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Vampire Rain is an amalgation of the movies Philadelphia and Aliens — there's hardcore AIDS and incredible science fiction all mixed together to create the perfect concoction of video game and B-movie bliss.
I didn't always feel this way, though.
When I attended the midnight release of Vampire Rain, my hopes were sky-high. I had been anticipating the release for a few days when I accidentally stumbled upon a spanish website that was advertising Vampire Rain on the sidebar. Since I had just finished my first Stephanie Meyer novel and had blood suckers on the brain, I took the bait and clicked.
Suprisingly, the ad took me to a video game website. I learned the vampires in this world were called Nightwalkers, and the main character was John Lloyd, a distant cousin of Christopher Lloyd (Angels in the Outfield, Back to the Future); plus great Nightwalker-fighting technology like Ultraviolet knives and Necro-Vision to help aid in the fight.
I grabbed my keys and dad's wallet and drove straight to the game store to ensure my copy would be ready for me on day one.
After coming home from the midnight release and ripping the packaging off, I threw the disc in the tray, grabbed the controller, and plopped myself on the couch. I knew I'd be up all night.
My first reaction was disappointment. I was expecting an umbrella-based side-scroller where the vampires literally fell like rain drops and it was my job as John Lloyd to bounce them off the top of the umbrella to stun them, then throw my Ultraviolet knifes at their limp, unconscious body to finish them off. Somehow Necro-Vision would come into play, and Christopher Lloyd would make a cameo as "unlucky pedestrian #4", simultaneously beginning and ending his comeback.
But disappointment quickly turned to excitement as I realized there would be a low-quality storyline with horrific voice-acting; Metal Gear-like stealth and radar detection; and solid gunplay. It wasn't long before I was climbing ladders and shimmying along ledges, and capping Nightwalkers from the shadows, all while having a blast.
John Lloyd was my new Buffy.
If you've neglected or simply overlooked Vampire Rain previously, now's the time to pick it up — it's easy on the wallet and terrible for your eyes. Oh, and don't be offended by my AIDS analogy, it was simply the only way I could think to describe the eternal disease known as vampirism without being insensitive to those that suffer from it.