Bloodsucking hack & slash King of London, or a noble physician with a few cool powers? Whichever route you take playing Vampyr, don't waste time on those stinkin' guns.
(I just don't get why you would play a vampire game and NOT cause absolute mayhem, that's all I'm saying)
Warning: you're going to love this game.
Not only does it quench your thirst for a vampire-based RPG, the only other one springing to mind being the 2004 classic Vampire: Masquerade- Bloodlines, but it does so to near perfection.
Taking control of newborn vampire Dr. Johnathan Reid, you stalk the streets of London in search of a cure for the worrying epidemic of feral vampires known as Skals- ferocious beasts created when Ekons, or, traditional humanoid vampires such as Dr Reid, abandon their newly-turned progeny.
The grisly charm of 1900s wartime Britain is an apt setting for vampires
Sumptuous sound and graphic design guide your every step, adding surprising emotional depth as you seize control of the night. Complete missions and side-quests, battle patrolling vampire hunters, eavesdrop on your colleagues at the Hospital, fall in love with the mysterious Lady Ashbury, craft and prescribe medicine to the citizens- and suck them dry, if it so pleases you.
However, your dinner choices have a direct impact upon your game.
Get overly fangtastic with the humans and you risk seeing districts fall to the Skal epidemic. When this happens, remaining citizens vanish (along with their delicious XP) and the area becomes hostile to your presence.
Elisabeth is cute but she has nothing on Reid & McCullum's chemistry
But anyway, this review isn't about the voice acting (brilliant), the art (I want Reid's coat), or the demonic choir which sings each time you Embrace a darling citizen (I get chills every time).
This review is to tell you just how bad the ranged weapons are in this game, and how much better off you'll be if you stick to melee weapons like I did (with a few rare exceptions).
As well as Dr Reid's vampiric abilities, which can be traded for XP each night when you save at a hideout, the combat in Vampire requires you to use weapons.
You have a main weapon, such as a hacksaw or sword, and an off-hand weapon such as a stake or smaller knife. You can also use two-handed weapons which take up both the main and off-hand slots, and do monstrous damage to make up for their unwieldly slower attack moves.
Exhibit A of some low-level weapon and vampire abilities, but don't worry. You can use found or bartered items to upgrade yourself to a tip-top one-stop shop for vampiric mayhem in no time!
And then, of course, you have guns.
Guns are a weird one in Vampyr. The combat controls are generally considered the weakest aspect of the game, with enemies able to interrupt your attacks with their own whilst you cannot reciprocate. Honestly it isn't so bad for me, a tried-and-tested ardent fan of the melee hack & slack technique when it comes to RPGs and dungeon crawlers.
However, the gun dynamics are especially clunky for myriad reasons.
1) You can't aim. Incredibly frustrating for fans of FPS-style games. When you hit the trigger your gun will shoot at whatever Johnathan is facing, which is incredibly annoying if you miss your target seeing as...
2) Your bullets and shotgun shells are in short supply. You can only carry a set amount on you even after maxing out your pockets using XP, meaning that when you run out of ammo during a fight, you'll need to quickly swap to melee weapons to finish it off. All your ammo is stored in a chest which can be found in any hideout spot on the map. Backpedaling to a hideout and replenishing your 6 shotgun rounds gets tedious, especially given how all the enemies you defeat simply respawn if you die, meaning you'll have wasted all those bullets.
After a successful Stun attack, look out for the toothy interaction button and Bite your incapacitated opponent!
3) Using guns means less opportunities to Bite your enemies. The most immersive element of Vampyr's combat is the chance to stun your foe with an off-hand melee weapon, sneaking in a tasty snack mid-massacre. You absorb blood points and health, diminishing those of your opponent in the process. What's not to love?
4) In a pinch, you can sell your bullets for cash. Sure they're only worth a shilling each, but you'll always have a way to siphon a few extra pennies out of Johnathan if resources become scarce.
5) You don't really need guns until you get to boss battles toward the end of the game. No spoilers but I only bothered levelling up a shotgun for a boss fight at the end of Chapter Five. I could have probably managed without it if I had put in more legwork, but oh well. I'm a hot-head who rage-quits games instead of cleverly planning my tactics and Reid is a vampire not a chess-player, after all.
6) It is so very satisfying to kill a Guard of Priwen or low-level Skal with a single crack over the head with a Perfect Mace. It's the melee equivalent of a headshot. Beautiful stuff.
My stats page just before the final boss. Yes I drained the whole city to get to Level 50. Yes I still got my derriere handed to me.
Don't be lame. Use melee weapons when you play Vampyr, available now on PC & console.