Even though Nightlong is set 100 years in the future, it is still a good old-fashioned point-and-click adventure game. There are no interactive action sequences. No 3D rush voodoo graphics. Just solid gameplay enhanced by, at times, gorgeous animation and a plethora of inventory-based puzzles presented in a logical, linear manner. It is precisely the type of traditional throwback that a lot of adventure gamers complain no longer exits. If you are a fan of the supernatural sleuthings of GK: Sins of the Fathers or of the futuristic society of Chronomaster, then Nightlong is probably the sort of game that would (prepare yourself for a truly bad pun) keep you awake ... all ... night ... long.

The Plot: You play as Joshua Reev (No, I did not misspell his last name. Maybe the absence of an "e" is a futuristic thing?). Joshua is your typical bald-headed, hard-nosed, quick-witted private investigator that we have all seen a hundred, nay, a thousand times before. Your ex-military commander, Hugh Martens, is now the governor of Union City and, as cursed luck would have it, you owe Hugh an enormous favor for having saved your life many years ago. His political career hangs in the balance as his sponsor during the gubernatorial election, Genesis Cryogenetic Enterprise (the futuristic equivalent of Bill Gates and Microsoft), is being terrorized by a rebel subversive organization. You must infiltrate the rebel agents' hideout and diffuse their activities. Along the way you will meet Eva Tompson--she supplies the cleavage quota for the adventure--and Dr. Moreau--once you recognize his name you will soon deduce, sooner than Reev, his role in the game. And that is precisely the problem. There is nothing in this plot that is original. Any experienced gamer worth his salt will spot every cross and double-cross, every plot twist, and the purpose for every item in your inventory long before Reev. Even more frustrating is that what begins as a promising cyberpunk story degenerates into a supernatural tale that is a watered-down version somewhere between the eerieness of Sins of the Fathers and the human experimentation sequence of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. The writers seem unsure as to what direction to take the tale. I am not a huge fan of cyber adventures and live for the next spooky/supernatural game, but I was disappointed to see this story veer away from its roots. Yet, I still am not sure how or why the story even veers into this unexpected direction. A little more reliance on the futuristic aspect of the story would have made this game infinitely more interesting. The uninspired plot for Nightlong receives a grade of C-.

The Puzzles: Nightlong has so many puzzles that I found myself at one point thinking, "Enough, let's have some plot already!" At one time I actually had 26 items in my inventory! There are no red herrings in the game though, so you eventually do use just about everything in your inventory. The problem, as with the plot, is that most of the puzzles are unmotivated. You have a screwdriver, you run across an electrical plate and guess what, you're going to use the screwdriver to unscrew the plate. The best puzzles in the game are those where the solution involves the use of a futuristic device of some sort, be it a hologram projector or a virtual transporter. The exception to this is a neat little puzzle involving the use of a dead rat. Overall, though, this game is point-and-click heaven. The extremely easy-to-use interface facilitates easy inventory maneuvering, but it is almost as if the creators decided to include every puzzle and inventory item they had ever used in previous games. The final grade for the puzzle is a B.

The Graphics: Picture, if you will, the game Blade Runner. Now picture Blade Runner with graphics that do not blur into each other so that you can actually distinguish one character from another. You have just pictured Union City; a futuristic metropolis engulfed by teeming skyscrapers. A world where hover crafts are the main mode of transportation. Sharp, crisp animation highlight every scene so that the only reason you will not find a hotspot is due to your own negligence in observing and exploring. But, as I have said previously, there is not enough of this futuristic look. During the course of the game, you will visit an apartment, a subway system, a dilapidated castle and an amusement park, all of which basically look like any other. There is also a zoo of the future that seems to exist for no reason other than to add more puzzles to the game and a virtual office that is an interesting concept that is unfortunately not expanded upon in the rest of the game. The animated cut-scenes are a pleasure, though they do seem to often go on for an extraordinary amount of time. While the different scenarios and cut-scenes are fun, there is often not much to suggest that you are 100 years in the future. The graphics are colorful and interesting and get a grade of B+.

The Sound Effects, Music and Voice Acting: The voice acting in Nightlong is actually very good. Reev always has a tone of edginess to his lines that conveys a sense of wariness. Plus, his well-sprinkled four letter words adds a feeling of "maturity" (no, I am not suggesting that swear words make one more mature) to his character and to his wisecracks that is often missing in the "punny" Sierra humor and the juvenile LucasArts quips. But these wonderful voice intonations are destroyed the minute you look at the monitor. For Nightlong has undergone the worst dubbing you have seen since Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster. In what appears to be a Robin Williams comedy skit, mouths and facial expressions are sometimes as much as twenty seconds out of sync with the vocals. The sound effects and the music really do not fare much better. There are at least two scenes in the game where what are supposed to be loud explosions are muffled. Many scenes completely lack any ambient sound effects or musical score. So while Nightlong scores a coup in the category that most games fail in, the voice acting, it does not fare so well otherwise. Overall, the grade for this category is a C.

Final Grade: After reading this review, some of you must surely think that I was extremely harsh on Nightlong, but the truth of the matter is that I actually did like this game. My disappointment lies in how much better it could have been. This game has its flaws--the bad dubbing, weak plot--but none of them are serious enough to warrant not recommending the game. In fact, I would be first in line to purchase a sequel. Nightlong is an adventure game created by adventure gamers for adventure gamers, and if nothing else, this respect and love for the genre always shines though while you are playing the game.

I hope that Team 17 has the foresight to release Nightlong in the United States during the bitter months of February or March, well past the frenzied Christmas season, so that it receives the attention it deserves. If nothing else, this is a three-CD release that would surely please the gamers who bemoan the fact that "they don't make 'em like they used to anymore."

Final Grade: C

System Requirements:
IBM PC 100 MHz or equivalent (133 MHz recommended)
16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended)
Windows 95/98
DirectX 5.0 compatible sound card
DirectX compatible graphics card
Quad-speed CD-ROM drive
2 MB of hard drive space for installation
30 MB of hard drive space free
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