Vampire Review

Game

The game cycle is split between a loosely Dark Souls-inspired combat engine and an investigative aspect. This investigative aspect is linked to blood quality and district health mechanics.

But vaguely it is the watchword. If the developers drew inspiration from combat in Dark Souls, they tweaked it significantly. But combat still relies on dodging, stamina management and attack timing to land when the enemy is most vulnerable.

Unlike Dark Souls, enemies have what Vampyr calls a stun bar in addition to the usual HP gauge. Ranged and ranged weapon attacks deal stun damage in addition to normal health damage. When their stun bars are depleted, the targets fall to the ground. This leaves them vulnerable to the attack of Reid’s vampiric bite. This is the primary means of collecting blood, which is consumed to fuel Reid’s other supernatural abilities.

Fight

While the gameplay makes a good impression overall, it’s not without its flaws. Combat works flawlessly on the open streets of London. But the same cannot be said when fighting inside buildings. Narrow hallways and small, cluttered rooms don’t leave enough room to maneuver. This problem is compounded by the frequency with which enemies are able to stun the player. Skals mutated vampires, in particular, are very prone to this. And the Skals tend to prefer abandoned buildings and narrow sewer tunnels which cause more problems.

The lighting engine doesn’t do the player any favors either. While Vampyr is an incredibly atmospheric game, those inky shadows do a great job of obscuring enemies’ movements. More than once, I’ve been caught off guard by a Skal throwing himself out of the shadows to give Reid a taste of his own neck-biting medicine.

Vampire abilities are reasonably varied, but I found myself using the same two for most of the game. Even against elite bosses and enemies, I rarely felt the need to significantly change my tactics to win a fight. While the combat remains challenging enough to never get boring, the little annoyances add up. So, the story and the characters are what ultimately brings the game.