Vampire Night

About

Vampire Night is a third-person shooter with light gun arcade origins that lets you play as twin vampire hunters battling legions of fanged foes. Set in a steampunk-tinged France frozen in the 1800s, you and a friend team up to clear castles and streets of undead hordes. The gameplay mixes fast-paced shooting with occasional platforming sections as you chase vampire leaders through gothic environments. Your characters wield rifles and holy weapons while dodging swarms of enemies in wave-based levels. The twist is the hunters themselves, both are Dhampyrs, half-vampire hybrids whose existence the evil forces feared. The story culminates in a tragic ending where the heroes destroy their enemies but choose to die in the sunlight rather than live as monsters. Though it hasn’t aged well graphically, its cooperative action and 72% GameRankings score show it had legs in its time. The light gun version adds a layer of precision that still feels distinct, even if most players stick to standard controls.

Storyline

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