Can Dontnod strike gold again with this gothic tale?
After the success of Life is Strange and the obvious inevitable second season, I wondered what else Dontnod would be upto. I was surprised to find it wouldn’t be a game like LIS but instead an action-adventure RPG with choices set in Victorian London where you are a vampire. The game gives you the choice to feed on innocent people with consequences to the districts you are killing, but it does give you a ton of XP and makes the game easier on the whole, it’s all about morality in the end. Turns out that I don’t have a lot…
Then again, when it comes to choice-based games I always go the evil route so it didn’t come as a surprise that I’d hypnotise patients in a hospital to a secluded area to feed on them, but that’s just one way of playing. The great thing about Vampyr is that you have plenty of other tools at your disposal as long as you upgrade right and collect enough items to upgrade weapons like your melee weapon or pistol.
The story itself is full of great moments, but it does have a few dud lines like “What is life, but death pending?” but finding the vampire responsible for your predicament is gripping and the setting of Victorian London is pulled off brilliantly by the Dontnod team. Combat can be a bit mixed, but luckily your character is quite strong. The handling is a bit clunky at times, but it’s more trial and error on the whole, which isn’t that bad.
Visually, Vampyr does suffer from some technical issues and while the aesthetic of Victorian London is well portrayed, the character models are a bit of a mixed bag. The soundtrack is however impressive and the voice-acting has it’s good moments overall.
The Verdict
Vampyr is another roaring success for Dontnod, but it’s not flawless. The combat is clunky and repetitive, but the decisions you make will make an impact in impressive ways. I’d highly recommend that you get your teeth stuck into this one.