Hello gamers, today I will talk about a classic horror game called Nightmare Creatures I replayed it recently after so many years.

To begin with, the game’s plot takes place in the XIX century and it brings us to a London in the middle of catastrophe caused by a mad scientist, who in his pursuit of power created monsters that have taken over the once calm streets of the Victorian town. To end this disaster, our two protagonists have to explore 16 districts represented with a creepy and desolated ambience, filled with these roaming creatures, until we reach the roof of a monastery where the final fight against the mother of all these beasts takes place.

Before we start the game, we are asked to select one of the two available protagonists, is recommended to try with both of them to know which one better adapts to our playing style. Ignatus is very strong and has very blunt attacks with his large weapon, but he is not too fast and the attacks he makes with his legs are weaker, on the other hand, Nadia is a very agile and fast warrior capable of taking down any enemy with her kicks, but she is slower and weaker with her sword.

The development of the game is structured in levels that mix aspects of fighting games and classic action arcades. You have to search for some hidden levers to unlock doors and carry out actions that are not very complex. It follows a more or less nonlinear progression but it doesn’t really allow you to investigate every corner to your liking.

That’s because on the left side of the screen there’s a blue bar that goes down when there are no fights. When it becomes grey our character starts loosing energy until we find a new adversary. Although this element was implemented to create more tension, the result is too restrictive and I think it would have been better to allow the player more freedom in this regard.

Now, the way the game creates its somber ambience is really great and it has a gothic touch worthy of the best pieces of horror. All the exploration takes place in a dark mist that hides infernal beings capable of destroying our characters. The gas lanterns add a sinister tone to the corners they illuminate, the same way as the torches and bonfires that let you see if there is any enemy nearby.

There are levels with snow, rain, lightings and other elements that show the devastation caused by a mad scientist. The orchestral melodies combined with eerie voices and the distorted guitar compositions, together with sound effects like creaking grates, the protagonist’s footsteps or the growling of the monsters complement a perfect spine-chilling atmosphere.

When it comes to the enemies, these have a threatening design, are varied and there’s a good amount of them. But it’s important to point out that all the foes are really challenging, since each one of them has a different attack and defense pattern to which you have to be very attuned to, you must use different strategies to defeat them throughout the adventure.

It’s worth mentioning that our two protagonists have a good number of attacks to defend themselves from this army, the most effective method are combos. As we progress in the game, new information will appear on the screen with different attacks combinations. But our heroes will not just depend on their body combat skills, they also have a good repertory of items like guns, dynamite and other special powers of limited use that are found dispersed in the different levels.

In conclusion, this game has an amazingly creepy and mysterious atmosphere. But when it comes to the game-play experience, it is not very satisfactory since it doesn’t allow the player to explore freely the locations and its difficulty can be quite extreme. That’s why I only recommend it to those who are passionate about the horror genre and especially to those who like challenges in old school arcade games.