Page 1 of 4

KISS is back with a vengeance. The original lineup (Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, and Paul Stanley) is back on the world stage, touring in the United States and Europe and raising a new KISS army. Their licensing army is also on the march, spinning off KISS masks, KISS guitars, KISS wrestling, and even a KISS computer game. Is it too much? It always is; that's why it's KISS!

Now in development, the computer game KISS: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child is based on the KISS, Psycho Circus comic book series by Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn. Developer Third Law Interactive, a start-up group composed of Ion Storm refugees, is using a modified version of Monolith's Lithtech engine, which was used for Shogo and Blood 2. Third Law plans to rev the engine extensively and throw down a hail of nasties your way.

"We're an unproven group, so we want an intense, action-filled experience,"

click to enlarge

says Sverre Kvernmo, game designer for Third Law. You will have to contend with large groups of demon spawn, the creations of an unborn evil that is somehow altering reality. As the game progresses, you advance from mere mortal to a creature with godlike powers, based on McFarlane's characterizations of The Elder (alter egos of the members of KISS).

click to enlarge

Gameplay will vary as you control each of the four Elders, with different environments, powers, and challenges. You'll need to assemble the five parts of each KISS member's costume to give you the power to defeat the Nightmare Child, since each item holds special powers. The platform boots, for example, will increase your jump height; the breastplate gives you better protection; and so on. (We wonder what Gene Simmons' tongue will do.)

Watch for this interactive oddity to come out early next year.

Next: An interview with the designers