Released in 2004, Vampire was the second game to use Valve's source engine. Heavily criticised at the time for its weak combat system and graphical glitches, Vampire rarely received any perfect scores, and due to weak marketing and Half-Life 2's monopoly of contemporary sales, it didn't break any sales records. Yet, four years on such flaws are no longer apparent since combat and graphics in modern games have evolved so far that many titles of the time could be heaped with such criticism. It is in this light that Vampire's qualities truly begin to shine.