Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse is an action role-playing game (ARPG) developed by Metropolis Digital and published by Metro3D for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) home game console.
Plot
Set in the year 1670 in the land of Gothos, Dark Angel follows the female vampire protagonist Anna, who is assigned to protect three villages from the evil Shadow Lord and his armies of minions. Anna has but one year to gather the necessary experience and supplies for the inevitable showdown with the Shadow Lord. Featuring hack and slash-style gameplay inspired by titles such as Diablo, Dark Angel has the player take on missions, explore random dungeons, and battle hordes of monsters. The game allows the player to map a wide variety of weapons and items using the game controller face buttons.
Development and release
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. A random mathematical system is employed to determine levels, weapons, and enemies. For example, some enemies may be more agile than others or have special abilities and resistances. A Japanese release was planned. On March 20, 2001, Metro3D officially announced its decision to cancel the Dreamcast version due to waning support of the console and high development costs for third-party companies. Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse was officially released for the PS2 in North America on July 8, 2001. Metro3D had told GameSpot its plans to release a first-person shooter set in the Dark Angel universe for the PS2.
Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse was also released for the Korean market, published by Digital Plans in 2002. It is not a US-exclusive.
Reception
Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.