Vampire Panic (PS2) (2004)
Developer: Alfa System

Review by Faididi and Co.


Freaking out over biting and sucking


Story: Above Average

The year 1806 is a bad one for the small European town of Inzelburg. The vampire villain, Lord Castaneda, has awakened at his castle in the vincinity, and he begins to terrorize the people. The town sends for the help of the International Spiritual Liberators Association (ISLA), an organization created to deal with supernatural situations like this. However, when two ISLA agents, Mary and Rusty, arrive at the place, they find that the situation is worse than they've thought. An uncooperative army from a neighboring land is arriving as well, further complicating matters. Not only will the heroes have to save the civilians from Castaneda and his forces of darkness, but they'll also need to save them from the army, which plans to nuke the whole place at dawn. The story is special for throwing in so many events that occur simultaneously, and the plot has a cool twist that can be fully understood only by seeing the many different endings.


Gameplay: Above Average

Alfa System and Sammy's Vampire Panic is an action adventure with quite a pace. The heroes, only one of whom can be played at a time, have two objectives. The first is to rescue the residents of the town, and the second is to find some way to stop Lord Castaneda. Locating the civilians isn't enough; they must be escorted back to a sanctuary. Now, in case you're wondering where the "panic" in the game's name comes into play, it refers to the civilians' reactions to the bad guys. The civilians are weakminded and easily lose their nerve when enemies assault them. Furthermore, as the heroes go about their tasks, the probability of Castaneda personally appearing to attack increases. Castaneda, who cannot be truly defeated until the end of the game, has a bunch of powerful moves, not the least of which is charming and then biting people. Any individuals bitten by a vampire have to be quickly brought to the sanctuary to be purified, or else they'll turn into monsters themselves.

Luckily, the heroes are competent folks. Each has his or her own set of abilities and weapons. Rusty, a swordsman, can cleave up bad guys and block returning blows with his blade. Mary, a mystical warrior, can move faster and beat up people with her magically enhanced martial arts. There's also a third ISLA agent who must be found before he becomes a playable character. Named Abbey, he's a stylish gunman who can take down bad guys with his revolver and his perfect aim. If a hero needs to rest and recover, he or she can return to the sanctuary and let another hero continue the mission.

Vampire Panic is relatively short for an action adventure. The town and its surrounding areas, which include some catacombs, a forest, and, of course, the castle of Lord Castaneda, actually aren't a lot of ground for the heroes to cover. However, Vampire Panic makes up for that with its hectic mix of events and complications. Over the course of the game, different characters will appear at different areas, so locating every civilian will take plenty of backtracking. Castaneda also becomes more powerful with every person he bites, so preventing him from snacking on folks is just as important. Then, due to the intervening army, the heroes have one measly night to evacuate the civilians, before the entire region gets bombed to hell. If you think trying to deal with all of that at once can be exciting, you're right.

The one major problem with this game is the idiocy of the civilians. Not only are they wimps at keeping their cool, but they also have a frustratingly short sight. As soon as the heroes move a couple meters away from them while they're following, they'll lose track of the heroes and start wandering around on their own, easily getting killed. That the AI for the civilians, who form such a large part of the game, is so lousy is a pity.

Vampire Panic has several endings and multiple difficulty settings, but what significantly adds to its replay value is the awesome opportunity to play as a vampire who grows stronger as he sucks more blood. After finishing the game once, you can play it again, this time with Lord Castaneda as the protagonist, the ISLA members as the bosses, and the dumbass civilians as the prey. Needless to say, this mode definitely puts an enjoyable spin in the usual vampire-hunting formula. (And, no, Crystal Dynamics' Legacy of Kain series doesn't count here.)


Controls: Average

Running around and asking civilians to follow or halt are all easy to do, but pulling off attacks with some of the heroes feels a bit slow, and the dodging maneuvers can stand to be more responsive. The camera cannot be controlled, either, and sometimes it provides views that make gauging the positions of off-screen enemies difficult.


Graphics: Average

The visuals look dated, in a half-deliberate sort of way. Along with the intentionally drab colors, the screen noise effect makes the whole game resemble an old film. (It can be turned off if you don't like it.) The characters are otherwise rendered decently, and the same goes for the environments.


Audio: Average

The audio effects also help make the game feel like a very early film, although they tend to be too tinny. For example, the sword blows sound like glass clinking more than metal coming into contact with flesh. The voice acting is imbalanced, in the sense that only very few lines in the game are actually spoken aloud; the rest are just silent text. The civilians are completely quiet, except when they scream in panic or when they breathe heavily after tiring out. The tunes, while not too memorable, fit the story's period well.


Overall: Above Average

Vampire Panic is an unpolished but still interesting action adventure. Those tired of other vampire-themed games should enjoy the hectic setup of the challenges and the morbidly satisfying bonus mode found here.


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