Vampire Night

Updated on Jan 18, 2024

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Developer(s) Wow Entertainment Platform(s) Arcade, PlayStation 2		Publisher(s) Namco Genre(s) Rail shooter
Release 1 January 2000 (Arcade) 16 November 2001 (PlayStation 2) Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

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 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 in France, 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), 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.

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.

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 bat-like vampire with clouds of bats flying around him to both protect him and attack his enemies, later evolving to gain two extra pairs of wings powered by the moonlight while copying the abilities of his accomplices in battle. These include circular slash shockwaves (earth), meteors (fire), illusion gaps (darkness), and water pillars. He also gains the power to become invisible in the final portion of the boss fight, allowing him to bite the vampire hunters should he re-emerge when in melee range.

His accomplices are as follows:

Barthelemy or 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. He is armed with a zweihander which can emit a shockwave capable of making dirt trails along its way. In the boss fight, he shapeshifts into a deadly horned, knight-like golem with a lance in each hand that are capable of breaking even stone pillars with ease. After his defeat, he asks the vampire hunters why they protect the humans and what they are fighting for before collapsing to the ground.

Guillaume, a demented scientist and genius who was banished from his homeland 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, the former of whom 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 with an extra ability to fire a laser from his right eye that is connected through a tube running along his body. After his defeat, he returns to his human form, and not bearing to accept defeat, 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 sacrifices his human energy to become a vampire as he engulfs his surroundings in pure darkness to create an illusory dream-like realm. 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, mistaking her for Sophie, to forgive him. However she begs Albert and Michel not to kill him and Raoul realizes he has become human again, with Michel telling him to "live his life as a human" and "fight his soul once again".

Diane, a mermaid who fell in love with Count Auguste, the latter of whom 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 is able to defend herself with spinning water pillars. Upon being 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. IGN gave Vampire Night a 7.3, stating that the game was "good".

References

Vampire Night Wikipedia

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