Vampire Rain

"A Horror Game You Can Fear"

Introduction - Vampire Rain is an offbeat attempt to mix stealth and a third person shooter with the horror genre of video games. What meets in between is a mess. The game puts you in the boots of John Lloyd, the only human being to ever walk away from a Nightwalker attack as part of a task force to eliminate the Nightwalker infestation that has plagued a city and is rapidly becoming a pandemic unbeknownst to the public.


Gameplay 5 - Vampire Rain is a game that has a clever and unique idea, but fails to be an original game. Vampire Rain employs using stealth as the only means to progress through the game right up until you find the shotgun. If it were not for the shotgun being in this game you would have no other choice but to be eaten by Nightwalkers every two minutes. The gameplay seems to be an attempt to mix the stealth of Metal Gear and Resident Evil with basic stealth controls and the obligatory bloody Game Over screen each time you die, which you will do a lot when you find out that the pistol you're given has absolutely no merit in dealing with any of the enemies in the game. There are better weapons along the way like the shotgun, which is the only memorable thing about this game that I found likeable. But the controls are just basic and there is nothing original to this game beyond having every Nightwalker in the game being able to kill you instantly. Online multiplayer is rare and there is no community so unless you can convince a network of friends to get this game to play around online for the achievement points then there is no enjoyment of the multiplayer aspects of this game.


Story 4 - The story of Vampire Rain is not memorable and carries a lacking and cliched plot. The game just does not give you much reason to want to know what happens in the end, and for those of us who have suffered to the end, you are rewarded disappointment for an unoriginal story. The story is just not elaborate and you will come away with a whole lot more questions than answers.


Graphics/Sound 4 - Compared to what other games can do on the Xbox 360, this game has to be one of the worst in graphics. The game never really dares to stray from its title and place you in an outdoor setting without it being night and raining. The indoor settings aren't spectacular at all and remain rather generic. The graphics are comparable to games on the Xbox and the sound quality is repetitive and not exciting. The voice acting is not exciting or original. The Nightwalkers will repeat the same phrases over and over and you will get the Game Over jingle stuck in your head like an annoying commercial.


Play Time/Replayability 3 Vampire Rain can be a game to take a few days to beat, but if you have a walkthrough it could take a day to get through. While the length of the game is ok, there isn't much this game is going to give you to go back and play through it again. The online community for this game simply doesn't exist but there are side missions to play and certain challenges to complete. The achievements are very difficult to unlock and are hardly worth going back for.


Final Recommendation 4/10
Vampire Rain is a game that appears to have missed its release for the Xbox and someone took a chance to release it for the 360 without any updates to it at all. For fans of hardcore gaming challenges this game may be worth a rental, but for those looking for a next gen game with some memorable value to it then this game is not worth an impulse buy or last minute rental.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 04/08/08

Game Release: Vampire Rain (US, 07/03/07)