Nightfall is a game where you, as an archeologist, become trapped in an Egyptian tomb after a large earthquake. The tomb has been explored only once, and that was over 150 years earlier. Along the way you find notes and clues left by this previous lone explorer.
Nightfall has music and graphics that are guaranteed to be above your expectations. The graphics are amazing, dust surrounds you, flames dance, shadows creep and fall before you, and the detailed hieroglyphics are astounding. The graphics are so detailed, that clues to the puzzles can be discovered in the writing and patterns on the walls. The sound effects are few and far between which makes the game a quiet experience, something you'd expect in a tomb. The music helps to draw you into the world of Nightfall. The music is such a big part of the environment that playing the game without it makes you feel like a fish out of water.
One of Nightfall’s best features is the movement. Quite simply, you can go anywhere you want. You don’t just click a direction and watch as it shuffles frames. Instead, you control every aspect of movement. You choose which direction and how far you move. You can turn slightly to the left or right, look up or down, whatever you choose. You can take one step or continuous steps. You have total movement control.
Although Nightfall is a game that takes place in real time, you don’t feel the urge to rush through Nightfall, and don’t appear to be penalized for taking your time. Often, I would stop to examine the writing on the walls, or stop just outside a room and watch the rodents scurry into hiding. You can play Nightfall simply to explore, or to solve the puzzles and beat the game. There are different ways to finish each level, so it is equally challenging the first or the fifth time playing it. If you are the type of person who reads the end of a book first, you can load one of the included saved games and play the last level, or any other level first.
The puzzles can be complicated. If you find yourself stuck, randomly clicking and dragging can often solve them. Remember to look for clues in the writing and objects around you.
This game takes awhile to learn. The tomb is at times a maze and can be very confusing. Another ability that takes some time to get used to, mainly because it's new to these "first person" games, is the ability to climb. And since the authors took the time to provide it, you can be sure you'll eventually need it.
After playing the game I have two suggestions for the next version. First, the sound effects were too subtle and infrequent, maybe not for a real tomb, but this is a tomb game. The other thing I found is that when 'you' climb down from something high such as stairs or a ledge, you seem out of proportion (perspective) for awhile. It eventually corrects itself, but I found it somewhat distracting.
Requirements:
100 MHz or faster Power Mac, 640x480 display, thousands of colors, 4x CD-ROM, 9 MB of free RAM, 3 MB hard disk space on your system disk. Nightfall runs excellently on iMacs.
I recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed Myst or Riven. Like Myst, there is no interaction with other live characters throughout the game. Nightfall is a great game full of thought provoking puzzles, and has a feeling of loneliness that adds to the experience.
•Damien Price• <deeman069@hotmail.com>
Websites mentioned:
<http://www.altosys.com>
 
<http://www.smalldog.com>
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