Dontnod’s new Gothic-horror Action-RPG Vampyr is finally shown in action courtesy of a new work-in-progress gameplay demo.
Following the choice-driven Life is Strange and their futuristic tale of lost memories Remember Me, French developer Dontnod Entertainment is venturing into the world of a Gothic, disease-ridden 1900’s London with Vampyr. A stylish cinematic teaser trailer surfaced days before E3 2017, but the developers have since pulled the lid off Vampyr‘s gameplay mechanics with a 10 minute Alpha-build presentation.
Dontnod describes Vampyr as a heavily narrative-driven Action-RPG that rests firmly on how players interact with characters in the world, and just how strongly they invest in upholding the balance of society. Players assume the role of Dr. Jonathan Reid, a Vampire currently assisting the living as a doctor in a plague-ridden 1918 London; the population is split between healthy humans and Hunters fighting against Vampires and mutated “Skals”- Vampires afflicted by the Spanish Flu.
Johnathan is capable of performing unique abilities outside of traditional melee and ranged-combat techniques, but each of his Vampire abilities require Blood, indicated by a red gauge in the top-left corner of the screen; other techniques are bound to the yellow Stamina gauge above. Though Reid can feed on any non-playable character to replenish the Blood gauge, earn additional status perks, or gain EXP towards unlocking more skills, it’s best to target NPC’s listed as “Healthy”; if players attempt to feed on NPCs either engaged in combat, afflicted with the Spanish Flu, the feeding bonuses may be weaker or even have negative effects.
Dialogue options are granted through the ever-popular “dialogue wheel” mechanic found in the likes of most BioWare and Telltale titles; it’s not directly explained in the demo, but it’s suggested that yellow dialogue choices appear when Johnathan has gained enough intel to lead an interrogation or conversation down the “correct” path.
Vampyr is expected to release sometime this November for PC, Xbox One and PS4.
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