Nightmare 3D is an early first person shooter that was released for play on the personal computer, and was available in both the DOS and Windows operating systems. It was designed by Grey Design Associates and was originally distributed as shareware in the middle nineties. It features a horror theme and is basically an expanded action version of Hugo’s House of Horrors, an adventure game that was fairly popular.
Nightmare 3D contains a total of thirty levels, stacked in three episodes. The shareware or demonstration version tends to only contain the first of the three episodes, featuring slightly fewer than twenty of the total levels.
Nightmare 3D is an early first person shooter that was released for play on the personal computer, and was available in both the DOS and Windows operating systems. It was designed by Grey Design Associates and was originally distributed as shareware in the middle nineties. It features a horror theme and is basically an expanded action version of Hugo’s House of Horrors, an adventure game that was fairly popular.
Nightmare 3D contains a total of thirty levels, stacked in three episodes. The shareware or demonstration version tends to only contain the first of the three episodes, featuring slightly fewer than twenty of the total levels.
Similar to Hugo’s House of Horrors, the player stars as young Hugo. His girlfriend has been kidnapped by a mad scientist
and is sure to become a guinea pig for his crazy experiments. Dr. Hamerstein steals Penelope away in this action version of the game as well, but instead of solving puzzles to find her and save her, Hugo has to get a little more physical. He must enter the haunted mansion occupied by Dr. Hamerstein and his evil little lackeys and battle his way to his beloved before it is too late to save her. There will be some minor elements of puzzle solving in Nightmare 3D, but it is not the focus like it is in Hugo’s House of Horrors. Instead, Hugo will have to fight and avoid the scientist’s minions to get to the magic mirror that will transport him to the alien dimension where Penelope is being held. There, he will have to fight many space creatures, and finally will face Dr. Hamerstein himself in the last battle.
Nightmare 3D does a good job of combining elements of the first person shooter with simple puzzle solving elements, similar to Tomb Raider. The puzzles featured here are somewhat more challenging than that, but not taxing. As it is a first person shooter, the puzzles can be seen as a bonus. Hugo will mostly be fighting, and his enemies are usually creepy things that can stereotypically be found in a haunted house: bats, ghouls, monsters, and other classic horror beasts…and of course the aliens and Dr. Hamerstein. He has several weapons at his disposal, including a magical wand, a plasma gun, a silver bullet pistol, and the repeater.
The game play, and even the look of the game, is similar to Wolfenstein 3D, featuring three dimensional graphics, untextured walls and ceilings, and an overall macabre appearance. The creepy feeling works great with the theme of the tale and the mixed elements of the game give it depth and makes it more challenging. It is definitely worth a look.
