Full disclosure: I like vampyrs... vampires, so I want this to be good. Yes, it looks a bit 7/10, with some unspectacular animation and predictable mechanics, but that doesn't mean it won't play well.
Further helping its cause is that it's from Dontnod, the studio behind Life is Strange (which everyone loved) and Remember Me (which most people didn't hate).
The 15 minutes of gamesplay shows off a decent looking third person adventure set in Victorian London during the Spanish Flu epidemic. You, unsurprisingly, play a vampire, but also a doctor with moral choices to make - it's apparently possible to finish the game without ever killing anyone. Although, come on, who's playing a vamp game and not going dark?
You can watch the trailer up there but here's some of the bits I'm liking the look of a lot.
I am down with Victorian spooky town
Vampyr's Victorian setting is a semi-open world, apparently consisting of linked hub areas. It certainly nails that spooky style of foggy Gothic shadows and gaslight.
Teleporty Bloodborne style combat? In.
I doubt it'll be as satisfyingly solid as Bloodborne, but that dodge-heavy, sword and gun combo fighting looks fun. Hopefully levelling up will add even more powers to the mix to play with.
Seriously though, love me a good teleport
Look at it! Who doesn't want to whoosh up to a balcony in a cloud of smoke? There's at least a few hours of fun right there, pretending to be Nightcrawler and BAMF-ing all over the shop.
Hunting and feeding looks interesting
Vampyr's leaning quite heavily on a morality system tied to how you feed. As you can see here, you're able to scan puny humans to see who's healthiest for the best meal. You can also get some background, because its totally okay to kill the bad people. Where things get tricky is that if you want to be a nice vampire and avoid murder then that affects your ability to level up. How long before you think you'll break and go full bitey for some new powers?
It's going to guilt trip you hard
It looks like you'll get hints about the ramifications of your actions as well when you feed. 'Who'll look after my boy' says Victorian Jason Statham as you drain him dry. The districts also have an overall 'health level' governed by the people living in it. That creates a problem because the better the blood, the quicker you level up, but the more healthy people you consume the faster the area falls into disease and ruin.
Vampyr's currently down for a 2017 release date on PS4, XB1 and PC.
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