Vampyr Reviews
At no point in Vampyr did I have fun following trails of blood, mixing antiquated remedies out of opium, or bludgeoning some Crucifix wielding goon in a mask for the 50th time. But I was constantly compelled forward to find out what next grim choice it would give me, anxious to spend yet another night in one of its safehouses to see if my efforts to keep London's souls alive another day had worked.
Dontnod worked hard to create an immersive, dark world to explore and it succeeds in doing so. Despite some boring conversations, most of the world of Vampyr is an exciting, dangerous place and if nothing else, being a vampire in here is also very fun.
Vampyr, from Life is Strange dev DONTNOD, is a unique beast. It plays with some interesting, and often great, ideas, but it never quite bites down. Choosing instead to play with its food rather than embracing the sumptuous meal on offer.
Ultimately, the sum of Vampyr's emphasis on story, combat, and progression combine to produce a video gaming experience that will appeal to those outside the RPG and adventure genres that it seeks to combine. My hope is that it finds its audience so that we might yet again see Dr. Reid on an even grander scale in the future.
It can feel faintly embarrassing one moment, and then do something unexpected and with surprising confidence just a few seconds later. There's probably an equal chance that you'll hate it or love it. In an industry that constantly obsesses on trends and often disrespects the taste and intelligence of its audience, Vampyr is as refreshing and anomalous as Dontnod's other cult games.
Vampyr walks a fine line between narrative storytelling and action-oriented combat, trying to appeal to fans of both genres and mostly succeeding. Though the game lacks polish in many areas, it stars a clever morality system that entices players towards both good and evil deeds, a well-rounded web of background NPCs, and an intriguing overall narrative of an undead doctor investigating the spread of the Spanish Influenza, making Vampyr a treat for any vampire fan.
Dontnod follows up Life Is Strange with a surprisingly enthralling supernatural thriller.
Vampyr serves delicious ladles of angst and drama with a hearty slice of excellent, morally grey choice system that will genuinely surprise you, all wrapped up in a wonderfully gloomy London. It's just a shame the combat turns a bit sour.
Witnessing a studio succeed beyond what their audience expects of them is always a pleasure, and DONTNOD Entertainment has done just that with Vampyr. Whether you're intrigued by the idea of stalking London as a bloodthirsty vampire or expressly fancy a rock-solid ARPG, consider sinking your teeth into this gem.
Sluggish combat aside, Vampyr will provide hours of blood-sucking entertainment. You can be the vampire you always wanted to be, as ruthless or benevolent as you desire. Weighty life-or-death decisions all but ensure that players will want to run through the campaign multiple times to see how things would play out differently by killing or saving certain individuals, or by upgrading certain abilities earlier or later. Vampyr is a cinematic, single-player experience well worth your time and money. A harrowing adventure await those who are willing to sink their time into Vampyr.
"Victorian vampires have never been so intriguing and exciting as they are in Vampyr."
Vampyr unfortunately flounders after building some solid foundations in the opening hours. London feels like a city on a knife edge, and the citizens prove to be an inviting cast of creative characters. But Vampyr then lures you into sacrificing these characters, cutting out a key part of the game, all to have a hope of standing up to the horrors that await you in the shadows of London.
Vampyr might not be what many wanted after Life Is Strange, but it's still an enjoyable – well, as enjoyable as its grim nature allows – game nonetheless. It follows the modern action RPG template almost to a fault, but the agency the player has in shaping the districts by disease control and straight up murder is a lot more interesting than some of the moments in other games within the genre, where they present you a binary choice that pushes the plot forward. It's a decent idea holding up an otherwise solid game, but overall Vampyr is worth a look if you're looking for something to plug the gap in your life in this post- Witcher 3 world.
Dontnod takes a thrillingly Gothic perspective on early 19th century London, but squanders it in a dreary and indecisive adventure.
Vampyr is an excellent game. It manages to place RPG and adventure elements together in a good way, and delivers an interesting story, giving an idea of how the life of a vampire in a doctor's body would be. Although it has problems, they are not so significant to make the player put the game away. Vampyr is not going to be the game of the year, but it truly deserves your attention.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Vampyr has a lot of great features and ideas, which is an impressive thing to say about any game in this genre, but it just doesn’t hit home on aspects that make a good action RPG truly engaging.
Vampyr is a game which has certainly surprised me and I’ve really enjoyed my time with it. The RPG elements, player choice and combat all seem to compliment each other perfectly, which in turn makes for a very good game.
Vampyr is a fun action RPG that dives deep into horror lore to put you in the shoes of a brooding newly minted vampire who explores the dismal streets of Victorian London. You can build up an impressive array of abilities throughout, and by the end, you’re one tough undead fellow.
The most troublesome thing is that the game has big and great chances of success, but it is killed because of some laziness or attention to the side and neglect of another side, maybe if the Combat System was good and fun to describe this game as one of hidden gems of 2018, Although the Social Link is one of the best systems I have ever seen and which competes with a system like the Nemsis System, but like in Shadow of war it has been corrupted and placed in a weaker form that does not rise to its level
Review in Arabic | Read full review
A solid entry in the all-too-small Vampire RPG genre