Vampyr First Look Promises Lots of Blood, Tears, and Gothic Drama
Ted Hentschke
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I first heard about Vampyr from a t-shirt. I attended the Focus Home Interactive show at E3 2015, and after an hour of previews and gameplay they handed us a bag with all the assets and a grey shirt with the word “Vampyr” on it. It wasn’t one of the games they previewed, so I was a bit confused and wondering where my Space Hulk: Deathwing schwag was. Still, it caught my curiosity the way a girl with blue hair, cat ears, a tutu, and knee-high owl socks does. I’m not sure what it is, but I just have to know more.
Unfortunately, information has been scarce. Confidential sources and professional intuition assured me that there would like be vampires involved in some way. Right up until before E3, that was basically all I knew. A concept trailer confirmed the suspicions that there would indeed be vampire stuff, and alluded to making some decisions. We only recently got our first glimpse of gameplay, and yet again we were left with more question than answers. I mean, I know the game isn’t dropping until 2017, but come on Dontnod. Give me something juicy!
Well, my prayers have been answered. During the Focus Home Interactive showing at E3 2016, I got a behind closed doors look at the game that many predicted “might have vampires in it, or something.” And I must say, from what I saw, I probably could have made some bolder predictions. The title looks very impressive, but we can definitely see Dontnod building upon their previous work here.
“But Ted, whatever do you mean!?!? Remember Me and Life is Strange were about time manipulation and memory shenanigans. That’s not vampires at all!” Well, true, but you don’t need to have the same plot to have similar themes. Dontnod has a history of creating very complex, morally grey narratives. They forgo the typical mustache twirling villain for more nuanced villains, often making the actions of the protagonist just as questionable as those of whom she fights. The combat from Remember Me, though a bit unrefined, was very stylish and exciting, with memory draining finishes. The complex and changing narrative of Life is Strange is what won it many Game of the Year awards.
Take the combat of Remember Me, complex narrative choice and consequence of Life is Strange, remove the time manipulation and flashy lights, replace that with vampire stuff and gore, and you’ve got the framework for Vampyr. Since the combat in Remember Me wasn’t particularly well received, I should go over how that looks to be panning out.
For action/adventures RPGS, the formula for success is pretty simple. Dodge, hit, counter, guard, guard break, and some flashy finisher. In this regard, Vampyr doesn’t shoot to break the mold. You also have a gun at your disposal, allowing you to use your limited ammunition to gain a damage advantage. From what I saw, the only ranged weapons were crossbows and pistols, so I doubt there will be any long range sniping. This seems to be a strictly close quarters game.
While I only saw combat versus vampire hunters, I was told there would be supernatural threats as well. The more devolved vampires will likely serve as melee swarm units, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see many larger and more deadly variants in the final product. The vampire hunters are equipped with various anti-vampire weapons, such as an explosive powder that deals a large amount of damage and stuns you. You can attempt to feed mid-combat to replenish your vampiric power and health, but actually grappling your victim isn’t a sure thing.
Overall, it looks tight, tense, and fluid. Your vampiric nature allows you to dispatch enemies with ghastly dark tendrils that erupt from the ground, and shifting through shadows gives you a mobility advantage. There’s no real stealth involved, but you can get around the environment to try to avoid combat or engage more favorably. As I said before, pretty standard RPG formula, but for a game with a narrative focus it mostly just has to work.
At first, only the vampire hunters are aware of your nature and actively hunting you. I was told that as the game progressed, one of the consequences to your actions would be that more people became aware of you. I’m not sure how this will actually affect gameplay. I’m sure that the vampire hunters will field more advance troops as the game goes on, but if the actual citizens will gather their pitchforks and join the fray has yet to be seen.
It’s an important question, since as it stands the combat and non-combat portions of Vampyr have a very different feel. For all the slashing and shooting you do in the combat zones, friendly areas like Whitechapel are far more muted. Here you will interact with civilians, learn about their lives, and eventually pick your prey. From there, it’s a matter of stalking your victim, leading them to a secluded area, and feeding.
This flip between hunter and hunted is ambitious. It would be easy for this to make Vampyr feel tonally inconsistent, but if pulled off right would bring depth to the game that neither segment could achieve alone. Vampire and doctor, predator and prey, good and evil, all dualities that the player has to come to terms with in their new life. If you want to hear more on these thematic elements and what I saw from E3, check out my video:
Vampyr is shaping up to be an incredibly ambitious title. It’s promise alone deserves your attention. We’ll have to wait for it to drop in 2017 to see how it all comes together, but you bet your ass I’ll be one of the first to let you know how it works out. How about you guys? Excited for Vampyr? Let me know below!
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
