Vampyr Review Dr. Acula

Vampyr is a game that puts you into a role of a renowned surgeon named Jonathan Reid. Upon returning from World War 1 he discovers that he craves for Blood. Somewhat unfortunate that the first person he meets is his beloved sister where you have no choice but to suck her blood dry to save yourself. This emotional scene sets you up to partake in a very unique role playing game where your actions to save or kill citizens of towns carry consequences as you progress through its story.

If this sounds intriguing then you should not be surprised by its story based action game. Especially considering the fact that its rare nowadays that vampires show up in games. Vampyr is unique and sets you up going through plague invested London as you seek answers and possibly redemption for what you have done.

If you are seeking an action packed adventure game then you might want to stay clear of this game as the narrative approach is its strongest point. Nearly every NPC has a quest line for you to complete. Now the choice is yours whether you want to help these citizens or suck their blood dry to advance your level and ultimately your power.

You have a set of conversation options as you find out more about the city's citizens. Who they hate, who they fear, if they are sick etc. Each citizen has their blood quality checked and it notifies you if they have any sickness whether it is flu, headache etc. As you traverse through its semi linear world you get to pick up ingredients to create medications.

One of the major unique mechanic of this game is that as you heal these citizens their blood quality level increases. This puts you in a precarious situation as you can choose to kill them off increasing your level and powers in the process. I felt this was a delightful idea for a game as it enables you to become somewhat of an anti hero and creates a perfect scenario for an interactive narrative game filled with moral decisions. Unfortunately the more you level through this way the more hostile the area becomes. Whether merchant prices go up or monsters appearing, the choice is yours as to how you approach these side quests.

The game itself is not difficult nor does it have any difficulty levels. So if you are looking for a challenge then this is a game that you might want to reconsider purchasing. This was disappointing for me as I felt that after unlocking a few skills I could go through different bosses and enemies with minimal effort.

Vampy does not have a robust customisation system in place. You cannot change your character appearance nor his facial features from the start. Instead the game allows you to level up your character skills. Blood points can be spent on advancing your abilities such as defensive, attacking and tactical skill sets. Each skill becomes more powerful as you spend blood points on it. Although there is a respectable number of skills available, it does not carry too much weight compared to games such as Witcher 3 or Dragon Age series.

Consequently, you are able to upgrade your weapons that you carry. Levelling each weapon via collecting parts in London will give you perks to choose from. For example, you could upgrade your pistol so it carries more bullets. Unfortunately there are no skins available for you to put on.

I played Vampyr on the Playstation 4 and felt that the graphics as a whole is lacklustre at times. For example, the the character models was average most of the times. There was issues with frame rate which was almost constant throughout the game. This was frustrating for me at times as it killed my momentum especially in key boss fights.

Although the environment created by the developers is very much like Bloodborne, the end product we see is not as polished nor can we interact with objects like most games these days. On the other hand, the lighting in the game is very well done and the setting is sublime at times. However, we must take note that it is not a Triple A game and it seems budget constraints did affect some parts of the game.

Aside from its unique storyline, I felt that the music and the narration is the best part of Vampyr. Piano combine with deep choirs created a sense of mystery and dread throughout my play through. The first time I killed an innocent citizen by luring them into the corner was unforgettable and genuinely gave me goosebumps.

Vampyr creates a world of choice and consequences combined with an approach that questions your moral. Its fictinious gritty London at times is truly breathtaking with its masterful background music. The narrative in the game is well done and you feel for an NPC at times as you decide their fate.

However the lacklustre display in terms of graphics and interactivity along with framerate issues, really puts the game into question whether it was rushed out of development or not. In my opinion it is a game with some replaybality but lacks a deep story albeit a rich background. This game has a lot of potential for a sequel and plenty of room for improvement.