Victor Interactive

When playing Vampire Hunter D, there are two things that drew positive reactions. One, is D's unbelievably quirky "partner," Left Hand. Any game that tries to pass off a talking hand character so dryly named Left Hand deserves credit for having the balls to do so if nothing else.

At its surface, Vampire Hunter D is many things. First and foremost, it is a gothic drama about a vampire hunter named "D" (in case you couldn't tell from the title). It is a vampire game done up in grand, operatic fashion. It is a game based on a popular animated film from Japan. It is yet another slow-moving, heavily stylized horror game in the stale Resident Evil tradition (what hath Capcom wrought?). It's a game filled with many monsters, bats and other assorted winged and four-legged beasties. It's a game played from too many off-kilter camera angles. It's a game strewn with mind-numbing puzzles, ordinary and familiar gameplay and poor controls. At is surface, Vampire Hunter D is many things. Below its surface, Vampire Hunter D isn't much.

Game Description:  This Resident Evil-like action-adventure game takes place in the distant future—A.D. 12,090, to be exact—some 10,000 years after vampires have won control of the planet from humans. Vampire Hunter D is based on the original Hideyuki Kikuchi novel and the cult-classic anime that followed. Your character is the aptly named Vampire Hunter D, a half-human, half-vampire who is hired to rescue a kidnapped child. The linear plot has three endings, each of which is triggered by meeting certain criteria.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood, Animated Violence