Vampire Rain
The concept behind Vampire Rain is very simple though admittedly cool. Take a city blanketed by rainfall, add in perpetuating darkness, utilize (steal) stealth elements from Splinter Cell, and put some vampires (excuse me; Nightwalkers) between you and the exit. On paper the game had many things going for it. I mean, I love the stealth genre as much as the next guy, but add in an army of the undead? I'm game. Boy, was that a mistake.
Vampire Rain puts you in the inept combat boots of a specialist named Lloyd. Yes, Lloyd. The name doesn't quite strike a cord like Sam Fisher does, and that's too bad considering Lloyd seems to idolize Mr. Fisher. From start to finish there are so many elements brought into play that feel as though they were ripped from an early build of Splinter Cell. From the visual goggles and sound effects used to his lurching movements and even climbing techniques; everything feels unoriginal.
Gameplay
The biggest crime here isn't just that Vampire Rain emulates Splinter Cell. Quite honestly if the game copied UbiSoft's franchise and actually turned out to be decent I could almost overlook the blatant plagiarism. As it stands Vampire Rain does not improve on anything or even meet expectations.
A stealth game requires being able to adequately take down your foes from the shadows. Be it with a knife, silenced pistol, or choke hold, there has to be some benefit to sticking with the darkness other than simply not being spotted. Someone should have told that to developer Artoon.
The biggest flaw with Vampire Rain is that there is no way to combat the Nightwalkers. Even if you stick to the shadows it's not like you'd be able to take a vampire down with a knife to the throat or choke hold. That's understandable; I mean they are the undead after all. However Lloyd is supposed to be armed with weapons designed to combat the Nightwalking population. Silver bullets, night vision goggles, necro-sensing radar, motion sensors, and other nifty doodads make you feel rather cocky to be Lloyd at the outset. Do not get illusion of grandeur.
I remember it all quite vividly. My very first stage with actual enemies in Vampire Rain was going very well. I made it a fair length without being discovered by sticking to the shadows and watching movements. I became a little rambunctious and felt like dabbling with the nifty silenced, silver-bulleted handgun I was armed with. I crouched into a position behind a dumpster, took careful aim at the back of a vampire's head, and pressed the trigger. I was dead in no less than two seconds.
"What the F*&%!?" I shouted; scaring my cat in the process and undoubtedly disturbing my neighbors.
As soon as my target was hit with the anti-vampire peashooter he leapt into a breakneck dash towards me. The first hit knocked me down before I could even get a shot off; the second one killed me. Game Over! I was not about to try that again.
So I ventured forth with Vampire Rain but I did not get ballsy with my equipment. I stuck to the shadows and avoided enemies at all costs. Every one in a while when a situation presented itself I would try to see if combat was actually possible. Each occurrence provided me with instantaneous death after two punches. Even after unloading a full clip into a vampire I didn't take down half of his life bar.
In the game's tutorial it should have been programmed to instruct you on the finer art of rolling over and playing dead. "Do not use your weapons" would have been another fine piece of advice had the game felt like being merciful and useful. Unfortunately Vampire Rain is neither of those things.
The single player experience goes on to supply yet even more frustration. Each mission involves trial and error. No matter how good you do with stealth and no matter how much you avoid confrontation you'll be spotted eventually. Enemies pop out of nowhere at times, can see you around corners, and even though according to the radar they should not be able to spot you; they do. Add to all of this a clunky controller interface and you have a game that's better off collecting dust on the shelves of retailers stupid enough to stock up or push preorders.
Ok, so the single player mode licks balls. Does the multiplayer mode help matters or extend playability? Unfortunately I can't really say. The manual states that modes exist such as Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Dead or Nightwalkers, and Destroy. The funny part is no matter when I tried to play or how often I tried to find a game (Ranked or Player Matches) I was never able to. The search feature would churn for a few moments and come back stating that no game was found; forcing me to create one. Even after creating a room I let my Xbox run up my electric bill in futility. Nobody came.
Vampire Rain is just a terrible game. The worst thing about it isn't even the fact that it attempts to copy Splinter Cell; it's that it's almost not even playable. Two hit deaths lead to the need to avoid combat at all costs, trial and error leads to loads of frustration, the controls are cumbersome, and the multiplayer pool is nonexistent (at least people aren't playing the game). Don't bother with this title, don't rent it, and certainly don't buy it.
Achievements
It's ironic that there is virtually nobody playing online because Vampire Rain's achievements revolve around that very institution. Sure there are a few modes for single player such as beating the game or scoring A on all missions but when there's no online player pool you're looking at a lot of uncollected achievement points.
Graphics
Vampire Rain not only plays terribly; it's fairly ugly as well. Admittedly, the cut scenes look fairly decent with nice texturing and some attention to detail. When it comes to the actual in-game engine, however, things take a nasty turn. Environments are void of detail, characters retain limited and stilted animations, and textures all around are less than inspiring. What's worse is the inclusion of glitches that remain unpolished and a large degree of clipping. This title appears as though it could have been a launch game for the original Xbox but even that's pushing it a little bit.
Sound
If there is any somewhat passable area in Vampire Rain it would be the audio. The soundtrack is pretty decent and though it gets repetitive the atmospheric tunes certainly set the mood. Audio effects sound as though they came from Bills Bargain Box of Sound Direction but they supply the game with necessary cues when needed. The voice acting also maintains a certain level of camp which is an absolute must for a game this bad. If you can't laugh at it because of its design at least you can have a chuckle at the dialogue's expense.
Conclusion
I hate unabashedly beating on games that I review. I realize that the development team put in a lot of late nights and that Vampire Rain, as bad as it is, is the product of someone's hard work. With that being said there really is nothing redeeming about this title. It's bound to wind up in a bargain bin after a few short months and all around there are way too many flaws. I almost get the impression that quality assurance and play-testing were words that never made it into a conversation about this game.
I have never played a game that so desperately wanted you to fail and hate it. The combat is a joke, the control is sluggish, it lacks creativity in every way, and the presentation is terrible all around. I'm just amazed that this game was released with a $60 MSRP but cost doesn't matter in this case. At no price point would I recommend bothering with this title. Skip it