Nightmare Creatures II is the sequel to Nightmare Creatures, which was released in 2000 for the PlayStation and the Dreamcast. Konami was in charge of publishing it instead of Activision with the game developed by Kalisto Entertainment. It's also an Action-Adventure Hack and Slash game similar to the first game.
The game takes place in 1934, one century after the events of the first game. It tells the story of Herbert Wallace, a man who was captured as a young kid by Crowley, who tortured and experimented on him. After many years, he decides to take revenge on Crowley.
Nightmare Creatures II contains examples of:
- Abandoned Hospital: The starting level is the hospital/Asylum where Herbert was locked up, now overrun by Crowley's minions, it's entrance guarded by a monstrous lion-like four-legged horror.
- Actionized Sequel: The protagonist can now swim, climb on edges and has better jump controls.
- And the Adventure Continues: The game's good ending has Herbert saving Rachel and preparing to hunt down a fugitive Crowley again.
- Attack of the Monster Appendage: The underwater tunnels of Crowley's castle have clusters of massive octopus-like tentacles dangling from the ceiling, ready to crush you if you swim too close to them. In the Museum level, you're hunted by the absolutely gigantic tentacles of an Eldritch Abomination whose identity is left unrevealed.
- Ax-Crazy: The protagonist, Herbert Wallace, looks the part. You have Adam Crowley to blame for that.
- Bat Out of Hell: Some of the monsters include grotesque demons with bat wings in lieu of arms, capable of moving out of Wallace's way easily and attack by gliding into him and kicking.
- Behind the Black: One moment, your walking into the Museum grounds in Paris, then, as weird noises are heard and the camera turns around, we see that the street in front of the gate is completely occupied by the gigantic green tentacles of a huge abomination, slithering towards you.
- Big Damn Heroes: After killing the first proper boss, Herbert finds himself blocked in a corridor with an encroaching fire and the only way out locked... then Rachel comes from the other side of the gate and unlocks it, allowing Herbert to get out alive.
- Body Horror: Skeletal faces, exposed ribs and spines, overly-long and thin limbs, clawed hands and feet... the list goes on and on.
- Breaking the Bonds: The second boss fought in the lone tower of Crowley's castle is tied up to a wooden structure, but will free its Creepily Long Arms during the boss battle.
- Breath Weapon: The first proper boss attacks by breathing clouds of poison gas at you: it's actually the safest moment to attack him, as he could otherwise dish out a potentially lethal attack.
- Call-Back: You can find a portrait of Ignatius Blackwood, founder of the Circle. Ogres and Zombies make a return.
- Came Back Strong: Adam Crowley cheated death and came back heading a world-wide evil sect.
- Chainsaw Good: New enemies include giggling maniacs with big chainsaws.
- Damsel in Distress: Rachel is captured halfway through by Crowley's monsters and taken to the Tour Eiffel to a Fate Worse than Death.
- Climbing Climax: The final level opens with Herbert emerging grom the parisian underground next to the Eiffel Tower and climbing the whole thing to the top.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Herbert Wallace is creepy, covered in loose bandages and carries around an axe. He's surprisingly soft-spoken and a virtuous person through and through.
- Determinator: Wallace said he'll save Rachel and nothing, no matter how scary, big or distant, will stand in his way.
- Doing in the Scientist: The first game implies that Crowley's creatures were created with scientific/alchemical methods and tend to be faulty: in this game, some of Crowley's new beasties are the fruit of dark magic.
- Eldritch Abomination: A huge monster mostly composed of green tentacles attacks Herbert during the Museum level. Another one, ominously known as the Devouring Death, lurks on the tip of the Tour Eiffel.
- Enemy Posturing: Most enemies will have an animation during which they growl or perform some other action which leaves them open to a flurry of strikes: you are free to ignore this posturing, but they may counter.
- Finishing Move: After dealing enough damage to a monster, you can brutally execute them in many ways, using either your axe or your mad strength. Examples include beheading and whacking zombies, headbutting and stomping female zombies, Neck Snap ogres with the handle of your axe and pummeling the octopoid beasts before slamming them into the ground.
- Flunky Boss: The third boss sends some bug-like hatchlings at you before you can fight it personally.
- Four Is Death: According to the manual, Crowley stuck a deal with the four Emissaries to help summoning the Entity ad merge with it. If the bosses you fight are the emissaries, this is unknown.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The finishers for spider monsters has Wallace shoot them point-blank with his gun, even if you carry no ammo to fire it.
- Giant Mook: Bofoids (Large, yellowish monsters with loud roars, powerful arms and extra tentacles on their shoulders) and Dockers/Ogres.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: All the bosses: a lion-like beast stalking an asylum? A monstrous gas-spewing humanoid dangling from a tentacles sac of flesh? A gangly, multi-limbed ghoul attached to a wooden frame? A green Eldritch Abomination enveloping a Museum followes by some sort of betentacled, big-mouthed beast with a spiked tail and finally a large demonic undead wielding a massive cross. They don't even get names or comments.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Necrophages will attack brandishing a mutilated torso as a cudgel.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Herbert Wallace is more than capable of tearing the monsters apart with his skills, but in many cutscenes he'll be wise/in a hurry enough to stop fighting everything in his way and just run forward towards the next target.
- Licking the Blade: The knife-wielding monsters will posture by licking their massive blades with an audible slurping sound.
- Monstrous Humanoid: Pretty much every single monster you ran across is human-like or a humanoid based on other creatures such as bats, spiders or octopi. Even the hound-like beasts are vaguely humanoid.
- Monumental Damage: Crowley's base of operation lies on the tip of the Eiffel Tower, now covered in a huge, fleshy mass belonging to a supernatural terror.
- Mundane Solution: The two clearly non-humanoid bosses, seemingly too tough to be hacked to pieces with an axe, are disposed of with dynamite and blown up.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite his average build, Herbert is strong enough to finish off certain monsters bigger than he is through brute strength, as seen when he neck-snaps the humongous Dockers or when he lifts the tentacled monsters by one of their tentacles before violently slamming them into the floor.
- No Name Given: While the first game still has an helpful site listing all the creatures, their names and origins, you're left in the dark about the names and natures of this game's monsters, except for the Final Boss being named the "Devouring Death".
- Non-Standard Game Over: Take too long to place the dynamite on the barrels surrounding the Devouring Death on the Eiffel Tower and Crowley's plan will go off without a hitch.
- Noodle People: Most of the monsters are surprisingly gangly and thin with gaunt torsoes and elongated limbs.
- Off with His Head!: You can do this to the zombies and the chainsaw-wielding monsters as a fatality in the sequel. You can even chop off a monster's head during combat with a lucky shot, but they will keep fighting as long as they have enough health.
- Oh, Crap!: Wallace's muted reaction to turning around and see the encroaching tentacles of a behemoth beast coming at him outside the Museum.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Jacket-clad zombies, naked and gangly female zombies, coat-clad, skull-faced zombies with billhooks and probably more.
- Stock Sound Effects: All roars are very familiar. Especially those of the graveyard boss.
- The Swarm: A new item in the shape of a large fly releases a swarm of hungry insects against an opponent, which is devoured alive.
- Time-Limit Boss: The Final Boss must be dealt with in time to avoid the bad ending. The timer is the only obstacle in the fight.
- Unique Enemy: The lion-like monster in the hospital: it's the only enemy of this type fought, yet it can be easily dealt with using items, making it unworthy of being considered a proper boss.
- The Un-Reveal: The true nature of the behemoth tentacles suddenly appearing to chase Herbert in the Museum isn't clarified: they resemble both the mystery tentacles in Crowley's castle moat and the tentacles on the Devouring Death, but they are far bigger and you never see what they're attached to.
- Unscaled Merfolk: Two types of monsters: one is an aggressive, green-skinned horror with twin tails and massive fangs, the other is a ghastly gray humanoid with four octopus tentacles in lieu of legs.
- Vocal Dissonance: Despite his horrible scars and grisly looks, Herbert speaks with a very posh and elegant voice. Spiders normally emit high-pitched growls but one in a cutscene will let out a godzillian roar before attacking.