Checking out the marketing for Vampyr, the game sells itself on not only showing the "darker" side of being a vampire (as opposed to something like Twilight) but also on the player's ability to choose how much of that dark nature that's going to be revealed. Outside of combat, the player has the choice of drinking the blood of the non-playable characters they meet or leaving them be. This is one of the better aspects of Vampyr, to get more XP from drinking these character's blood, you have to get to know them a little better, to help treat their sickness and consider the consequences of what their absence would mean to those around them. Its a clever twist compared to most sandbox single player adventures where the player can murder anyone they want and face little consequence. I love games where choices matter and to help immerse you into this world, they create some characters that you aren't just willing to lead into a dark alley for nefarious purposes. Its not a ground-breaking achievement, but I did like the effort put into that aspect.
Moving from the supporting characters to the main character, Dr. Jonathan Reid is an interesting character to follow throughout Vampyr. He's my kind of protagonist, he's an anti-hero who is trying to come to grips with not only his new sickness but also the world he's come back to. He doesn't beat around the bush when he's questioning/interrogating those around him, he's helpful to the less fortunate but critical of the selfishness and lack of professionalism of his friends and colleagues. Your choices affect his demeanor, but his personality was about the right mix of ingredients for me. I also thought some good voice work from Anthony Howell helped sell the dilemmas that he faces throughout the game.
While there is a good amount of investigating to do in this game, the player can engage in a fair amount of combat as Reid. This is probably where the game runs into difficulty. Reid's actual combat style isn't new and the character progression down the skill tree is solid if unspectacular. But the two things that really got me were how repetitive the fight sequences were. You move from one end of London to the other and you still come upon the same groups of vampire hunters with the same number of people and even the same type of fighters. By the end of the game, I wasn't concerned with picking up XP from these fights anymore and largely ran, dodged or walked away from these fights. The other thing that bugged me is if you choose to try not to embrace as few citizens as possible, the boss fights are unreasonably difficult. There isn't a big variety in how to defeat these enemies, so you have to keep doing the same combos and attacks, but you also have to be more and more precise depending on how often you have leveled up. Vampyr lets you know, if you're having trouble, embrace more people for more XP but the game also lays on the guilt trip if you choose to do that. So, I felt like the game was pulling me in one direction but almost requiring me to go in the other just, so I could progress.
The Vampyr story is another beauty in the eye of the beholder aspect. Dr. Johnathan Reid is a gifted surgeon and a pioneer in the field of blood transfusion. He returns from war in France to his home of London, England but is immediately knocked out, transformed into a vampire, presumed dead and pitched in a mass grave. London is being terrorized by the Spanish Flu epidemic and few chances are being taken. Reid wakes up and unfortunately bites the first person in the vicinity because of the magnitude of his thirst for blood. Unable to come to grips with the murder he just perpetrated, he flees the area and tries to adapt to not only his new surroundings but to his new lifestyle as a vampire. This premise was interesting enough to get me on board, but the game lacks the non-stop action that many gamers will crave. The creative team does a pretty good job however spinning this narrative and combine that with some solid character development, you've got a story worth keeping up with.
I foresee this game gaining a cult following. It won't be for everyone and it's not like Vampyr's problems are hiding in the shadows like Dr. Jonathan Reid. You pick up on them rather quickly (frustrating and repetitive combat being the biggest) and if you're not invested in the characters or the premise, I would bet you'd be turning off your preferred gaming console (PS4, XBOX One or PC). But I did like the premise, the characters, the atmosphere and parts of the story and that kept me going. I would love to see a sequel to this because if they can improve upon some of the missteps in Vampyr, I think you would get that unanimous approval from the gaming community. Reid is an interesting enough anti-hero (depending on how you choose to play him) and he could anchor another game. The finished product is decidedly mixed, but I fall into the niche this game was aiming for. I give it more credit because it wasn't a AAA release, it was done on a moderate budget for a video game studio and while the lack of polish the game has is evident, they still created a game that's a new take on a vampires in video games and had enough style to standout. I wouldn't recommend buying Vampyr at full price, but I got it at a 50% off sale and I'm happy with the purchase at that amount. I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10 rounding up to an 8/10.
