Vampire Rain [X360]

Basically, you have to stay out of the way of the Nightwalkers. OK, that's not so tough. I'll use the other street to loop around this building and...smack. Oh, hello, invisible wall. Nice to see you. It's been a while. Vampire Rain uses the most unpleasant of tactics to funnel you down the one single, developer-appointed route through the level, and there's no outward indication what that correct route might be. You just have to try. And fail. And fail. And fail.

If you can stand the game enough to stick with it, matters improve later on. You finally earn some weapons capable of making a dent in the Nightwalkers, you'll meet some uber-vampires that work like old-school end-of-level bosses, requiring more imaginative approaches to combat. If you can stand the game, that is.

Yes, Vampire Rain has Live-enabled multiplayer, and yes, you can turn yourself into a Nightwalker in the process. This is certainly one of the cooler things Vampire Rain has to offer. You'll never find a decent game, though. Sneaking out with barely a whimper, Vampire Rain is destined to sell poorly, and while that's hardly a concern for the Xbox 360 community at large, it's not conducive to a good multiplayer experience. Take it from us: Play Splinter Cell instead.

Vampires are cool. Stealthy combat dudes are cool too. And LA is practically the birthplace of cool. It's not a bad combination of ideas for a game -- not at all -- which is why it's a shame that Vampire Rain fails at almost everything it tries. Despite the undeniably appealing setting, there's nothing here that justifies even a reserved recommendation. Depressing, derivative, and controller-throwingly frustrating, here's one occasion when you should let the rain stop you from playing.