VAMPYR

Stakes a claim for RPG of the year

“Killing’s a helluva lot easier than healing,” says recently turned vampire Dr Jonathan Reid, as we flash back to his experience in the Second Boer War. It’s a prescient statement that sets the tone for Dontnod’s horror RPG – do you kill or heal? Back in London, a city plagued by Spanish Flu, our immediate desires are far more direct. Who’s turned us vamp, and how do we get our revenge? This goal drives the portion of the game we’re playing. It soon unravels into multiple quests as we dig for answers in the dialogue trees of the people we meet.

A snippet of gossip gleaned from talking to a bar fly can unlock a new avenue of interrogation with the pub landlord, which in turn leads to the enigmatic Dr Edgar Swansea – and more questions.

Having had our fill of small talk we decide to get answers the old fashioned way… at the end of a sharp pointy thing. Reid is an agile combatant, and mixing melee attacks with vampiric abilities like spears made of blood proves satisfying.

The complexity of Vampyr comes from the inner conflict between Reid’s need to feed and his desire to cure the afflicted. One affects the other, either in conversation or combat, and everyone and everything in the game, too. It combines to ensure this RPG’s world feels uniquely alive, even if everyone may end up dead by your fangs.

“WHO’S TURNED US VAMP, AND HOW DO WE GET OUR REVENGE?”