Nitemare-3D

aka: Hugo 4, Hugo's Nitemare 3-D, Nite Mare 3D, Nitemare 3-D, Nitemare-3D: The Complete Trilogy
Moby ID: 2595
DOS Specs

Description official descriptions

Nitemare-3D is a horror-themed first-person shooter and a sequel to the adventure game Hugo III: Jungle of Doom. Hugo's girlfriend Penelope is kidnapped by the nefarious Dr. Hamerstein, who intends to conduct terrifying experiments on her. Hugo has to explore the Doctor's twisted mansion, travel through underground caverns, and eventually face the villain himself and rescue his sweetheart.

The gameplay mostly follows the conventions of Wolfenstein 3D, which the game also resembles visually. However, its gameplay is somewhat more slow-paced and includes heavier doses of puzzle-solving. There are four weapons in the game - plasma gun, magic wand, pistol and auto-repeat plasma gun; enemies may be vulnerable to a certain weapon and resistant against others. The levels are maze-like and contain secret areas. The first episode was released as shareware; two commercial episodes followed, for a total of thirty levels.

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Screenshots

Credits (DOS version)

5 People (4 developers, 1 thanks)

Design / Program
Artwork
Music
Manual Design
Special thanks

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 20% (based on 1 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.3 out of 5 (based on 37 ratings with 4 reviews)

Not quite a Nitemare

The Good
When you start the game, it's a tricky start, but you'll get used to it soon enough. There are some good mechanics included in the game to make playing it somewhat easier. The guns (not the wand) come with iron sights, which combined with the unique ability to turn slowly make precise aiming a cool feature. Combat in the game has some variety in that different weapons have different effects on some enemies, though you must exercise caution that you don't waste ammo on an enemy impervious to that kind of weapon. The generous pentagrams found in trunks are a relief from the hardness of the game.

The nice breakup from shooting enemies is solving puzzles which take the form of pushing objects, finding safe combinations and opening cleverly hidden panels. It's fun to blast some walls around levels too. The handy automap and enemy indicator, plus a secret panel detector that doesn't require you to spam the spacebar, serve to help 100% the levels, though you do need power to keep them going. The game also takes the liberty of keeping the player well informed with current coordinates, enemies remaining and the secrets and keys not found.

The Bad
Many of the gameplay physics in the way they work make the game's difficulty more aggravating than the difficulty level that you choose. Even "Be Gentle" isn't being gentle with your character Hugo, it's hardly worth picking the higher difficulties. No matter which difficulty you choose, it doesn't change the fact that you can run into dead ends from certain actions when doing puzzles like the infamous vampire puzzle in episode 1, level 10. As a result saving your game is absolutely mandatory unless you've mastered every level. And enjoy seeing the same wall textures from level to level.

Enemies in this game look okay as pixelated sprites, but the 3D voxel-looking models of the later game versions look hideous. Later enemies like blue witches will absolutely devastate you before you have a fighting chance. Almost all enemies you face are hitscan attackers, whereas you have mostly projectile weapons, which work in a very odd way. Firing your weapons close at an enemy does a lot of damage and firing them at a distance does less damage. When you shoot your projectiles some distance from the enemy then chase them as they go towards the targeted enemy, the damage is a lot. That doesn't even make any sense. The fourth weapon makes the first one entirely obsolete. Oh! And if you run out of ammo heaven forbid, you'll have no way to defend yourself (or blast walls you need to destroy), because Hugo won't pistol whip. Worst of all, unlike other FPS games at the time, you only get one life.

The Bottom Line
The game in all its capacity is pretty unforgiving, especially to those new to first person shooters. If this game was trying to scare you, it didn't execute it very well. You're faced with one of many Wolf 3D clones, but this one lacks the thrill of the more action-packed FPSes that followed the Wolfenstein formula, such as Corridor 7 and Blake Stone. With all the existing flaws, it's not even remotely close to being a step on their level of great gameplay. Of course if you want a tame 3D shooter that has none of the blood and excessive violence, Nitemare 3D is a good choice, but I don't recommend this one as a Halloween gift.

DOS · by Kayburt (30310) · 2022

Is this a game or a sick joke?

The Good
Ummm....besides the fact that I was able to delete the game? Nothing, really.

The Bad
Everything about it! I've never seen such a sad excuse for a game in my life!

Ok, seriously...WHAT WAS THIS GUY THINKING?? The whole entire game is a waste of time and programming! It's besides the fact that this was made in 1994, but to have an engine that even Wolfenstein 3D (a 1992 game) surpasses in terms of speed and functionality? What is that!? And now to add insult to injury: if this is a haunted house, then why is it these "monsters" have got to be the SADDEST bunch of low-lifes I've ever seen? Their animation is an abomination, their designs are horribly childish, and they don't scare me...in fact, I laugh and mock them when I see them come out! All of the rest of the graphics are terrible, and can I ask WHY the monsters don't turn, run backwards, or even walk to the side properly?

And don't think I've stopped there! There's also the matter of sounds, music, and gameplay. Here's the gameplay side: bad child's version of Wolf3D. The "creep" function is totally non-essential and WAY too slow. The clue are too obvious for the puzzles, and the maps are about as tough as breaking an eggshell by smashing it with your fist. The monsters also sometimes do way, WAY too much damage with their attacks, and I hated that grabbing another of one particular weapon always reset the ammo for it to 50!! ARRRRGH!! Plus, the bosses are just plain dumb. You can literally kill them with your eyes shut, both of your arms broken in three different places, and your entire right hand non-functioning because your right arm being broken in three different places paralyzed your whole damn arm. Forgive the Dennis Miller-esque rant, but I had to get that off my chest. In short: SUCKY GAMEPLAY!!

Sound and music? Real simple and to the point: get out a large soup spoon and gouge your ears off, then tape up the holes. It's much more enjoyable than that pathetic music score that can drive anyone to near suicide.

And just for special mention: Hugo looks like a little monkey boy in this game. No, really! He does! Take a closer look!

The Bottom Line
After seeing this, anyone will feel glad that there are GOOD 3D shooters out there. Ones that are much better than this pile of dog poo. Avoid this game at all costs possible unless you happen to be into things like scarification, self-mutilation, or are a masochist.

DOS · by Satoshi Kunsai (2020) · 2002

Fun 3D shooting game, it could have been better.

The Good
It's great to roam around a bunch of levels shooting evil monsters and scientists. You also get to enjoy discovering what is hidden in the wall panels (just can't find them all). It's sorta like a version of "Doom" my mom will let me play. Besides the game gets more fun as you keep on improving on your shooting skills.

The Bad
Well poor graphics, surprisingly strange sounds that keep popping up when there is no enemy around you and the poor effects of the moving wall panels (sorta like the poor background space effects in the old Gamera movie "Destroy all Planets"). So I must admit the creation for a 1994 game just isn't as fun as most 9 games.

The Bottom Line
Hey it's not horrid. Others may hate it but if you like 3D shooting give it a try.

DOS · by Andrew Shepard (1389) · 2005

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

Art style change

With the DOS v2.0 release, many of the hand-drawn sprites were replaced with pre-rendered graphics (sprites created from 3D models). This includes most monsters and the player's face on the HUD. Items and level decorations remained unchanged. The updated graphics are also used in the newer Windows releases of the game.

German ban

On January 31, 1996, Nitemare-3D (Windows) was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

Awards

Winner of the Ziff-Davis European Shareware award for Best Game.

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2595
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by wossname.

Windows 3.x added by vedder.

Additional contributors: Indra was here, The Ring Hawk, formercontrib, Crawly, MrFlibble, Kayburt.

Game added November 8, 2000. Last modified February 27, 2023.