Vampyr, because who doesn’t like sinking their teeth into a vampire game with a different twist on spelling?
I’ve played very few vampire games before this one, despite the fact that I do like the different kinds of lore behind them. Hell, I even used to read a bunch of books regarding them, but can remember only…well, one game before this one.
DARK. Very different style of play from Vampyr.
In any case, this game got some pretty good hype to it, plus it was from DONTNOD, the creators of Life is Strange. I think that’s what gave it the most public attention.
- Developed by DONTNOD Entertainment
- Published by Focus Entertainment
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FAQ
Who is this game for?
When did my interest get piqued?
After listening to the monologue at the beginning. “What is sand but tortured glass? What is life but death pending?”
Does Vampyr ending explain everything?
There are four main endings for this game–best, good, bad, worst. It really depends on how many districts have turned hostile and how many people you drank and killed, though possibly more the latter than the former?
But we do get to know who Jonathan’s creator is as well as the Disaster that cause the epidemic in the first place.
Explanation to Negative Feedback
Can be a bit slow
When it comes to gathering information about all the civilians, it can be a bit slow and boring, because there’s a lot of talk going on, and you need to keep talking sometimes in order to get more hints on people. And if you’ve never played the game before, you don’t know what the fastest way to get to those hints are unless you go searching, and that takes you out of the game completely.
Keep in mind Vampyr is a story-driven game, so there is going to be a lot of talk, a lot of socializing.
No manual saving
This is an auto-save only game, and there are only three spots that you can start new games in. Which sucks for people that want to backtrack from a choice they made, because the only way to change what you’ve already done is to create a new game and do everything up to that point. And it really sucks for people like me creating walkthroughs because it’s like, shit…I chose the wrong dialogue option and didn’t manage to do what I wanted.
People are blind to vampires
I mean, really.
There’s a vampire hunter that doesn’t realize we’re a vampire, even after we’ve dined on an entire town and it’s glaringly obvious due to our eyes and our pale skin with visible veins, maybe even some blood on us. I’m not sure if our fangs are visible as we speak, but if that’s the case…if you’re all-in on the vampire get-up, please kill that fraud of a vampire hunter.
Please.
We’re not called vampires
Instead, we’re called “Ekons.” Which makes me wonder why the game title. It’s not even the spelling of “vampire” that we’ve all come to know, but an off-spelling. Kind of like how English and UK words are spelt differently. But why name it Vampyr at all if that’s not what they’re called?
Explanation to Positive Feedback
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is perfect to listen to given specific situations. Like fights? It really gets your adrenaline pumping and gets you into the zone of it being a combat going on and doesn’t cause you to become distracted by it. But you definitely notice it.
Voice acting
I love the people they’ve chosen to be behind the voices of the characters. And choosing the voice actors is vital when it comes to these games that have you talking to people a lot, or even because your own character has a lot of speeches throughout the game.
Playing as Jonathan, I was rather fond of listening to him talk. That gruff voice he has really fits his vampiric nature, as it can become quite forceful when he’s pushing someone to give information, but otherwise he’s a rather calm individual.
But you’ve got the poor people and those who are clearly upper class just by their voices and the way they speak.
You choose how you play
Do you want to be overpowered and siphon the life out of people in order to gain XP? You can do just that and unlock a ton of abilities you probably couldn’t if you were going the no-kill route.
It’s not that the game isn’t balanced if you don’t decide to kill, because it is. It’s just that when you kill more and more people, you get more and more XP, which allows you to breeze through fights a lot faster.
There are also multiple endings that you can shoot for, based on decisions on how many people you’ve killed.
Gameplay
Achievements
28 Steam achievements
Plot
London, 1918. You are newly-turned Vampyr Dr. Jonathan Reid. As a doctor, you must find a cure to save the city’s flu-ravaged citizens. As a Vampyr, you are cursed to feed on those you vowed to heal.
Will you embrace the monster within? Survive and fight against Vampyr hunters, undead skals, and other supernatural creatures. Use your unholy powers to manipulate and delve into the lives of those around you, to decide who will be your next victim. Struggle to live with your decisions… your actions will save or doom London.
Game Length
Most people can get through their first playthrough within the 6.5 hour mark. Obviously you’ll have a quicker time if you’re getting more XP and breezing through enemies and a longer time if you’re keeping everyone alive.
As for 100%ing? You’re going to be spending a lot of time with this game.
Replay Value
If you haven’t completed all four endings, then there’s a definite replayability to the game. Especially if you killed a bunch of people the first time, and want to try to keep them alive for a second playthrough (or vice versa).
Genre(s)
The action comes from combatting not just the vampire hunters that are after you, but also other creatures such as Skals and…the werewolves that I can’t remember their name. And of course, we’re on an adventure to save London.
You’re in the role of a doctor that’s turned into a vampire and you must find the cause behind the epidemic that’s hitting London, while also trying to figure out who your sire is.
Vampyr Review
In a world where killing someone is frowned upon, it’s hard to not kill someone in this game when they can give you such a spike in XP and make the game a whole lot easier to get through. Not to mention all the time you took to find out all the dirt on each individual just so they could give you more XP when you drain ’em dry.
It makes it a tough call when you want to do a full game of no deaths, and sometimes people end up embracing someone anyway.
A fascinating crossroads that will happen multiple times, especially when a boss whoops your butt the first time.
Like I said before, I was super curious to start playing the game after the narrator’s poetic verses at the start of the game. Some people felt it was a bit much, but as a writer, I basically had an eargasm. The voice tends to speak in poetic lines throughout the game, and sometimes it’s a bit odd, mainly because people don’t really talk like that, but there are other instances where he talks normal.
It was a little hard to keep up with the names of everything. I mean, the vampires are called Ekons, but they’re still vampires, which is odd to me. And then there’s the Skals you come across, as well as the werewolves–which I can’t recall their titles at the moment.
A lot of people claim the lack of fast travel is one of the major cons of the game, but I didn’t think so.
The areas you’re traveling through aren’t huge, and there are some instances where you can unlock gates and doors and such for easier access to areas in the future. I think the games wants you to run into some random open world battles to give you a little experience and I guess to keep you on your toes with combat. The latter might just be me thinking that, because after a break, I tend to forget combat abilities and which buttons do what.
I guess the biggest peeve I have is the fact that nobody realizes you’re a vampire.
It’s kind of a slap to the face or a clue into how dense these people are.
