Nightmare Creatures
Windows - 1997
Description of Nightmare Creatures
Nightmare Creatures is a great horror action/adventure game in the same vein as Resident Evil, but with much more emphasis on action than puzzles.
Aside from some annoying quirks, such as the lack of proper save game feature (a remnant of the Sony Playstation version, which was the original for this PC port), the game is a very enjoyable action fest with more depth than many FPS titles. Brett Todd of The Games Domain sums up the good and bad about this fun game very well in his review:
"Blending spectacular 3D- accelerated graphics, smooth flowing action, and an immersive back story, this game is one of the best that I've played in some time. The atmosphere of gothic horror is perfectly captured with a flawless blend of evocative visuals and moody sound, and the game is a worthy heir of such classics as the first Alone in the Dark and the early Castlevania titles for the old Nintendo.
The story behind Nightmare Creatures is simple, but very engaging if you have any interest in gothic horror. It all begins way back in 1666, when a devil worshiping cult called the Brotherhood of Hecate was conducting sinister experiments in London. In order to take over the city, and then the world, the Brothers tried to develop a potion that would turn them into supermen. [But] instead of creating the master race, the Brotherhood cranked out a bunch of, well, nightmare creatures instead.
Fast forward to 1834, when evil doings again envelop London. Citizens start turning into monsters. The dead walk. Nobody knows what to do until an old book is dropped off at the home of Ignatius Blackward, a priest and occult expert. He soon discovers that the tome is the secret diary of Pepys, which records all the nasty doings of the Brotherhood. Knowing he needs help, Iggy then mails the diary to an expert immunologist (in 1834!) named Dr. Jean F. Showing up with his hot daughter Nadia in tow, the good doctor is promptly murdered and the book stolen. At the funeral, Iggy and Nadia are approached by a man who gives them a note reading: "Know about Adam Crowley, Brotherhood of Hecate --- HVHJ". On Oct. 17, 1834, the two of you head out to an address listed on the note, hoping to have a word with Mr. Crowley and maybe kick a little monster ass along the way.
When everything is set up to your liking, all that remains is choosing between Ignatius and Nadia before hitting the streets of London. Choosing between the two is really a matter of personal preference, as they aren't all that different in gameplay. Ignatius is bigger and stronger, but Nadia is much quicker and more agile. Their attacks reflect this appropriately, with the big priest being better at wading into the fray with his longstaff, and the smaller gymnast excelling at staying on the fringes until she leaps in with sword or feet flying. Special attacks individual to each character also show these differences. Both regular and special moves can be performed with various button combinations and none are of the impossible variety.
A wide selection of power-ups can be found throughout Nightmare Creatures. Some are hidden in conveniently marked boxes, while others are tucked behind windows, and others still will pop out after you kill off a monster. These range from health bonuses to a variety of useful weapons. Single shot Guns are good for taking out most individual enemies, while the Multi-Gun, which fires a round in all directions, is great when you're being gooned by a crowd. Other items there for the picking include Firebombs, Dynamite, and Repulsive Smoke, which repels monsters. Everything remains in your inventory until you use it, so you can stockpile useful trinkets like those Multi-Guns.
Even with [some] adventure-type elements, Nightmare Creatures is really all about combat. While this game may be following in the footsteps of Tomb Raider, the influence of pure fighting titles like Virtua Fighter is very recognizable as well. All of the game's levels feature a menagerie of beasties that have to be kicked, bludgeoned, and stabbed into submission before you can resume your hunt for Crowley. The sheer number of creatures is very impressive, and all thirteen feature very different methods of attack. Common enemies like Zombies just stagger forward and flail away, while Werewolves leap around you and slash with their claws. The Hulk-like Dockers pack a wicked roundhouse punch and will also smash the ground, sometimes bringing the ceiling down on you.
This impressive amount of variety means that Nightmare Creatures never gets repetitive even though the majority of game time is spent walloping one bad guy or another. To really succeed --- particularly in the later levels --- you need to handle each one differently. If you just wade in every time, and try to take out a Docker the same as you would a Spider, you're going to spend more time loading saved games than actually playing. There are also special boss monsters, such as a giant multi- headed snake and a yeti, that have to be outsmarted every few levels as well.
I have no hesitation recommending Nightmare Creatures to anyone interested in arcade action of the Tomb Raider sort. The lack of a true save game feature, the occasionally erratic controls, and that adrenaline time limit keeps this one out of the awards category, but I do hope that people will still give it a try. For atmosphere, gameplay, and eye candy, this one is hard to beat."
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
DanM 2024-03-21 0 point
Downloaded the ISO file and the patches, game runs well on WIndows 10. The game does have this quirk, where on start up, it goes to the main game menu for a few seconds, then flips to the opening cinematic, but it's a minor thing and doesn't affect gameplay.
guest 2023-03-07 0 point
it works with windows 7 32 bit. you can select the resolution. also set affinity in the task manager, so the game would`t run fast. you have to insert the CD in order for the music to play. make sure you select windows 95 and give admin rights to the shortcut.
Sambuco 2022-12-17 -1 point
Works fine on Windows 10 even if no music but the sewer boss (level 3) Is rigged, his Fire shooting Is too fast, unstoppable and inevitable. I switched to psx version and beated him in a couple of tries
EKN666 2021-08-24 0 point
Watch this tutorial in order to have music while playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx3raK9zoAw
Vardena93 2021-08-17 0 point
Hi ! When i finish the 1st map and try to save,i cant,game says that i need 2d cd or something like that,how can i save? thx for your help :)
evilkingnightmare 2021-04-15 1 point
if anyone is having trouble with the music, go to this link and follow its instructions.
https://archive.org/details/nc-pc
Sorcerer 2021-03-25 0 point
03/25/2021 downloading all the links from this page... Amazing! great memories from this clasical horror game, as old as good, thanks myabandonware.com!
. 2021-03-20 4 points
Preconfigured installer for modern pc:
archive.org/details/NightmareCreatures-ZombsLair
Bijuklich 2021-02-05 -3 points
i'll skip this, i thought it will work fine on win10, but apparently it's not, messy graphics/resolution, no music....who ever wanna play best version of this game i suggest ps1 emulator epsxe with pete's ogl2 renderer + custom shaders...looks beautiful and plays perfectly with any gamepad...tested both games 1 and 2
oldgamer 2020-10-26 1 point
Great game, it works perfect so far. I played it when I was younger and now my kid loves it.
EKN666 2020-08-10 0 point
I download it and install it. without the patch the resolution looks messy and i have music. with the patch on the resolution looks great but there is no music anymore. how do i fix this?
Haz 2020-06-11 0 point
Other than the Glide fix, I haven't found any of the patches/fixes do anything (it seems that the windows fix file is the same as the 1.2a patch). The glide fix allows you change the resolution via the in game display options. I reccomend renaming the old .exe and replacing it with the fix.
james_lovecraft 2020-03-28 0 point
thanks so much for this game, if you have no music burn the iso on disc and play the game form there, it worked for me
khalidismayl 2020-03-16 -2 points
this game is good but for some reason it has a problem being too fast but it is working fine that is all and it has a egyptian audio files try to type in google nightmare creatures egyptian edition and download the game and try it you would like the game this way i am egyptian though
Musad 2019-07-06 -6 points
This game is total awesome. This game is old too. But it gives all the fun and horror which a child needs to play this game. One of the best horror game in my life. By the way, can you guys please develop the graphics of this game. Make it look real. PLEASE!!!
kvachu 2019-06-17 2 points
@LINK
Yo pal. Most often the reason for no music in old games is, when the cd is not inserted/mounted in the first CDROM device. It doesn't matter if the device is physical, or virtual(daemon. If your first cdr device is physical, but you don't want to burn the cd, but you have the image, mount it in the first virtual device, and after you will have to disable the physical cdr for the time of playing this game. I do like that, since I never use physical cdr in my laptop. To turn off your physical cdr right click on "my computer" icon/properties/device manager, then click on CD-ROM/DVD devices. Right click on the proper one, and select the second top option(win10), which should be "turn off" or somth like that. I you aren't sure which one is the physical one, then disable all the virtual cdr devices in daemon tools gui. If you disable them, you should see only the physical one in device manager.
You probably know most of it, but in case you didn't know I wrote all this.
Have fun man.
LINK 2018-01-19 0 point
I love the game and everything and I installed, but the soundtrack doesn't work. I installed in "work pc" It was fine. But in home, nothing.
♪♪Special Agent Page♫♪♫ 2017-04-19 1 point
i took the zipped ISO and it comes with both mac and pc. i used the pc ISO. without using fixes or updates there are no conceivable issues except the resolution being locked. with windows 10 i did not have to use any compatibility or restart my pc after the install as the game suggested. it runs fine. i have not tried a controller i just stuck with the keyboard configuration it came with. it's not a modern game so the keys aren't exactly intuitive however they are not counter intuitive either.
the sound was fine, the video was smooth. unlike most modern games this one works without a "day one patch". if you ever played this title, i highly recommend getting it again. it's original, it's playable, it's unique and it's quite addictive. i flew through the first level but that is to be expected since that last time i played was 18 years ago on a Ps1. abandonware simply means it's no longer supported or under protection (most of the time) for copyright. think of it like a newspaper on the floor, nobody cares if you take it and burn it. the ISO works great with daemon tools. if you've never had a digital disc before, just look online for a how-to-guide, it wont take long.
i've not found any malicious content in the files provided. as far as i can tell it is safe. i took the ISO version so i can't say anything about the rest of the links here. if you take the game, enjoy it.
Axe 2016-12-19 1 point
Played this game for countless hours with friends. Try it in the dark. Its fun to play with all the different weapon upgrades. Good challenging game, especially towards the end. Look everywhere to get all the upgrades or you will be sorry and die a messy death lots. Great puzzles for this era. The monsters will make you laugh when they kill your friends. Could be scary a little if played alone on a dark and stormy night.
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Windows Version
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