Bad Vamp Review

Vampires are frequently trouble. I think we can all agree on that. Old school vampires are busy trying to suck some unsuspecting person's blood, while the new wave are too busy whining and acting self-centered to be anything other than problematic. Bad Vamp offers the old fashioned kind of vampires, keen to suck blood and disliking of garlic and light. It's briefly fun, but a tad shallow for any long term love.

The premise is an easy one. Players control a man who is trapped in a castle full of vampires and coffins. The game consists of one screen full of coffins, with vampires gradually creeping their way out of them at regular intervals. A virtual d-pad controls the direction of the character while an A button in the bottom right corner allows them to inflict damage upon the creatures with a stake (of course). There are power-ups too, courtesy of a light shield and garlic, but these are in limited number with more purchasable via the coins gained from killing vampires.

Perhaps most important of all is the glimmer of light that shines through a window, offering the player somewhere to run to so that the vampire turns to dust. No coins or points are gained this way though, so it's a last gasp hope to carry on.

Different phases open up the longer that one lasts, with things getting steadily trickier. With increasing number of vampires out to get the player, it can get pretty hectic. It never really evolves further than the basic premise though, which hurts Bad Vamp's chances of being a title to frequently return to. There are collectibles to gain after each phase, but these are solely there for the looks more than anything else.

Free it might be, but Bad Vamp isn't fun for long enough to be anything more than a passing distraction.