Vampire Night

Not to be confused with Vampire Knight.
Vampire Night
Console version cover art
Developer(s)Wow Entertainment
Publisher(s)Namco
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation 2
ReleaseArcade
PlayStation 2
  • NA: November 13, 2001[1]
  • JP: December 6, 2001
  • EU: June 14, 2002[2]
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNamco System 246

Vampire Night (ヴァンパイアナイト, Vanpaia Naito) is a light gun game produced by Sega's Wow Entertainment, distributed through Namco and released in 2000 for arcades. It was later ported to PlayStation 2 in November 2001. The gameplay itself utilizes the engine that is used in The House of the Dead series.

Plot

A struggle between light and dark, from three centuries back, is about to ensue. The parties involved are Michel and Albert, the two vampire hunters representing light, and the vampires representing dark.

In the year 2006, vampire hunters Michel and Albert arrive at an unnamed village in France, and rescue a 12-year-old girl named Caroline who witnessed a couple of villagers held hostage by the vampire sarcoma. After rescuing the villagers and Caroline, the vampire hunters proceed into the castle to destroy the remaining forces of dark.

Although the forces of evil reveal that they created Michel and Albert to kill themselves, they became afraid of death and tried to stop them. It is important to note the Hunters are in fact Dhampyrs (half-vampires), foreshadowed by their glowing eyes. The outcome is a pyrrhic victory for the forces of good; as the forces of evil are stopped, the vampire hunters decide to let the rising sun end their own lives as well.

Six months later, Caroline pays her respects to the vampire hunters at their graves, glad that she is alive, by putting one of their guns in front of one of their graves, stating that "her heart shall remember all.... That day, that moment, and what happened", before her summer hat flies away to the camera to end the game.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Vampire Night on their May 15, 2001 issue as being the fourth most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month.[9]

According to review aggregator Metacritic the game received "Mixed or average reviews" based on 18 reviews.[3] On release, Famitsu magazine scored the PlayStation 2 version of the game a 32 out of 40.[4] IGN gave Vampire Night a 7.3, stating that the game was "good", and while it was not quite as "deep or as good" as other light gun games, there was "still a lot of fun" to be had.[5] In their review, Game Zone gave it 7.9 out of 10, saying that they were pleasantly surprised by the detailed plot which was uncommon for light gun games.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Vampire Night review on ps2.ign.com". 2001-12-02. Archived from the original on 2001-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. ^ "UK release dates". Eurogamer. 2002-06-02. Archived from the original on 2002-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  3. ^ a b "Vampire Night". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b プレイステーション2 - ヴァンパイアナイト. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.68. 30 June 2006.
  5. ^ a b "Vampire Night - IGN". Ps2.ign.com. 2001-11-13. Retrieved 2015-06-10.
  6. ^ a b The Badger (28 November 2001). "Vampire Night". Archived from the original on 12 February 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  7. ^ Davis, Ryan. "Vampire Night". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 2 February 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. ^ Major Mike (13 November 2001). "Vampire Night". Archived from the original on 14 December 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - 完成品夕イプのTVゲーム機 (Dedicated Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 634. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 May 2001. p. 21.