Horror shooters and action horror PS1 horror

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi

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Your family is locked in a vampire's castle, and its rooms change every game.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (87% of 3,245 reviews); 70 on Metacritic; 4 of 5 on GOG from 55 reviews
Length: about 4 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Idol FX
Released: 2003

No. 25 of the prison horror games · No. 18 of the castle horror games · No. 7 of the vampire horror games

What frightens You arrive late at a Romanian count's gothic castle in 1912 to find your family locked in as the count's prisoners, and must search its rooms, laid out differently each game, against the clock while vampires and ghouls leap at you from the dark.
Content: jumpscares, violence.

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is a first-person horror shooter from 2003 by Idol FX. In 1912 your family is trapped in the castle of a Romanian count, and you search its rooms with a sword, crucifix, holy water and a flintlock to free them before time runs out, while vampires and ghouls attack shock style. The castle's rooms and the places of the people in it change every time you play.

About Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is a first-person horror shooter by the Swedish studio Idol FX, first released in October 2003 and now sold for Windows on Steam and GOG, published there by Funbox Media.

It is a misty evening in 1912. The Pattersons, a poor British noble family, arrive at castle Malachi, home of a wealthy Romanian count, three days before their eldest daughter Rebecca is to marry the count's son. You are her brother, arriving later from the Stockholm Olympics where you fenced for Britain. By the time you get there the doors have been locked behind your family and they are the count's prisoners.

A courtyard is the hub, with an east, a west and a main wing around it. You search them in any order, kill what attacks you, collect keys and sacred scrolls that open sealed rooms, and lead each relative you find to a sanctified chamber, where they hand you things from their luggage. GameSpot's review notes a time limit of two hours to save everyone. The wings stay put, but a random generator rearranges the rooms inside them, and where your family is held, every time you start a new game.

You fight with the old tools of the vampire hunter: a sword, a crucifix, a chalice of holy water and a single-shot flintlock that is slow to reload, with other firearms later. Some vampires can only be killed with a particular weapon. Enemies include fast zombies, dogs, ghouls, scythe-carrying hunchbacks and vampires that float up out of their coffins, and most of them fight up close. A stamina meter climbs during a fight; when it runs high you wheeze, slow down and your aim shakes.

The fear comes from waiting for the next thing to jump out more than from the fights themselves. GameSpot praised its grainy look, like an old Universal monster film, the silent-film style of its dialogue cards and a score that swells whenever something is near, and faulted its random monster spawns, its repeated rooms and a plot that leans on key hunts. It suits players who like older first-person horror and gothic vampire stories and do not mind dated graphics.

How to play Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi

Buy it on Steam or GOG for Windows and start a new game; the castle's rooms are laid out anew each time.
Cross the courtyard and pick a wing to search: east, west or main.
Find keys and sacred scrolls to open sealed rooms, and look for the relatives held in them.
Lead each relative you find back to the sanctified chamber, where they give you supplies from their luggage.
Fight vampires and their creatures with the sword, crucifix, holy water and firearms, choosing the weapon each enemy needs, and keep an eye on the clock.

Screenshots

A bald, pale ghoul with a raised claw comes down a vaulted cellar corridor at the player, who holds a blade

A pale, bald vampire lies with crossed arms in an open coffin on a cracked stone floor, its lid beside it

The album of the guests' sepia portraits held up in the castle courtyard at night, one photograph crossed out in red

A bald, pale vampire in a black cloak raises its clawed hands in a dark vaulted hall before the player's gold pistol

The player holds up a golden cross in a stone cellar as a crouching man in a yellow shirt raises a scythe

The player fires a machine gun at a hunched, pale creature in a grey stone room with a stained-glass window

The player holds up a jewelled cross in a green-lit graveyard at night as a small hooded figure waits by the tombs

Tips

Some vampires can only be killed with a specific weapon, so keep a mix of holy weapons and firearms rather than relying on one.
The flintlock kills most solid foes with one shot but takes a long time to reload, so fire it before an enemy is on top of you.
Monsters are quick and hit hard up close; back off before your stamina runs high, because a tired hero runs and fights badly.
Since the rooms are rearranged each game, a route learned on one play will not hold on the next.

Questions

When did Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi come out?

Steam and GOG give its release date as October 21, 2003. It came to Steam in March 2014.

How long is Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi?

HowLongToBeat, as shown on its GOG page, puts the main story at about 4 hours and everything at about 6 hours. Since the castle changes each game, it is made to be played more than once.

Is the castle different every time?

Yes. A random architecture generator changes the layout of the rooms and where your family is held each time you play, though the courtyard and the castle's wings stay in place.

What languages is it in?

Steam lists English with full audio. The GOG version lists English and French, both voiced and subtitled.

Is Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi on consoles?

No. It is sold for Windows on Steam and GOG.