Kiss: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child (2000)
Genres:Shooter
Themes:Action, Horror, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:Wicked Jester, a band of four, are headed for a Friday night gig at The Coventry, a rundown dive outside of town. They arrive only to find the parking lot deserted, the club seemingly dead. The band's members: Pablo Ramirez, Andy Chang, Gabriel Gordo and Patrick Scott, stepping from their van, are startled by a voice from the shadows. She offers them four tickets to a circus -- tonight's the grand finale! Having nothing better to do, the four accept and the nightmare begins.
Based on characters from comic book author Todd McFarlane, KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child brings the horror and carnage of the Psycho Circus to the PC in a shooter format. There are two-dozen creatures to battle with and three classes of weapons to use, each with four specific types: melee (beast claws, thornblade, twister and punisher), common (zero cannon, magma cannon, windblade and scourge) and ultimate (stargaze, galaxion, spirit lance and draco). In addition to the weaponry, temporary power-ups and instant items such as health, attack and defense powers are available.Show more
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.2 691
The game is a solid and enjoyable 2000's FPS but very obscure and hugely overlooked because:
1. The KISS branding immediately turned off a number of potential players.
2. KISS fans who did buy were angry that you didn't play as the band members of KISS, generating dis-proportionate negative feedback at the time.
3. Deus Ex released a month prior hugely overshadowing it's release.
Based on a short-lived run of comics between 1997 and 2000, the game borrows the characters from the comics to tell the story of an inter-dimensional evil that has corrupted the realms of Waters, Earth, Air and Fire. As such you play as the a group of humans chosen to awaken the avatars of each realm (the KISS stage personas), to do battle with the Nightmare child.
Now, i first played this game when it was a demo included on a PC Gamer magazine coverdisk, and immediately was gripped by it due to it's unique stylings. I played the demo (the water realm) through multiple times over the years before i finally managed to pick up a copy of the full game years later and i can safely say, it did not disappoint.
While there is not enough space here to extoll it's virtues in full, i will say that the unique amtmosphere, ambience and style set it apart from any other FPS, even today i don't think there is anything that matches it's particular design, from the very unique enemy designs like the Arachniclown, Unipsycho or the ever sinister chimes of the Organ Grinder, to the unique weapons such as the Scourge (Sniper Whip, also used for traversal), Galaxion (Black-hole) or Draco (a Shoulder Dragon that vomits lava).
The campaigns are also interesting and varied, riddled with lots of secrets to discover, each ending in a twisted Circus level, all accompanied by Will Loconto's ambient soundtrack which supplies ample cosmic dread.
KISS Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child deserves a second chance on GOG, for others to discover and enjoy, though the KISS branding is likely to be a big obstacle.
I have found memories playing this, as it was one of the first computer games I played. Was a HUGE Fan of The Band Kiss growing up, and seeing/playng this years later, well, I'll bet you can tell how I felt. I also didn't/Could not play this game with anyone, as multiplayer servers we're not working at time of release, way back in the early 2,000's. This game was also a challange as on the tougher difficulty settings, the game was just that, tough. I would LOVE to see this put on GOG. Would buy amd play this for sure!
Yes yes. That I so vaguely remember. For a few years I were looking for this and only around year ago I learned the game name. What I remember the most were cutscenes, enemies, atmosphere and style. I don't think I,ve progressed far enough in the game maybe it was even some demo, but still 20 years later it's one of the games that stuck in my mind the most. Until it's on GoG I don't know if I will be able to understand today why...
I remember buying this game and not knowing who kiss was but after listing to there music in game make me a believer. The game gets reparative after a wile but hey if you like KISS nothing wrong with having it in your collection
Niedoceniona, aczkolwiek bardzo klimatyczna, mroczna strzelanka. Oniryczna atmosfera przypomina nieco dodatek do drugiej odsłony Blooda. Pozycja solidna, satysfakcjonująca, lecz mało znana - a szkoda...
This game is 25% of my childhood PC gaming memories. Game is a simple but fun FPS, based on the comics made by Todd McFarlane which was in turn based on KISS's album Psycho Circus. Absolutely wonderful game, wish it was preserved but unlikely due to the companies dying and KISS being retired.
I only ever played the demo of this game, but remember it as a super stylish, dark fantasy first person shooter, that's better than it had any right to be, all things considered. Would be instant buy for me, if it ever made its way to GOG, which I imagine is not so easy, between being a somewhat obscure game, and featuring licensed music from a major band.
Muito bom vale a pena
Played the demo as a kid and loved the art style, the soundtrack and the overall weirdness of the presentation. Never got my hands on the full version, though - until recently, that is. Some time ago, I remembered playing the demo and was excited as I've found a copy of the full version of the game on MyAbandonware - unfortunately though, I wasn't able to get it to run on win10....
Would be a no-brainer for me if this would suddenly pop up on GOG. $$$
I used to play the demo that came on a CD someone gave me, and I played each character's level many times until I got the full game... It was a great time that I want to relive!
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