Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse

Lore & Background

Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse was originally announced in 1999 by Metro3D to be in development for the Dreamcast. The 21-person team, which also worked on Metro3D's Armada, was led by Mark Jordan, the company's vice president of development, and was composed of many ex-Atari and THQ staffers. IGN reported that Dark Angel was advertised for both the Dreamcast and PS2 in the October 2000 issue of NextGen. When the website contacted the developer, they were informed that the game would be released for the PS2. In a January 2001 interview between the website GameSpot and Jordan, the developer admitted its plans to release a PS2 version of Dark Angel in the late first quarter of 2001 and a Dreamcast version a few months later.

According to Jordan, the storyline grew from the development team's 'fascination with gothic fantasy... love of stylish characters, and... desire to make an epic game.' Character animation sets were inspired by properties including Diablo, Strider, and Fallout. The game was meant to be structured like Fallout, allowing the player to visit a multitude of locations and save anywhere. A new graphical engine was built from the ground up with 'inverse kinematic components and special effects similar to the sword-slash streaks in Soul Calibur.' Metro3D intended the Dreamcast version to utilize the console's VMU peripheral to build up the protagonist's skills and abilities or trade items with other players. The PS2 edition was to feature graphical enhancements, making 'extensive use of the PS2 alpha processor... with some scene lighting with four-point light sources.' A random mathematical system is employed to determine levels, weapons, and enemies.

Reader's Guide

Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse is notable as a PlayStation 2 action RPG that was originally planned for the Dreamcast but canceled on that platform due to waning support and high development costs. Its development team, led by Mark Jordan, included many ex-Atari and THQ staffers, and the game drew inspiration from Diablo, Strider, Fallout, and Soul Calibur. The game's release was delayed multiple times before its North American PS2 launch on July 8, 2001. It also saw a Korean release in 2002 published by Digital Plans. Reception was mixed, with NextGen calling it 'an epic game with shallow gameplay' and GamePro noting it 'stretches the definition' of RPG. Although Metro3D planned a first-person shooter set in the same universe and listed sequels like 'Dark Angel II' and 'Dark Angel: Anna's Quest' on its website, no other Dark Angel titles were ever released. The game remains a footnote in the transition between Dreamcast and PS2 development, illustrating the challenges third-party developers faced during that console generation.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally announced in 1999 for the Dreamcast, but the Dreamcast version was officially canceled on March 20, 2001.
• The development team consisted of 21 people, many of whom were ex-Atari and THQ staffers.
• A random mathematical system was used to determine levels, weapons, and enemies, with some enemies having special abilities and resistances.
• Metro3D planned a first-person shooter set in the Dark Angel universe for the PS2, but it was never released.