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Enemies hang out on street corners and by cars, smoking cigarettes or conversing, while robotically tracing a set surveillance path. With such limited fields of vision and poorly conceived AI, Nightwalkers aren't actually that hard to avoid, plus you can always continue from the last checkpoint if they do take you out. It was a strange feeling, to be so isolated and yet, not feel any emotion whatsoever. Had Artoon taken this concept a bit further, there could have been some truly scary moments, much in the way Resident Evil 4 was able to use atmosphere to the fullest. Instead, stages feel pointless and empty.
Multiplayer has a variety of modes, such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, and lets players switch between Nightwalkers and humans. Humans get the advantage of distance and strategy, while Nightwalkers get to jump around like juiced-up fiends slicing and dicing all in their path. It's a fun addition to the typical 3rd-person formula, but not enough to warrant a purchase, especially considering the abundance of excellent multiplayer games on the Xbox 360.
Artoon had the chance to outdo the competition with its merging of stealth and vampires. Perhaps borrowing more heavily from the survival horror genre would have helped to create some truly tense moments. Though the terrible dialogue is worth a chuckle, there's nothing funny about charging $60 for a budget title. Heavy on lackluster stealth and light on atmosphere, quality, and most importantly fun, Vampire Rain is best left to the same fate as the Nightwalkers.
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