Hello everyone, in today’s post I would like to review the game Vampyr, published in June of this year from the pen of the studio DONTNOD. From the very announcement, the game managed to intrigue everyone, without exaggeration, at least with its setting, because you don’t often see a game about vampires in London during the First World War. What did the developers end up with?? Let’s figure it out.
I’ll start my story, as usual, with the plot. Despite the fact that “Vampyre” has a slightly contradictory story, I will still refrain from analyzing it in detail, leaving it for you to review personally. Our story takes place in 1918, in post-war London, we take on the role of private vampire Jonathan Reed, who was a field doctor at the front during the war. Waking up among a pile of corpses, Jonathan feels an irresistible thirst, having quenched it with the blood of the first victim he came across, our hero is attacked by the local police. Having escaped from his ill-wishers, Jonathan decides to find out who made him a vampire at all costs. Actually, that’s all you need to know about the plot of this game.
Since the game belongs to the RPG genre, you should pay close attention to the actual role-playing elements. The developers offer us 2 paths: for a good vampire and an evil one. And here the first problem of the game comes into force. You see, the developers were unable to properly, or even not so, playfully balance the passage for the good guy. Here’s the thing, for killing one enemy you get an average of 5 – 10 experience points, but for killing a peaceful character who, moreover, was friendly towards you, you get 6K experience. In other words, the more you kill civilians, the faster your leveling will go. As you gain a new level, you upgrade your hero’s skills, or increase your supply of life, stamina, and blood. In short, nothing unusual. I also don’t quite understand the reward for completing quests, because every NPC will almost always reward you only with money and always in the amount of 20 shillings, and it doesn’t matter at all that there are 5 shillings scattered everywhere on the floor. "Almost always" means that sometimes someone will give you things that can be sold or dismantled. Well, since we mentioned disassembling items, it’s worth saying a little about crafting. You can improve your weapons by unlocking new skills and increasing damage. And at the local workbench you can create potions or medicines for the townspeople, because the healthier the citizens, the more stable the condition of the area, and the more stable the condition of the area, the safer it is and the richer it is in food. Don’t forget that the protagonist is a doctor, don’t forget to treat the townspeople. After all, if the condition of the area is extremely deplorable, then residents will begin to die and disappear, which means you will have less food. But it’s not worth trying the blood of everyone who gets in your way, because a chain of interesting quests may be associated with him. In other words, as mentioned above, don’t try to be completely kind, but don’t eat every. Drink blood wisely.
As for the quests https://grandxcasino.co.uk/login/ and dialogues themselves, everything is fine here. The quests were done well, the investigations turned out to be especially interesting, unless, of course, you take into account the fact that they are full of routine running from point A to point B. Side quests most often consist of obtaining an object or exploring the area. Often these quests will present you with choices, the consequences of which will affect the attitude of other characters towards you. Sometimes exclamation marks will appear on the map, certain events related to the player’s decisions and actions. The dialogues are written well, yes, let’s be honest, not all the characters turned out to be interesting and well-written. During a conversation, you may notice that some dialogue threads are hidden under the inscription “hint needed”. This means that the characters don’t want to tell you their whole story. You can get these very tips from letters or dialogues with other NPCs. For these investigations, the game will reward the player not only with information, but also with improved NPC blood; the better it is, the more experience it gives.
The entire gameplay can be divided into 2 parts: peaceful and combat. The first is walking and talking, the characters in the peaceful zone do not know that you are a vampire, or they know, but do not wish you harm. The drag and warhead are not something original. The combat system itself is absolutely identical to all modern action games, that is, it is tied to the use of a couple of buttons, except that greater emphasis is placed on the use of stamina. It must be used wisely, since in the best traditions of “you know what games” all the enemies here are many times stronger than you. From the very beginning of the game you have little stamina, it is enough for about 2 hits and one strafe. And as you level up, it doesn’t get any easier, since the enemies along with you will become much more durable. There are 2 types of melee weapons here – two-handed and one-handed, which can be combined with a pistol, which is used to stun enemies so that you can make a bite in battle. Or combine it with an amputation knife, for example, which will replenish the blood supply with blows. By the way, blood is used here as mana. There are several active skills to choose from that are very helpful in battle.
Now it’s worth pointing out a little more of the game’s shortcomings, in addition to those listed above. Firstly, the technical execution of such an aspect as the combat part of the game sucks and is not bloody at all. Often the combat system will cause trouble, forcing you to slam your fist on the table and show your middle finger at the screen, going through all the mats. The animation looks jerky and sharp.
Secondly, I really want to slap the level designers in the face a couple of times. The developers did not give the protagonist the ability to jump and the inherent strength of a vampire. Well, I mean, it wouldn’t be difficult for a vampire to break out a rusty grate, for example. Why do you have to look for a workaround that just stretches out the game?. And instead of jumping, our hero can teleport, but not when the player wants it, but when the magic F button allows. As a result, you will often run like crazy near a hill, trying to find that very point with the F button. This could be called simply game conventions and scored, if this did not interfere. I can understand, for example, the lack of jumps in Dragon Age Origins, because there it is not necessary from the word at all. But here it is not clear what prevented the level designers from placing a staircase next to the hill. Or here’s another example, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. There you just had to come right up to the hill, and at the press of a button the protagonist would cling to it with his hands.
But what came out 10/10 is the visual style. The graphics are good, the views of London at night in the post-war years, engulfed by the plague, are mesmerizing. I just want to take a calm walk through the game’s locations with a gorgeous soundtrack that always plays to the theme. But even here, not everything is smooth, since the locations are overcrowded with enemies, you often do not have time to enjoy excellent views of the city at night.
What can we say in the end?? DONTNOD I was able to confirm that it copes well with any setting. Cyberpunk first remember me, then a mystical teenage story in Life is Strange and now post-war London in Vampyr. Yes, the game is full of shortcomings, many can abandon it very quickly. If you want something about vampires, then I still recommend checking out this game. But under no circumstances should you buy it at full price, because 2K rubles is not 5 shillings; they don’t lie on the road. The game gets a pass from me. Due to poor technical performance, poor level design and some imbalance.