Nosferatu:
The Wrath of Malachi

A reunion leads to a feast in which the family will be dinner, unless one man can slay the hungry demons

	Nosferatu
	By iGames
	For PC
	MSRP: $29.99

Review by Mark H. Walker

ost of us look forward to family functions. Be they reunions, weddings or impromptu gatherings, they feature an eclectic grab bag of weird uncles, protective grandmothers and the occasional hot cousin. Unfortunately, James Patterson's family reunions contain a bit more ... uh, shall we say excitement? At least, the get-together depicted in iGames' horror survival title Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi does.

It's 1912 and James comes strolling into a wealthy Romanian count's castle to attend his sister's wedding. At least, that's what he thinks is going on. When he arrives, he finds that his family has been kidnapped by the evil beings, giant bats and vampires that inhabit the castle. It is his job to slay these demons, rescue his family and foil the plans of the master vampire, Malachi.

Gamers assume Patterson's identity as they roam the castle. The game plays through Patterson's eyes in standard first-person-shooter form as the young man wanders the castle in search of his family. During the search, Patterson wields a multitude of weapons, from the traditional cross and holy water vampire killers to an early version of a machine gun. He has no allies. Gamers must go it alone if they wish to scourge the castle's evil, and there is no multiplayer component.

The name of the game is fear

Playing Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is bit like seeing the Dallas Cowboys in their throwback jerseys. Familiar yet fresh. Nosferatu is at its heart a first-person shooter that hearkens back to the days of Doom. That much is familiar; what is fresh is the clean, straightforward play and real-time rescue constraints.

This is not a game that ruins itself in a vain attempt to scare its players. Oh, it's scary enough. Monsters drop from unseen ceiling recesses, darkness oozes from the every corner, and some very powerful boss vampires block your rescue attempts. But it is a fear unfettered by poorly written, convoluted plots. A visceral fear/joy grounded in fast action, and fed by a constant stream of creepy crawlers, flyers, runners or whatever.

And it's a fear ratcheted by the need to move fast, fight hard and move on. Many of the hostages must be rescued by a certain time. And this time is a real time. If the clock says that you have an hour to rescue your aunt, you have an hour to rescue your aunt ... in real time. Failure to do so brings a grisly death to the victim. That clock creates a delicious tension often lacking in survival horror games.

In fact Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi creates a heck of a lot of stuff missing from lesser titles. This is one survival-horror game that will keep you glued to the edge of your gaming seat until the wee hours of morning. If you like the genre, or if you like having fun, you'll like this game.

Good, clean horror—or at least the gaming equivalent thereof. — Mark

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