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Noctropolis Review #88913
02/18/06 08:55 PM
02/18/06 08:55 PM
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,053
Singapore
Benedict Offline OP
Addicted Boomer
Benedict  Offline OP
Addicted Boomer

Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,053
Singapore
Noctropolis is an old DOS game that now works on DOSBOX.

The game was developed by a company called Flashpoint Productions and was released in 1994 by Electronic Arts. I cannot seem to find the company on the internet now. I'm very curious what happened to the entire design team and the developer company. The Project Manager was Brent Erickson. The manual had a list of the development team members and said that Brent had "51 titles to his credit", so with his success he could still be involved in the gaming industry.

Noctropolis is quite similar in design to ACCESS's older games like Martian Memorandum (a Tex Murphy game before UAKM). You right click to bring up a mini console of possible actions that your character can do, such as "get", "use", "goto", etc.

You control the character of Peter Grey, a man who is pulled into a comics book world. He takes over the role of a superhero, Darksheer, teams up with his beautiful and sexy former sidekick, Stiletto, and battles against six twisted arch-villains.

The game is designed for mature audiences because there are some subplots that deal with sexual misconduct, demonic possession, torture and mutilation. The game is sexist as a few of the female characters are protrayed as sex objects. The sexist elements may not be to the taste of same players, and may be viewed as gratuitous. In one scene Stiletto actually bares her assets.

The story is not bad and could have been inspired by popular superheroes like Batman and The Shadow. The various characters you interact with and their personalities bring the city of night to life. Peter, as the hero, leaves most of the fighting to Stiletto, and defeats his foes using his wits instead. For a superhero story, some players may feel that there is no enough physical action. However, the interesting villains and their plots will keep you entertained.

The game has high production values. The artwork in the game is gorgeous, on par with games like Martian Memorandum and some old Sierra titles like Rise of the Dragon (Dynamix). You will get to flip through two full-screen comic books, complete with background music and classic B movie sound effects of bullets and "hits". When you converse with the numerous characters in the game, a small FMV window pops up to show the character, and dialogue options appear (just like Martian Memorandum.) The developers recruited quite a number of people to play these characters. Some of their lines are actually quite witty, but some of the characters are rather unlikeable. As a bonus, after the game ends you will be treated to a somewhat interesting series of FMV bloopers involving the actors and actresses.

The soundtrack is quite nice and comes as another bonus on 11 CD tracks. You will get to listen to the music or hear sound effects in every scene. However, you need to configure the sound and music devices correctly or you will get a watered down Midi version of the soundtrack when you play the game.

The game features inventory puzzles, dialogue trees and one logic puzzle. For the dialogue trees, you have to choose a sequence of correct responses so that you get what you want from the character that Peter is interacting with. For some parts of the game you are given a time limit to get your character out of a location to go back to the base and heal him. The time limit is quite generous, but you could always restore your game if you cannot figure out what to do before the time runs out. There are several instant death situations in the game. Your character may actually be killed if you choose incorrect dialogue options.

Some people may feel that the game is not long enough, or do not have enough plot or action or puzzles. Overall, I enjoyed the game. I find that it is quite unique and should make a fine addition to your collection of classic point and click adventure games.

Re: Noctropolis Review #88914
02/18/06 10:22 PM
02/18/06 10:22 PM
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 48,905
Alabama
looney4labs Offline
Sonic Boomer
looney4labs  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 48,905
Alabama
Thanks Benedict, I have never heard of this game as I am a relatively new gamer. It is always interesting to hear about the older games--especially the ones that someone has figured out how to run on XP, or in this case, DOSbox. thanks


"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."
-Roger Caras
Re: Noctropolis Review #88915
02/19/06 02:19 PM
02/19/06 02:19 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 5,041
Bay Area, CA
Melanie1 Offline
BAAG Specialist
Melanie1  Offline
BAAG Specialist

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 5,041
Bay Area, CA
wave Hi Benedict,

Are the save slots limited? What is the means of movement? Is it the same as the Tex games?

Thanks for the great review. I'm going to keep my eyes open for the opportunity to snatch this one up.

smile Melanie


"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi
Re: Noctropolis Review #88916
02/20/06 10:27 PM
02/20/06 10:27 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,312
United Kingdom
Mad Offline
Sonic Boomer
Mad  Offline
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,312
United Kingdom
Hi smile

A nice review of one of my favourite oldies thumbsup

Thanks laugh

Cheers.

Mad wave


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Noctropolis Review #88917
02/21/06 05:21 PM
02/21/06 05:21 PM
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,053
Singapore
Benedict Offline OP
Addicted Boomer
Benedict  Offline OP
Addicted Boomer

Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,053
Singapore
Hi Melanie1,

I did not notice any limit to number of saved game slots. When you save, the game records short notes for your save game slot on your character's location and the date and time of your gaming session. You can save over your old slots, but you cannot delete your saved games, so you will accumulate a lot of saved games.

Yes, it is similar to the Tex Murphy games in the way you interact with characters in the game. However, Noctropolis is not a 3D game, so it is more like Martian Memorandum than UAKM.

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