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September 23, 2006 | 9:10 PM PST
by: Adam Beck
Recently quite a few Japanese developers have taken a liking to the Xbox 360 despite the fact its barley selling in Japan. With AQ publishing Bulletwitch and Cry On in Japan, now they have another title to add to their list with, Rain (formally known as Vampire Rain) will be released for the 360 and the Playstation 3 sometime in early 2007. Being developed by Artoon, best known for their work on Yoshi’s Island 2 for the Nintendo DS and Blinx for the Xbox, Artoon is going in a new direction mixing gameplay from Splinter Cell and Resident Evil. The game was first shown back at E3 and a trailer was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace, that trailer was a full CG video of a young waitress walking down a dreary street spooked by something; she does what everyone wouldn’t do and is run into a dark alley. She is then attacked by a vampire like creature crawling on the wall above her. That was a couple months ago, now at the Tokyo Game Show they have showed off some good looking gameplay along with some plot hints.
During the Tokyo Game Show, AQ didn’t display any demos of Rain but instead they released a two minute video of the upcoming game both on the show floor and the Japanese Xbox Live Marketplace. Gameplay in Rain resembles two games, one being a game like Splinter Cell or Syphon Filter and the other being a horror title such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. The game puts you in a third person camera angle and allows you to move in pretty much one specific way. From what was shown it looks like you play as a special ops soldier with equipment similar to Sam Fisher. You will be equipped with a tight black suit along with head gear that enables you to view the world through night and thermal vision. The only thing different from Splinter Cell there is the fact that his visions are controlled by one of his eyes, what a difference eh? Unlike Sam, you will be accompanied by other teammates and they will help you as much as they can. Unfortunately nothing has been said if there is going to be cooperative play but it certainly would make sense, nothing has said about online access either. The game gives you various weapons from heavy machine guns to standard 9mm handguns. Story-wise, nothing really has been talked about, but it would seem as if the main character has had a horrible past and has some specific reason for assassinating these creatures.
Gameplay is pretty seems pretty simple, it would look like a splinter cell clone as you will be sneaking around a lot and pressing your back up against most walls and looking around the corner. With all the equipment you have it would look like most of it will come in handy. Strangely from what we’ve seen from one of the gameplay footages, whenever you activate your thermal vision everything will go blurry except for your weapon. The weapon that you currently have equipped will still have all its detail even when everything else is fuzzed out. I’m not sure if it’s just something they’ve missed or it has something to do with your team’s specific weapons. The basis of the game is taking down Vampires, hence the… old name. Every human you encounter has the possibility of being or becoming a vampire throughout each level. Like most vampire movies and theories, they can hide their freak of nature look and can turn it on at any time, and when they do, they really turn ugly. Each vampire you encounter will be a different person to take down, and you have the equipment to do it. With your sniper rifle you are able to take a good headshot but if you miss they’ll notice you and can they ever jump fast. Strangely when a vampire runs at you it looks more like a fast zombie, they will either be bent over or have their hands out like they’re brainless. In Rain, the main character will also have stealth kills; mostly from behind you can stab an enemy for an instant kill. Lastly when you defeat an enemy they will instantly turn to ash, accurate to most the theories out there.
The gameplay interface seems to take up most of the screen but includes everything you may need to make a strategic decision. On the top left of the screen you will have your basic health bar and below that is your “Charge”, this bar is the amount of battery you have left in your headset, so if you use the thermal or night vision too long it’ll ware down. Luckily it’ll re-establish itself slowly as time goes on in the game. On the bottom left of the screen is a map, since the game includes a massive mission area, mostly a couple blocks of a city at a time, the map will definitely help you in find your way around and the your targets. On the map little exclamation points will identify any vampires located in your area. Now to your bottom right you will have your current weapon equipped, but what isn’t necessary is the fact they included a “weapons” box itself. Now there is only one popup and that is a “Caution” icon whenever you are spotted by an enemy, this can help you to avoid ambushes from behind.
Visually speaking, the game has some really nice CG cinematics they’ve displayed at the Tokyo Game Show, although the gameplay itself does look it can use some work. The game will include many blocks of the city each mission, but it looks like you will be visiting these night crawlers mostly at night. That said, the game is dark, as much as it should be a good thing, the game feels too dark for its own good, textures and detail is hard to see in the dark so really it looks a little bland. Models on the other hand all look pretty nice; they do look like they may need some more detail, especially the hair modeling as it feels too static. After looking it, the game does look nice but can always be upgraded.
Taking a look at Rain for the Xbox 360 at the Tokyo Game Show, it seems to be another strong idea but how it will play in the next generation market? Without a playable demo, it’s hard to determine if we should get seriously hyped for this title. As it’s scheduled for a Japan only right now, it may come to North America sometime in the future but only time will tell whether or not the American market really wants its. Check back at Advanced Media Network for all your coverage on Rain and the Tokyo Game Show.
During the Tokyo Game Show, AQ didn’t display any demos of Rain but instead they released a two minute video of the upcoming game both on the show floor and the Japanese Xbox Live Marketplace. Gameplay in Rain resembles two games, one being a game like Splinter Cell or Syphon Filter and the other being a horror title such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. The game puts you in a third person camera angle and allows you to move in pretty much one specific way. From what was shown it looks like you play as a special ops soldier with equipment similar to Sam Fisher. You will be equipped with a tight black suit along with head gear that enables you to view the world through night and thermal vision. The only thing different from Splinter Cell there is the fact that his visions are controlled by one of his eyes, what a difference eh? Unlike Sam, you will be accompanied by other teammates and they will help you as much as they can. Unfortunately nothing has been said if there is going to be cooperative play but it certainly would make sense, nothing has said about online access either. The game gives you various weapons from heavy machine guns to standard 9mm handguns. Story-wise, nothing really has been talked about, but it would seem as if the main character has had a horrible past and has some specific reason for assassinating these creatures.
Gameplay is pretty seems pretty simple, it would look like a splinter cell clone as you will be sneaking around a lot and pressing your back up against most walls and looking around the corner. With all the equipment you have it would look like most of it will come in handy. Strangely from what we’ve seen from one of the gameplay footages, whenever you activate your thermal vision everything will go blurry except for your weapon. The weapon that you currently have equipped will still have all its detail even when everything else is fuzzed out. I’m not sure if it’s just something they’ve missed or it has something to do with your team’s specific weapons. The basis of the game is taking down Vampires, hence the… old name. Every human you encounter has the possibility of being or becoming a vampire throughout each level. Like most vampire movies and theories, they can hide their freak of nature look and can turn it on at any time, and when they do, they really turn ugly. Each vampire you encounter will be a different person to take down, and you have the equipment to do it. With your sniper rifle you are able to take a good headshot but if you miss they’ll notice you and can they ever jump fast. Strangely when a vampire runs at you it looks more like a fast zombie, they will either be bent over or have their hands out like they’re brainless. In Rain, the main character will also have stealth kills; mostly from behind you can stab an enemy for an instant kill. Lastly when you defeat an enemy they will instantly turn to ash, accurate to most the theories out there.
The gameplay interface seems to take up most of the screen but includes everything you may need to make a strategic decision. On the top left of the screen you will have your basic health bar and below that is your “Charge”, this bar is the amount of battery you have left in your headset, so if you use the thermal or night vision too long it’ll ware down. Luckily it’ll re-establish itself slowly as time goes on in the game. On the bottom left of the screen is a map, since the game includes a massive mission area, mostly a couple blocks of a city at a time, the map will definitely help you in find your way around and the your targets. On the map little exclamation points will identify any vampires located in your area. Now to your bottom right you will have your current weapon equipped, but what isn’t necessary is the fact they included a “weapons” box itself. Now there is only one popup and that is a “Caution” icon whenever you are spotted by an enemy, this can help you to avoid ambushes from behind.
Visually speaking, the game has some really nice CG cinematics they’ve displayed at the Tokyo Game Show, although the gameplay itself does look it can use some work. The game will include many blocks of the city each mission, but it looks like you will be visiting these night crawlers mostly at night. That said, the game is dark, as much as it should be a good thing, the game feels too dark for its own good, textures and detail is hard to see in the dark so really it looks a little bland. Models on the other hand all look pretty nice; they do look like they may need some more detail, especially the hair modeling as it feels too static. After looking it, the game does look nice but can always be upgraded.
Taking a look at Rain for the Xbox 360 at the Tokyo Game Show, it seems to be another strong idea but how it will play in the next generation market? Without a playable demo, it’s hard to determine if we should get seriously hyped for this title. As it’s scheduled for a Japan only right now, it may come to North America sometime in the future but only time will tell whether or not the American market really wants its. Check back at Advanced Media Network for all your coverage on Rain and the Tokyo Game Show.
February 8, 2010
