Vampyr is the upcoming action-RPG from Dontnod, who brought us last year’s acclaimed adventure Life Is Strange. Set in London during a lethal bout of the Spanish flu, you play as former doctor Jonathan Reid in a city riddled with disease, violence, and fear. From Vampire hunters to mutated abominations, you’ll face friends and foes as you learn to harness your new affliction.
As Reid, you’ll attack and dodge foes to fill up your Blood Gauge, which unleashes a powerful vampiric attack. As you gain experience, you’ll unlock more powerful abilities allowing you to perform a range of attacks, from impaling enemies on a spike to draining them of blood at a distance.
Vampyr’s gameplay seems highly focused on customization. It’s possible to equip abilities in any order, giving you the freedom to essentially develop your own playstyle, whether it’s aggressively dealing damage or focusing on crowd control to keep enemies at bay. Specific abilities can be customized as well, such as a skill called Spring. In addition to its base effect of quickly closing distance with an enemy, Spring can be evolved to either deal area-of-effect damage or grant temporary invisibility.
Combat is balanced by investigative gameplay, as you’ll have to decide who to feed from and who to spare. Everything you do will be informed by Jonathan’s need to balance his human side with his Vampire impulses. For example, feeding on civilians grants a huge XP boost but can come with narrative consequences and increased vulnerability on the streets. You can also choose to be more aggressive in your dealings overall, or take a more stealthy approach, stalking your prey and utilizing your heightened speed and ability to avoid combat entirely.
Key Features:
- Explore a darkly atmospheric early 20th century London.
- Play a tormented and powerful Vampire learning the rules of your new condition. A man of science, a beast of the night: Your toughest battles will be within yourself.
- Build your own combat style through a wide range of crafted weapons and powerful Vampire abilities to defeat a large and unique bestiary.
- Choose your fate: moral choices will shape your story. How human could a Vampire be, when he must feed?
Read more from Vampyr’s game director, Philippe Moreau, and look for Vampyr on PS4, Xbox One, and PC next year.
