"The Perfect Game for Hardcore Gamers, and Steal Fanatics, or both!"

Let us start with the basics. What kind of game is this? Well, it is a stealth game. Vampires, and stealth? Yes, and it works. Many websites have played this game I guess expecting to run around blind and kill vampires, but you cannot do that in this game. In this game you have to be skilled, even with firing the weapons. So let's get down to it.

Basically, the game sets up with missions. Each mission you have an objective. and a path to that objective. It's fairly straightforward. The only trouble you have is to find ways around the vampires, or thru them in later levels. The game gives you no hints on how do this, other than letting you know if your going the wrong way (the missions have boundries that you cannot go past, basically invisible walls). The main focus is on the story. While the voice acting isn't the greatest, it gets the job done. But let us focus now on each aspect of the game.

Gameplay - 8.5/10

Think Splinter Cell. It is basically setup exactly like that. From climbing ladders, pipes, zip-lines, etc. The controls are very very easy to use and will be comfortable for stealth fans. You bring your weapons up with the X button, and from there it takes sort of a Resident Evil 4 type view. Other than that, you have a camera you can control. In the missions, you have objectives, and without spoiling to much, you must make your way to these without being seen by the Vampires. It is constantly raining, dulling the vampires senses, which helps you out alot. You have a useful radar system. By turning on "Necrovision", you can see who is a Vampire and who isn't by the color they give off. You can also use this to see parent vampires. Kill the parent, kill the rest at the same time. You also have nightvision, but you will never use it, at least I haven't had to, and I am using the default settings. Anyway, you cannot fight the vampires one on one, they will kill you in one attack. If you have a shotgun,and lure them in close, you can blast them away in one shot. When they are unaware of your presence, in human form, you can take them out in a single headshot from a sniper rifle. You can also sneak up behind them in later levels and use your battery operated UV knife. It's exactly how it sounds. A knife that gives off UV rays and kills the Vampires instantly. Each mission is very varied, but on a set path. That's what brings this score down is the lack of varied paths. Just be aware that this is a VERY hard game, and even harder to master and get S rank on. Also, along the way you unlock Tutorials and Trials, basically fun very small side missions that either teach you new tricks or present a challenge. Some on the side so you don't always have to go to that next mission.

Audio 7/10- Sound effects are great, music could use a little more variance. The voice acting gets the job done, but isn't of the caliber we have seen lately out of games. Think early 2000s voice acting (not 1996 Resident Evil). There are also subtitles.

Graphics and Effects- 7/10

This game looks sort of like a hyped up Xbox titles rather than a 360 game. It uses FMV cutscenes sometimes, which look really nice, but most of the time it's real time. What really sets the game and brings the score up is the rain effects. Each rain drops bounces off objects flawlessly, off your body. It is really a sight when the characters get into the van during the story and they are still wet. The rain is just outstanding and brings this score up.

Story 8/10 - Typical horror story with alot of twists and turns, and interesting characters. I keep my story review very short as I think spoiling to much ruins your game. Basically you are a team sent to kill a Prime Walker, basically a vampire who if killed would kill the rest of the vampires in the town. And this town is now 95% populated by vampires. In fact, the vampire population in general for the story is getting out of control. You play John, a survivor of a vampire attack, and apart of a secret branch of government.

Replay 7/10 - The missions have a ranking. Most require you to be perfect on the missions to receive a good rating. The highest, S, requires you to pick up every item, take no damage, use no continues, and only use a certain amount of bullets depending on the mission. Oh and high accuracy. There are also the aformentioned time trials, and it has Xbox Live multiplayer. Up to 8 can participate over numerous gameplay types, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flame (sort of like get this item and keep it until your killed, while scoring points), Team Capture the Flame (CTF), among others. A lot of different settings can be added, and from the games I have played, most are lag free.

Conclusion -

Seriously, if your not into horror typed games, hard games, or stealth games, this isn't the game for you. This isn't for casual gamers, but for the real guys who don't mind replaying a mission because they screwed up. Think European Extreme from Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. Once you get about 7 missions in, you start seeing some action with shotgun and UV knives, giving you a break from sneaking around all the time. This is also the part where the story picks up. This is a very long game, around 30 minutes per mission, and around 20 missions IIRC. Give this game at least a rental and a real try if your a fan of any of the genres or just like a challenge in general.

Final Score - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/07