Official Website

Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: Action / Light Gun

Number of Players: 1 - 2

Peripherals: GunCon, GunCon 2

It seems like everyone loves taking shots at the undead. We’re not talking about some kind of celebrity roast or something like that, I’m talking about running loose with guns blazing leaving a trail of bodies in your wake. Biohazard, or Resident Evil as it’s known outside of Japan, gave us all a good taste of this, as have other games in the past. Having a great understanding of our love of undead eradication, Namco has seen fit to deliver the public another GunCon title with the undead hunter in all of us in mind.

Vampire Night allows you and a friend (if you have any) to pick up your GunCons and take aim at hordes of bloodthirsty vampires. In the year 2006, the human race has finally reached a point of peace and prosperity. That’s all about to change. After sleeping for three hundred years, a vampire lord known as “The Eternal One” has risen to bring chaos to the neighboring towns and villages, and transform the innocent citizens into hungry vampires. From the darkness however, salvation arises in the form of two vampire hunters, Michael and Albert. Their past is mystery, but their purpose is much to the delight of the frightened villagers.

Just like Namco’s other light gun titles, Vampire Night is set up in the same fashion. Vampires and other dark creatures leap out of nowhere making themselves quick and easy targets. Things aren’t quite as easy as they might seem however. Occasionally, you’ll run into villages that are possessed by Sarcoma, strange looking tentacle creatures that are just waiting for you to make a wrong shot and transform the hapless victim into yet another undead beast. However, if you time things just right, and you’re a good enough shot, you can kill the Sarcoma, freeing the villager from possibly becoming another undead slave.

If you thought some of Namco’s other games had plenty of objects flying at you, wait until you see what they have planned for you now. There are plenty of swords, fireballs, and other projectiles that are threatening to put you in an early grave. If you’re accurate enough of course, you can put a quick stop to that, but if not, prepare to get sliced and diced. Fortunately though, Vampire Night isn’t one of those titles that you have to rely on pointing off-screen to reload. Press just about any button on your GunCon 2 and you’ll go from an empty barrel to a happy camper.

As you progress farther through the story, you’ll begin to have a face-to-face encounter with some of the vampire minions that lurk in the shadows. Most are relatively easy to defeat, especially once you learn their patterns. The game also has a nice habit of providing you with information regarding their weaknesses, showing you exactly where you need to shoot. On the downside however, you’ll also encounter Caroline, a highly annoying local girl who follows you around like a puppy and is more of a burden than anything else. And no, you can’t shoot her (I tried . . . repeatedly.)

Vampire Night definite has the right imagery in mind when it comes down to how the game is portrayed visually. Initially, the players begin with an impressive sunset in the background with casts gorgeous hues on the waters as players enter the village. However, as they progress, they’ll find themselves falling deeper and deeper into the foreboding night. The villagers to undead transformations are quite impressive as well, but one of the best features is the disintegrating vampires’. It may sound somewhat deranged and perhaps disturbing, but it’s almost joyous to watch a creature comprised of tattered flesh quickly erode to nothing but bone and then literally evaporate.

Arcade mode isn’t your only option though. Much like all the other light gun titles, you do have the option of going through training mode, which is a definite help since it does help improve your pinpoint accuracy, especially when it comes to those pesky Sarcoma. What’s more fun, and interesting, is the Special Option. It’s almost identical to the arcade mode, but with some subtle differences. Villagers that will have a variety of tasks for you will approach you and completing these missions have a variety of rewards. The tasks vary from mundane things like retrieving a set of tool, to finding secret doors. Additionally, you will collect silver that can be used to purchase items and other good to help increase your chances of success. The game still leads to the same outcome, but it becomes easier with the option to increase your skills while decreasing the enemies’.

Unfortunately, Vampire Night suffers from horrid dubbing. Namco may be highly capable of creating a fine game, but when it comes to picking a voice cast for the English version, they’re still lacking quite a bit. Even the translation seems to be a bit awkward and perhaps even inaccurate. Those of you who own DVD players and are big fans of foreign films or anime can definitely attest to this fact. Most of the times the voice acting sounds somewhat forced and stiff, the kind of thing you’d witness with just about any film that William Shatner is in. There’s also some horrid digital effects used to alter the pitch and sound of some of the voices.

The other downside to Vampire Night is that the game is a bit too short, which is a problem that all light gun games seem to suffer from. Once you’ve memorized the patterns of the enemies and the tricks to eliminating some of them quickly, the game becomes a breeze, even in the one player mode. Then again, that’s where the Special mode definitely comes in handy since some of the missions are downright tough to complete, and there are several of them to finish.

Even with its short length though, Vampire Night still isn’t even close to being a horrid game. It’s also another one of those games that for non-GunCon owners, the controller can be used as a replacement, but not nearly as fun. It may not be Resident Evil and definitely won’t be the type of thing that’s going to make you jump, but Vampire Night definitely stands quick well on its own, proving once again that the horror genre does continue to live in the gaming industry.

-mike-