Vampyr is the latest game from Dontnod Entertainment, the studio best known for developing Life is Strange. A step in a new direction for the studio, Vampyr is a gothic-themed action-RPG with a much stronger emphasis on combat than their previous titles. Despite that fact, Dontnod claimed that the game would also feature a strongly narrative-driven experience. The game has finally released today, and reviews are out. All in all, has Vampyr lived up to the hype?
Major Review Score Roundup
IGN has rated the game 7/10, citing the game’s setting and soundtrack in particular for praise. Their review also praised the game’s cast of characters; consistently strong writing and performance seem to feature throughout, although they did criticize the graphical disparity between the protagonist and the other characters. Apparently, the game’s main failings were low difficulty and core combat mechanics that quickly turned stale.
Gamespot mirrored IGN’s score of 7/10. Similarly, they cited the game’s story and cast as two of its strongest points. Although they didn’t criticize the game’s combat as heavily, they took greater issue with its apparently poor performance; frame-rate drops and frequent loading screens, to be specific. Eurogamer didn’t give a score, but their review was decidedly more critical of the story, though perhaps for reasons of personal preference. Once again, poor combat is named as its biggest flaw, along with frame rate drops.
In Conclusion
In general, most reviews have praised Vampyr’s story and cast of characters. However, the same criticisms appear in almost every one; repetitive combat being the biggest, with added criticism of poor performance and somewhat poor graphical aspects in places (such as poor voice-to-lip syncing).
If you are looking for a strong narrative game and can invest in a good story enough to look past less-than-stellar gameplay, then Vampyr may well be worth picking up. However, if you were excited by the passing similarities to Bloodborne in the game’s combat, then this is probably not the game for you. Ultimately, it looks as though Dontnod’s experience in story-telling has shone here. However, the move to more combat-centric gameplay may not have been their best decision.