Vampyr Reviews
If you enjoy your story a bit on the darker side and making choices that matter, than give Vampyr a try.
Yawn-inducing combat and pacing as stale as a week-old scab leave little to be desired in Vampyr for all but the most die-hard vampire enthusiasts, who might still just be better off sinking their teeth into something with more substance.
Vampyr is a game marred by a mediocre combat system, but you know what? I don’t care – It’s the first game in a long time that made me think Vampires are cool again, with an incredibly interesting story that has me unable to stop thinking about what’s happening next.
Whilst each element isn't perfect, Vampyr manages to weave a brilliant dialogue system into a bleak yet atmospheric depiction of early 19th century London. The combat is serviceable, and the crafting system is basic. Yet the game is still a fantastic accomplishment - a refreshing reminder of just how important mid-tier titles can be.
From Remember Me through Life is Strange and now to Vampyr, Dontnod Entertainment has striven to introduce new ideas to each genre it dabbles in. However, the team's latest project is also the one in which that desire feels the most diluted. Novel mechanics including the social web and that core conflict between the Hippocratic Oath and vampiric urges hold immense promise for a project to carry weighty consequences, but the potential is never fully achieved in Vampyr. The need to ground these ideas within familiar, saleable gameplay leaves the title lacking. While the game is enjoyable and engaging, the apparent lack of courage in the strength of its more unusual ideas is slightly disheartening, leaving it feeling slightly toothless.
Although flawed and at times painfully inconsistent, Vampyr manages to offer relatively engaging gameplay in spite of a lack of overall polish. Combat is stiff and quite mindless, but Jonathan's progression deeper into Vampiredom is handled well and the abilities at his disposal go a long way towards masking some of the more mundane aspects of the battle system. It's more whether or not Jonathan decides to prey on the people of London, and its consequences, that keep the experience fresh. There's a trade off between making Jonathan and keeping districts stable, each one offering their own benefits. There are technical issues, and the performance is lacking on every front, but Vampyr has enough going for it conceptually that it's worth sinking some time into, if only to be a vampire in 20th century London.
As much a detective story as a horror one, Vampyr rewards you for taking an interest in the people around you and tests your moral compass with a lack of black and white options.
Vampyr has a lot of good ideas, but its execution is sorely lacking in most areas. It is a game that is competent in terms of its systems, but ultimately fairly boring to play.
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If you can fight your way through some technical issues, a good story and interesting action RPG mechanics can make for a bloody good time
Vampyr manages to deliver on its promise to make choices matter. Every decision has implications that spider out in unseen directions, often far into the future. While there are some wobbles in terms of combat and load times, the engaging storyline and premise carry this title far.
Vampyr competently displays an understanding of combat, dialogue, and narrative choice, but it never rises above mediocrity, and is an utter failure on a technical level. The aesthetic of the world is the best thing on display, but beyond it lies a derivative title that fails to leave a lasting impression.
Vampyr has a ton of interesting ideas, an intriguing world, and a great cast of characters, but is ultimately let down by its narrow-minded focus on unnecessary combat.
Vampyr is ambitious for sure, but with ambition comes risk, and unfortunately, here it provides very little in the way of rewards.
There are some brilliant, original ideas in here, but Vampyr tries to do too much at once and suffers for it.
It takes some doing to find a middle-ground between two such conflicting genres, but Dontnod have done a terrific job marrying Adventure and Action RPG elements into a pleasant and modestly cohesive whole.
The immersive vampire RPG you never knew you needed.
A compellingly macabre adventure let down by so-so combat and a few niggling flaws