Vampire Rain: Altered Species Review for PlayStation 3

System: PS3	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Artoon	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Ignition / AQ Interactive	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Aug. 26, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-8	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Mature	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

The only way to make it through these vamp-infested streets is with stealth. You must proceed with caution, but it's not so easy. First of all, since the game is linear, there are no alternate paths. You have to go where the game wants you to go and that's right through the middle of vamp country. Like Sam Fisher, you're equipped with special vision goggles, and you have the ability to scale walls and pipes. The vamps aren't always in their natural state. They take on human characteristics. You will need to activate the Necrovision on your goggles to identify the vamps. It will also enable you to see their line of sight, in the form of a radar display. This is the area you want to stay out of.

Vampire Rain: Altered Species screenshot

Even when the vamps are alerted to your presence, they still aren't very intelligent. If they fail to find you after a short while, they totally forget what they were looking for and return to whatever the hell they were doing, which is usually nothing. When you finally encounter a boss, then you get a decent fight. For whatever reason, that is never explained, the bosses can't kill you instantly. It can take up to 10 hits to kill you instead of just a couple. While it makes no sense, at least it's a fair fight. The minions should have been programmed with less power.

The only weapon you can count on is the VU knife. It can only be used for stealth kills. It's not very forgiving. You have to get really close to the vamps, and be in the right position to activate it properly. When it works, it does the trick but it does get boring using the same weapon most of the time.

Online modes include Deathmatch variations with up to eight players, but good luck finding anyone to play against. Players can assume the role of either the vamps or the human squad members.

Vampire Rain is a drab-looking game, and not just because of the weather effects. The streets are low res, empty, flat, and architecturally unimaginative. The character models are basic and repetitive. They animate awkwardly. The voiceovers are a mixed bag of over-the-top camp and weak recitation. Only the ambient music shows any sign of effort and originality. The general lack of production values is inconsistent with a current-gen console game. Even at the reduced price, you aren't getting what you pay for. Like the vampires portrayed here, this game just plain sucks.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.8

Graphics
Drab, dreary, and flat. Repetitive character models. Not up to current-gen quality.

4.0

Control
Control system is responsive enough, but there are some collision detection issues.

2.5

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The ambient music is good, but the voiceovers are everything but.

2.4

Play Value
Linear gameplay with extremely limited strategic options. Not much fun.

2.6

Overall Rating - Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Vampire Rain: Altered Species is an intense game of stealth, survival, and all out skill that takes place during a cold, wet night in a suburban, west coast city in the US.

Battle the ferocious and terrifying Nightwalkers, a race of superhuman vampires who crave human blood. They are bound by instinct to forcefully recruit unwitting victims into the Nightwalker army.

Gamers take the role of John Lloyd, a member of a US special government unit created to defeat the Nightwalkers, and the only human to ever survive a physical encounter with them.

Aside from featuring an engrossing, blood-chilling, story-driven single-player campaign, Vampire Rain: Altered Species will also feature a highly robust multiplayer mode.