Review for Vampyr. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/06/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/09/2019
Evil is a point of view, God kills indiscriminately and who are we to challenge it? In these filthy years we can count new deaths on the streets every night and no one can judge what is right and what is wrong.
The setting full of squalor that we will describe shortly, combined with the fascinating figure of the vampire, stage the perfect ecosystem for hard choices in Vampyr. The experience we are about to tell you is studded with doubts and remorse for missed opportunities or for having traveled the wrong paths. We are just a little anxious because the vampire is a mask full of passion, but only if used properly it attracts the viewer like the only torch of a dark night.
And now see the world with your new vampire eyes
The events narrated in Vampyr take place in London during 1918 and the protagonist of this work is Jonathan Reid, an esteemed surgeon who has recently returned from France, where he served as an officer and doctor. The Great War brought the strongest nations of the world to their knees with some twenty million victims, but humanity had to prepare to suffer more.
An epidemic sadly remembered with the name of the Spanish flu, would have claimed between fifty and two hundred million deaths worldwide and it is in this climate of suffering, squalor and degradation that Reid returns home.
Obviously it is not our intention to spoil the game, but we want to point out immediately the only real flaw in the work of Dontnod Entertainment: as anticipated in the introduction, the vampire is a complex and extremely human figure e we couldn't digest how quickly Jonathan accepts his damn new condition. In a few minutes he goes from despair to the practicality of his new powers and to satisfy his needs.
We perceived a too hasty throwing into the game, without first outlining the distinctive traits of the protagonist's personality, all things that we will learn later as we continue with the adventure, but which granted an abrupt and little-felt start.
A real shame, because the style of the protagonist combined with the excellent idea of choosing a hematologist as a vampire, in continuous contrast with the dictates of the Hippocratic oath, are really valid ideas.
Abandoned this prejudice, which affects anyone who has appreciated the care for the characters of Life Is Strange (the previous success of the software house), the game explodes in all its glory. The plot on which Vampyr rests is a story of revenge; Jonathan Reid wants to find the person responsible for his cursed rebirth and will do anything to discover London's nighttime secrets by walking through its darkest neighborhoods.
I want to give you that choice that I was not given
Vampyr divides the English capital into neighborhoods, each populated by citizens to be tracked down to take advantage of their services and above all to follow in the footsteps of our creator. We move almost freely in the city because the title is not the classic open world and, although not entirely linear, some places or characters are not immediately accessible. The soul of the game lies in diving into the details of the lives of these men and women, discovering their secrets.
Each clue collected through dialogues, object finds or espionage, serves to improve the experience gained when we feed on the blood of an individual, because sooner or later we must quench the vampire's thirst and choose who to sentence to death. It becomes essential to use the powerful senses of vampire that enhance sight and hearing revealing traces otherwise invisible. This part of the game is clearly predominant and if we first look at these people only as points to be distributed, as our with them becomes more intimate we feel that we are a true judge.
Finally Vampyr manages to make us identify with being a vampire, a race superior to man capable of diverting the fate of the flock and that laboriously clings to the last vestiges of its humanity.
Cutting off the life of a citizen means diverting various aspects of the game. Some side missions may fail or become unavailable, while the stability of the neighborhood is endangered, risking to plunge the area into chaos. As a doctor we must try to stabilize the situation in London but Vampyr leaves freedom to the player, who can also mark its destruction.
The importance of a citizen is measured both by the amount of experience provided and by his degree of fascination. In fact, to be able to charm and embrace our goal, we must first obtain a sufficient level (the vampire bite is often referred to as a hug Ed.). This trick prevents us from attacking the most decisive characters of Vampyr right away and the mechanism works.
Finally, Londoners can suffer from various diseases; finding them the cure means enjoying better blood quality and therefore experience points, just like a good breeder does with his herd.
Your helpless men with their silly spells will not protect you from my power
Vampyr knows how to balance the pace of the game well because, between one investigation and another, the gameplay is broken up by an excellent combat system. In addition to the vital bar we have energy, which limits the number of actions per second and recharges when we are at rest; we also have to manage the blood, which is real mana for vampire abilities.
Our demonic nature allows us to summon shadow spears, cause tentacular explosions, block a target's blood, or make us move at supernatural speed. Using these powers consumes blood which is recharged by biting opponents or by using special serums.
Jonathan Reid is also a skilled fencer and can choose his weapons from an arsenal that includes swords, knives, hatchets, heavy two-handed clubs and archaic firearms. We particularly enjoyed this double possibility, using the power of black powder in times of difficulty. A marker is always visible above the enemies that highlights their strengths and weaknesses, so as to adopt the most effective fighting style.
Their attacks and damage vary equally and can also inflict aggravated wounds which temporarily reduce maximum vitality. Nothing revolutionary, but the combat is sufficiently spectacular and characterized by a varied and fun degree of challenge. Only in rare cases did we happen to observe blocked enemies or with small positioning bugs, nothing that bothered the game experience.
The world changes, but we don't. And this is precisely the irony that ultimately kills us
Time in Vampyr flows every time we go to rest and wait for the next night. Scattered around the city we must unlock the shelters, safe places to sleep and spend the accumulated experience points. The resulting level increase paves the way for new active and passive combat-related skills. We don't have elements that change the way we deal with the RPG component of the game.
Upon our awakening we discover what changes we have conditioned in the life of the London neighborhoods and we must accept responsibility for any consequences caused by our actions.
In shelters, often abandoned places, we can sit at the workbench to disassemble useless objects and recover components with which to craft new serums or medicines, as well as upgrade weapons by giving damage improvements or special effects of various kinds.
Vampyr's London is a feast for the eyes: gloomy, sad and desolate it drags on night after night more and more burdened by the pain caused by this terrible flu. Reid moves easily along the winding streets of the city center, also thanks to the incredible physical abilities that allow him to face impossible jumps and climb the floors of buildings. Soft lights, fog and dirt outline a gloomy landscape that fully meets our expectations. However, the technical component that most surprised us is undoubtedly the impeccable soundtrack, composed using the beautiful sounds of cello, double bass and piano, it never gets tired and reinvigorates itself properly in action scenes.
Little by little Vampyr transports us to his world and, after the uncertain start, we can finally appreciate the enormous work of Dontnod Entertainment. The first meeting with a new citizen immediately becomes an interrogation that puts us in the shoes of the predator. In addition to the information, we want to understand if who we are in front of can be our next victim and the first impression is often changed by subsequent discoveries. We found ourselves uncomfortable condemning someone in favor of others, only to discover later that the one we saved deserved the same fate. The numerous secondary investigations are well done and blend perfectly with the main plot, all well interspersed with exciting clashes where you can give vent to the diabolical powers of the vampire. Don't look for a confrontation with Life Is Strange because the ship has significantly changed course, but it always sails in good waters.
► Vampyr is an Action-RPG type game published by Focus Home Interactive for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/06/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/09/2019
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