Vampire Night

Vampire Night Not to be confused with Vampire Knight
Console version cover art
Developer(s)	Wow Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Namco Sega
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	2000 (Arcade) 2001 (PlayStation 2)
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Distribution	DVD-ROM
Cabinet	4:3 27" Upright
Arcade system	Namco System 246
Display	Raster, medium resolution horizontal orientation

Vampire Night is a light gun game produced by Sega, Wow Entertainment, distributed through Namco and released in 2000 for video game arcades. It was later ported to PlayStation 2 in November 2001.

Plot

A struggle between light and dark, from 300 years back, is about to ensue. The parties involved are Michel and Albert, the two vampire hunters representing light, and the vampires representing dark. The story takes place in an alternate version of the year 2006, when progress looks stuck in the late 19th century.

Michel and Albert 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), due to their glowing eyes and sunglasses. The outcome is a pyrrhic victory for the forces of good as the forces of evil are stopped, at the expense of the lives of the Vampire Hunters.

The game ends with Caroline paying her respects to the Vampire Hunters at their graves.

Characters

Vampire Hunters

No one knows the background or age of the two player characters, although the people entrust themselves to the pledge of Albert's and Michel's determination of wiping out the vampires for good. While Albert is capable of socializing and Michel is fueled by his hatred for vampires, both share the commitment to destroy the forces of dark once and for all. They are half-vampires created by Count Auguste, evident by their superhuman strength, leaping ability and vampiric traits such as golden-glowing eyes.

The survivor

The vampire hunters meet Caroline, a young pre-teen whose traumatic experiences of her childhood "ages" her before her years. Appearing to be the only survivor of the vampire onslaught, she is protected by the vampire hunters allowing her to face the perils that lie ahead.

Vampires

Count Auguste or Sir Vampire, leads the army of vampires in the battle between light and dark and serves as the game's main antagonist and final boss. He is based on Count Dracula. He sits on his throne while his accomplices carry out footwork for him and spread the evil across the land. He created Albert and Michel to destroy him when he could no longer bear immortality but became afraid of dying and tried to stop them. During the final battle, he becomes a demonic vampire with clouds of bats flying around him to both protect him and attack his enemies.

His accomplices are as follows:

• Bathe'lemy, a vampire knight who searches for the meaning of life. He can phase through trees and walls and is also capable of teleporting and invisibility. In the boss fight, he shapeshifts into a deadly horned, knight-like golem with a lance in each hand. After his defeat, he asks the vampire hunters why they protect the humans before being destroyed.
• Guillaume, a demented scientist and genius who was banished from his home-land because of his sick experiments. He is a vampire with power to control fire and the stereotypical mad scientist who thinks vampires are superior to humans and they are not made for defeat. He kidnapped Caroline and uses his vampire henchmen to fight the vampire hunters. During the boss battle with him, he shapeshifts into a massive bat and after his defeat, he returns to his human form, and not bearing to accept defeat, he commits suicide by jumping from a cliff while laughing maniacally. He has a strained relationship with fellow vampire Raoul, evident when Diane warned Guillaume's death and Raoul told her that he got what he deserved.
• Raoul, a dark-minded fencer who wants to avenge his love interest Sophie (mistaken by Caroline) by killing humans. He is somewhat annoyed by Guillaume. Like Bathe'lemy he can also teleport and become invisible, but he is capable of some feats of telekinesis and generating copies of himself to confuse and attack the player's character. In the boss fight, he drags Albert and Michael to a dream-like realm where he sacrifices his human energy to become a vampire. Although his vampire form doesn't change much like any other vampire boss, his body becomes more muscular and he can levitate around the arena and summon a giant demon to battle against the duo. After his defeat, he asks to Caroline, mistaken for Sophie, to forgive him. However she begs Albert and Michael not to kill him and Raoul realizes he has become human again.
• Diane, a mermaid who fell in love with the Count Auguste and he turned her into a vampire and now she serves the forces of darkness as an ice queen. She is willing to do anything to please her master and several times she attacks the vampire hunters in her human form with ice projectiles. In the boss fight, she shapeshifts into a feral mermaid with power over ice-like weapons and upon been defeated she considers the possibility of humans and vampires living together and says goodbye to her beloved vampire before expiring into dust.

There are also normal enemy vampires who attack the players and even villagers who are in the mercy of the vampiric sarcoma, which must be shot carefully or the human will turn into a vampire if another part of their body is shot.

Reception

On release, Famitsu magazine scored the PlayStation 2 version of the game a 32 out of 40.^[1] IGN gave Vampire Night a 7.3, stating that the game was "good".^[2]

References

External links

• Vampire Night at MobyGames
• http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/481081.asp
• http://www.vampire-night.com (Official Site)