The adventure game market is swollen with sword and sorcery tales and space operas, and whenever a company releases a product that falls outside of these well trodden paths, that in itself is cause for celebration. Noctropolis from Electronic Arts is, if nothing else, very different.

	Picture, if you will, the world of superhero comic books, but instead of being drawn in standard four-color glory, the hues are darker and the psychological canvas much broader than you could have imagined. The sky is forever black in this realm, and the hero is darkness personified. This is Noctropolis, surely a menacing place to live. But standing watch over the city of night is our hero Darksheer. Joined by his sidekick, the beautiful but deadly Stiletto, Darksheer is the only real protection the citizens of Noctropolis have from bizarre psychotics like Top Hat, Green Thumb and the Drealmer.

	The player is Peter Grey, owner of a comic book shop and the biggest fan the Darksheer comic book ever had. While the real world may not treat Peter very well (he has very few customers and the rent is coming due), at least he can take his monthly journey into the city of night. As the game begins, Peter has just received the final issue of his favorite comic, and so is in something of a foul mood. The story shows Darksheer retiring, now that all the supervillains are safely locked away. It certainly seems like an abrupt and awkward way to end such an unusual series, but Peter doesn't realize that while Darksheer's adventures are ending, his are just beginning.

	Peter receives word from a mysterious messenger that he has won the Darksheer sweepstakes, giving him the chance to be . . . the new Darksheer? Before you can say "ruby slippers" he is teleported to Noctropolis. But the city is in the middle of a new crisis. Five of the most dangerous villains have been released from jail by the mysterious Flux, and they are all working together to instigate a new crime wave, the likes of which has never been seen before!

	As Peter explores this city he thought was fictional, he discovers that Darksheer's absence has done more than give the criminals another chance to strike, it has demoralized the hero's friends. Father Desmond is holed up in his cathedral, the front door guarded by a deadly flying gargoyle! Faithful Stiletto, who might have been the city's only chance, has crawled into the bottle. If Peter is going to stand any chance of saving Noctropolis, he has to convince these despondents that he is in fact worthy to take the place of their hero.

	This game is not just different because it happens to be about superheroes. The visuals are extraordinary, combining SVGA graphics with digitized actors. The cityscape is reminiscent of Gotham City from the first Batman movie, but carries an overtone of delicacy with its sense of menace. Many of the sets are drawn as if they were being photographed through a fisheye lens. Even the general city map has an "exploded" perspective.

	Some might also praise Noctropolis for combining the comic book style with more mature subject matter. However, as an avid fan of some of the more "grown-up" comics on the market today, I'm sorry to say that this game does not approach the quality of books like The Sandman and Cerebus. There are some wonderful things going on in comics today, and, by comparison, this is a very simplistic game.

	Noctropolis is also extremely linear, even for an adventure game. There is only one route that will work to complete the story, and you don't find out the existence of places until it's time for you to go there. On one or two occasions, certain items that you need to remove or use simply do not exist in the gameworld until you are told about them! Superpowers should give a lot more flexibility to the storyline, but you only get to use them at very specific times.

	Still, the interface is very easy to use, the visuals and sound are excellent, and the puzzles are quite challenging, even for an adventure gaming fiend! In fact, some on-line help would have been great for this product. But my complaints are actually pretty nit-picky given how unusual this product is to begin with. I strongly suspect that Noctropolis will not only set standards visually, but will also help to expand the very narrow area currently used for story ideas.