated to a plot-advancing FMV sequence every 15 minutes or so. With Nightmare Creatures 2, the wait seems upward of 30 minutes - longer if you choose to fully explore levels. Level design can do a lot to immerse a person in an adventure game. Unfortunately, while Nightmare Creatures 2 features realistic environments and many background elements to interact with, each area requires constant superfluous sidetracking in order to acquire keys, wire cutters, spells, and weaponry. Nothing ruins the impact of a spooky setting more than desensitization.

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