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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Artoon Publisher: Ignition Entertainment |
There are some games that aren’t considered very fun, but have a lot of depth or a great storyline. There are some games that don’t
have a lot of depth or a great storyline, but they are very fun. Unfortunately “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” isn’t very fun, doesn’t have a
lot of depth and doesn’t have a great storyline.
“Vampire Rain: Altered Species” casts players as John Lloyd, a member of a special combat unit that is under the control of the
American Information Bureau. In this world, millions of people are disappearing into this air, and it is believed that they are either being
eaten by Nightwalkers, the official term for the vampire creatures that players must deal with, or the people are becoming them. The
Nightwalker population is getting much too high and it is up to the players to thin out the numbers of Nightwalkers. Joining players on
their quest is Hank Harrison, the stereotypical squad leader, Claire Kelly, the stereotypical fatal female, and Duane Hanson, the
stereotypical technological nerd. During a rainstorm the team of four is set into a twon full of Nightwalkers in an attempt to find a lost
agent from the AIB unit that hasn’t been heard from. If that isn’t enough work, they must also take out the Nightwalker leader, which in
turn will kill all the other Nightwalkers under his control. Because of the strength of the creatures, the mission is one of stealth, with
fighting being the last resort.
The game sounds like is should be pretty cool. Rain pouring down during the mission, players sneaking around the city in a Solid
Snake suit would seem like it would be an amazing game, but sadly it isn’t.
The game screws up a lot of things, but the largest problem of all is that it misses the most basic point of a stealth game and gives
players only one way to advance. Other games in the genre allow players to create their own paths of toss items in one direction to
distract enemies while they go the other way. “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” has levels that are set up so that one path leads to
victory. Players can try to go up on a dumpster, sneak away from an enemy or jump over a fence, but really there isn’t much for paths to
make. When players try to take an alternate route, they are reprimanded for leaving the mission area and are pushed back to the
streets.
Although the streets in the game are pretty much abandoned, players will find the occasional Nightwalker roaming the streets. Other
than that, players will see the streets that look as though they were taken from a PlayStation 2 game. The rain that falls down
throughout the game is said to dull the senses of the Nightwalkers, but they aren’t very smart to begin with. If the player is spotted, a set
of eyes will flash on the screen and give the player enough time to run out of the line of sight. For those who get out of the way quick
enough, the Nightwalkers forget that they just someone trying to off them. For those who don’t get out of the way in time, the
Nightwalker sheds its human form and charges towards the player. Nine times out of ten, this mean that the player is dead.
“Vampire Rain: Altered Species” also has an online mode for players to check out and play with up to seven additional PS3 players who
were tricked into buying this game. Online, players are able to play in such mdoes as Death Match, TDM and CTF, but there is also
Death or Nightwalkers, a game play type that casts some folks as Nightwalkers and some as soldiers. Again, this is an area of the
game that is lacking, though it shouldn’t be much of a surprise, a bad game will lead to a bad online game.
Players of this type of game will admit that being instantly killed by Nightwalkers sucks, but having only one path through the game
makes the game even more difficult, especially since the creatures rarely move. Players always know what they are up against and
where they are, which takes away some of the challenge. Players also have a nifty device called Necrovision which helps to ID
Nightwalkers and place their cones of vision on the radar so that players can ensure that they are staying out of sight. This means that
this game is simply trial and error. Players may find that there isn’t much challenge to the game for the most part.
Oh yeah, the game takes 25 minutes to install before it can even be played. It is just another downfall of the overall game.
No matter what angle players take on the game, “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” can be considered a bad game. The graphics seem
as though they come from the PlayStation 2, not a next generation system. The story is very boring, the levels are linear, the weapons
are useless, the AI isn’t very smart and the enemies are too powerful while the bosses are much too weak. Players do get some extras
with this game, such as an additional mode on their second play through of the game, but it still isn’t enough to touch the game in the
first place. This is one that, if players are crazy enough to want to play the game in the first place, they should wait until the bargain bin
to try it.
have a lot of depth or a great storyline, but they are very fun. Unfortunately “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” isn’t very fun, doesn’t have a
lot of depth and doesn’t have a great storyline.
“Vampire Rain: Altered Species” casts players as John Lloyd, a member of a special combat unit that is under the control of the
American Information Bureau. In this world, millions of people are disappearing into this air, and it is believed that they are either being
eaten by Nightwalkers, the official term for the vampire creatures that players must deal with, or the people are becoming them. The
Nightwalker population is getting much too high and it is up to the players to thin out the numbers of Nightwalkers. Joining players on
their quest is Hank Harrison, the stereotypical squad leader, Claire Kelly, the stereotypical fatal female, and Duane Hanson, the
stereotypical technological nerd. During a rainstorm the team of four is set into a twon full of Nightwalkers in an attempt to find a lost
agent from the AIB unit that hasn’t been heard from. If that isn’t enough work, they must also take out the Nightwalker leader, which in
turn will kill all the other Nightwalkers under his control. Because of the strength of the creatures, the mission is one of stealth, with
fighting being the last resort.
The game sounds like is should be pretty cool. Rain pouring down during the mission, players sneaking around the city in a Solid
Snake suit would seem like it would be an amazing game, but sadly it isn’t.
The game screws up a lot of things, but the largest problem of all is that it misses the most basic point of a stealth game and gives
players only one way to advance. Other games in the genre allow players to create their own paths of toss items in one direction to
distract enemies while they go the other way. “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” has levels that are set up so that one path leads to
victory. Players can try to go up on a dumpster, sneak away from an enemy or jump over a fence, but really there isn’t much for paths to
make. When players try to take an alternate route, they are reprimanded for leaving the mission area and are pushed back to the
streets.
Although the streets in the game are pretty much abandoned, players will find the occasional Nightwalker roaming the streets. Other
than that, players will see the streets that look as though they were taken from a PlayStation 2 game. The rain that falls down
throughout the game is said to dull the senses of the Nightwalkers, but they aren’t very smart to begin with. If the player is spotted, a set
of eyes will flash on the screen and give the player enough time to run out of the line of sight. For those who get out of the way quick
enough, the Nightwalkers forget that they just someone trying to off them. For those who don’t get out of the way in time, the
Nightwalker sheds its human form and charges towards the player. Nine times out of ten, this mean that the player is dead.
“Vampire Rain: Altered Species” also has an online mode for players to check out and play with up to seven additional PS3 players who
were tricked into buying this game. Online, players are able to play in such mdoes as Death Match, TDM and CTF, but there is also
Death or Nightwalkers, a game play type that casts some folks as Nightwalkers and some as soldiers. Again, this is an area of the
game that is lacking, though it shouldn’t be much of a surprise, a bad game will lead to a bad online game.
Players of this type of game will admit that being instantly killed by Nightwalkers sucks, but having only one path through the game
makes the game even more difficult, especially since the creatures rarely move. Players always know what they are up against and
where they are, which takes away some of the challenge. Players also have a nifty device called Necrovision which helps to ID
Nightwalkers and place their cones of vision on the radar so that players can ensure that they are staying out of sight. This means that
this game is simply trial and error. Players may find that there isn’t much challenge to the game for the most part.
Oh yeah, the game takes 25 minutes to install before it can even be played. It is just another downfall of the overall game.
No matter what angle players take on the game, “Vampire Rain: Altered Species” can be considered a bad game. The graphics seem
as though they come from the PlayStation 2, not a next generation system. The story is very boring, the levels are linear, the weapons
are useless, the AI isn’t very smart and the enemies are too powerful while the bosses are much too weak. Players do get some extras
with this game, such as an additional mode on their second play through of the game, but it still isn’t enough to touch the game in the
first place. This is one that, if players are crazy enough to want to play the game in the first place, they should wait until the bargain bin
to try it.
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