SUMMARY
VAMPYR takes place in 19th century London and is centered around the renowned doctor Jonathan Reid following his return home after the war. His homecoming is short-lived however. Soon after his return, Jonathan awakens as a newly turned vampire in the middle of an epidemic sweeping across the country. It soon becomes clear that if London is going to survive, it will be up to Jonathan to find the source of the epidemic and stop it.
WORLD
The London in Vampyr is broken up into four major districts: The Docks, Pembroke Hospital, Whitechapel and the West End. Each district unlocks as the story progresses and is occupied by its own unique community of citizens that is held up by one specific person known as the pillar. As part of the main story, you will have to make a choice regarding the pillar of the community that will have either a positive or negative effect on the overall health of a district. The district’s health is measured by the state of the citizens that occupy it. If they have a headache or cold for example, that too will negatively impact a district’s health. Having healthy citizen is vital because the healthier a citizen, the more exp the give Jonathan if he chooses to embrace them (drink their blood, killing them for a helping of exp). You can also increase the amount of exp a citizen is worth by learning more about them in the form of hints. Something to keep in mind is that the game saves after pretty much everything you do and only has one save per game session. This means that you will have to live with the choices you make.
COMBAT
The combat of Vampyr takes place out in the open world and is done in the third person. Jonathan can wield various weapons and abilities to take on the forces of the night. Using a melee weapon drains stamina while two-handed weapons take a little bit more to swing. When using a one-handed weapon, either a firearm or an off-handed weapon can be equipped in the other hand. There are also vampire powers that Jonathan can learn to be more effective in combat such as a blood lance that gets hurled at enemies or a barrier that protects against attacks. Another mechanic in combat is the ability to stun an enemy. Under an enemy’s red health bar, is another white bar that depicts an enemy’s stun level. Certain weapons can deplete the stun bar in addition to the health bar. Fully depleting the stun bar will immobilize an enemy for a short time giving Jonathan the opportunity to bite them. Doing so will allow him to recover lost blood needed for his vampire powers and if spec’d right, deal massive damage to an enemy.
CONTENT
Outside of the main story, side quests come in the form of investigations. Jonathan can learn about an investigation from citizens across the different districts. Completing an investigation grants exp and money, but more importantly, allows Jonathan to learn a new hint about a citizen most of the time. Besides investigations, there are quite a bit of weapons to collect and even some lore objects that fill in the gaps about the state of the world in the game.
OPINION
Vampyr is a solid game and I really enjoyed the time I spent with it. The main thing I really liked was the story and how the atmosphere of the game really helped set the direction it took. Seeing the condition of each district and talking with the characters really emphasized the seriousness of the epidemic. With that being said, the main thing I didn’t really care for was the combat. It felt really slow and tedious. The vampire powers were cool, but there was only a handful and the excitement on them wore off pretty quick. I found myself using high stun weapons to weaken an enemy followed up with a bite to finish them off and that worked for pretty much every confrontation in the game.
RECOMMENDATION
I felt that the story of Vampyr and its characters made this game worth playing, especially if you into narrative driven games.
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