Clive Barker's Nightbreed: The Interactive Movie
An interactive adaptation of Clive Barker's Nightbreed film.
Clive Barker's Nightbreed: The Interactive Movie is an adventure game released in 1990 for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. It was created by Impact Software and published by Ocean Software. The game adapts Clive Barker's film *Nightbreed*, itself based on his novella *Cabal*. It was intended as the first installment of a trilogy, which also included *Clive Barker's Nightbreed: The Action Game* and a planned but never-released role-playing game.
Players control Aaron Boone, who must prevent the Earth Police from destroying the utopian world of Midian. The game is divided into numerous action-oriented sequences that recreate scenes from the film in an interactive format.
To promote the release, Ocean Software and Image Animation ran a contest in *The One* magazine. A randomly selected participant who correctly answered three trivia questions received a set of autographed Clive Barker books and the mask worn by Doctor Decker in the film.
Critical reception was mixed. *The One* called it one of the more competent arcade adventures available. *Amiga Action* thought it had considerable unused potential. *Amiga User International* noted that Cinemaware had added more interactivity after criticism, and hoped Impact would do the same. *Amiga Computing* praised its variety of graphics but criticized the gameplay. *ST Format* highlighted the game's unusual approach to its licensed source material.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Impact Software
- Publisher
- Ocean Software
- Platforms
- Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
- Released
- 1990
- Genre
- Adventure
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The player takes the role of Aaron Boone, who must stop the Earth Police from destroying a utopian planet named Midian. The game is split into many, mostly action-based, sequences, which replay scenes from the film in an interactive way. To promote the release, Ocean Software and Image Animation ran a contest in The One magazine, where a randomly selected winner who gave the correct answer to three trivia questions received an autographed set of books by Clive Barker, as well as the mask used for Doctor Decker in the film.
Reader's Guide
Clive Barker's Nightbreed: The Interactive Movie received mixed reviews from critics. The One deemed it one of the more competent arcade adventures available. Amiga Action felt the game had a lot of wasted potential. Amiga User International noted that Cinemaware added extra interactivity to their games after being criticized, and hoped Impact did the same. Amiga Computing praised the game's range of graphics, but disliked its gameplay. ST Format noted the title's unique approach to the licence. The game's significance lies in its attempt to translate a dark fantasy film into an interactive format, though critical reception highlighted a gap between its visual ambition and gameplay execution. Its planned trilogy status, with an unreleased RPG, marks it as an incomplete vision within the Nightbreed franchise.
Did You Know?
- The game was planned as part of a trilogy, alongside an action game and an unreleased RPG.
- A contest in The One magazine offered an autographed set of Clive Barker books and the mask used for Doctor Decker in the film.
- The game was released for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1990.
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