is a 2000 light-gun shooter

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Wow Entertainment is a development department within Japanese video game company Sega Corporation that also previously existed as Wow Entertainment and AM1 spent most of its early existence under the leadership of Rikiya Nakagawa and developed a number of arcad ...

and published by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

for arcades. It is a collaboration between

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

and Namco. It was later ported to

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in November 2001. The gameplay itself utilizes the engine that is used in ''

The House of the Dead ''The House of the Dead'' is a horror-themed light gun shooter video game franchise created by Sega in 1996. Originally released in arcades, it utilizes a light gun on the platform, but can be played with standard controllers on consoles and a ...

'' series.

Plot

A struggle between light and dark, from three centuries back, is about to ensue. The parties involved are Michel and Albert, the two vampire hunters representing light, and the vampires representing dark. In the year 2006, vampire hunters Michel and Albert arrive at an unnamed village in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and rescue a 12-year-old girl named Caroline who witnessed a couple of villagers held hostage by the vampire

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. 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 A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress. The phrase originates from a quote from ...

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.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Vampire Night'' on their May 15, 2001 issue as being the fourth most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month. According to review aggregator ''

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'' the game received "Mixed or average reviews" based on 18 reviews. On release, ''

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'' 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", and while it was not quite as "deep or as good" as other light gun games, there was "still a lot of fun" to be had. In their review, ''Game Zone'' gave it 7.9 out of 10, saying that they were pleasantly surprised by the detailed plot which was uncommon for light gun games.

References

External links

* {{House of the Dead series 2001 video games Arcade video games Cooperative video games Light gun games Rail shooters Namco games PlayStation 2 games Sega arcade games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games about vampires Video games about time travel Video games developed in Japan Video games set in castles Video games set in France Video games set in 2006 Multiplayer and single-player video games