Chased by vampire hunters and mutated beasts, torn between bloodthirst and your hippocratic oath, it is up to you to find out what the Spanish flu has to do with the increased number of monster sightings, who mistook your neck for a strawberry milk shake and how to prevent London's *East End* from falling into chaos and disease long enough.

Dontnod (the developer) ventured into dark topics on *Life Is Strange*. The action role-playing game *Vampyr* is even darker and is actually at excelent in some aspects.


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tRxaynszDPjgohLw9H1QghWs9xTk12wAwJyhmszdTVsmvVE9wCQpbRustFbBEzxwNa3.png)
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On the run from the captors of the fanatical guard of *Priwen*, which also serves as a tutorial, you will first be taught how to defend yourself as effectively as possible. 
The combat system is structured relatively logically: You can trigger attacks with weapons in the main and secondary hands with the push of a button, and depending on your stamina, you can theoretically string together an infinite number of combos.


![v1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23u5ZEcq8CJ2TT8LtRvfPjd9ytmRKkfewTeLfhC4fZn6RtddqacinC7u2QJ8AydLK8W9x.png)
*You start pretty desoriented. The story is well told from the first minute.*

![v5.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23vhTqpoa3VWyKJzNRT9XrEPUdqpYuhXhyo7KT4Qt82SrAbkHSUY1QJ1hyiQgNQqfZgYK.png)
*Speaking of story, small side stories in various forms, like diaries, tell the one or other interesting lore. Some are a kinda obvious, like this telling us to better hide during daytime. After all, you are a vimpire with all pros and cons.*

In order to use your vampiric abilities, of which you can always have two equipped at the same time, you have to spend precious blood. 
You can fill the corresponding bar in a variety of ways - by biting in a fight, sucking out rats or using certain weapons such as an amputation knife, which cuts off a bit of precious life juice from your opponent with every hit.


![v9.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tkjaVPCfqqEwPxzFUzU8VTUqghDn8U342pV4Fiqfswxs6tEFLqb565ufGE6J6VyKKYM.png)
*Biting your enemy in combat refills your valuable "blood bar" witch you need to activate certain skills.*


![v10.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGVGDEHM3cxQzQiNYf3h61DSUafjqYjShVHP8HovsE76PWDy4uPxowwW85LVyNuNi8s.png)
*Rats are food, not friends. Although not as effective (and probably not as tasty) as humans, you can fill you blood bar with rats as well. You just need enough of them.*

You can use the blood "ressource" to heal yourself, for example, to attack your opponents with sharp claws or to throw blood spears around you. If you reach level ten, you can also use your accumulated experience points to unlock one of three ultimate combat skills, which go hand in hand with moody animations and effective blood injection.

With around eleven different actively usable skills, which are divided into categories such as defensive or aggressive, you have a lot of leeway to adapt your pale beard to your personal playing style. 
The skills are well balanced, and even if some combinations work better than others, you have to do a lot wrong to get stuck.

![v8.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tRt8D5CA54rXsKgAhmfNfBT4XKG39wHo8kTaKuW8d35g4JukoJroqCLtvFchhuzSh4V.png)
*Each time you go to bed in so called "hide outs" you can spend your gained experience (earned by combat and completing missions) on various skills.*


![v7.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23t756fSWwDmwT82Li2Rx8NcHRcW21XCApN1rXFEreLjkxKoDpreq2UUSdvtcDRKBgotx.png)
*Each skill has a small skill tree behind it to further improve said skill. Nice!*



The game attaches great importance to keeping you in a good mood with upgradeable weapons, two different upgrade branches per skill and coherently staged boss fights with regard to its action component. And yet Dontnod has put a lot more heart and soul into the second major gameplay pillar of Vampyr: the interaction with the citizens of London.

If you have successfully fought your way through a number of opponents in the tutorial and crossed the Thames northwards, you will meet the first people in the tranquil Turquoise Turtle pub who do not want to be fooled.

By means of multiple-choice conversations, through which you navigate with the dialog wheel known from games like *Mass Effect*, Dontnod succeeds in sketching extremely successful hatching of the characters in just a few sentences.


![v14.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tbMB259sDyu8HbPAPaM3zMSRUWrR1imYyYKcne5nqwdPUuhsJTTzbAZTPDFSkELh4Pn.png)
*Dialogues are well spoken (playing in English), the stories are actually entertaining and the characters interesting. This drunken fellow is one of the first citizens you meet.*


![v13.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23swnX7XasKrEcBCXQFomr5cy5JDMUqyg27k64yYhFqmss7tDtZiFKXdqKDNJchGtXGVo.png)

Speaking of characters. The "Citizen Menu" fills up by talking to people and getting to know them better. Reveiling more details about them gives you advantages in interacting with them... or just give more value of drinking their blood. It's up to you how you use given information.

BUT! If you kill too many innocents, the health of the district lowers. The result: Goods become more expensive, the enemies straying around the safe zones become more numerous and powerful, and supporting characters become monsters or disappear completely from the scene - which in turn deprives you of the options for gaining experience points or completing quests.

Torn posters on the walls call for military service, burning garbage cans light up gloomy, narrow streets, rats scurry around, and an orchestral string soundtrack can be heard, which drips desperation from every pore: the game world is as harmonious and atmospheric as it is melancholy. Of course, the fact that you only sneak through the streets at night adds a huge amount to the oppressive atmosphere, but it's the details that make the East End so alive.


![v11.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGXzJQEW9sKi4YGMhXLW3PziCVJJNsELrG2zs5NZ6NnMtTvsTHpi1aNJnzKUsfLCcHr.png)
*In all the nighs beauty you still want to use your vampiric skills to hunt down enemies. Fresh blood traces are a perferct start.*

Although the game only takes place in a small area of the metropolis of London, which was populated by more than seven million people at the beginning of the 20th century, it is filled with an enormous amount of life - and un-life. 

The absolutely great soundtrack, the dirty, gloomy streets, the impending danger on every corner: Dontnod's London is an atmospheric masterpiece. 
Above all, the characters are well designed, believable and bolster the story, which is filled with intrigues, deceptions and secret societies, so well that Vampyr cast a spell over me.

For me, *Vampyr* is the best vampire game since the bug-infested *Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines*. 
The mood that Dontnod created with this game about the repentant, doubt-eaten bloodsucker and doctor Dr. Reid creates, is depressing, ominous and just awesome!

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<h3>Currently Free!</h3>

Attention gamers! You cn get *Vampyr* currently for free on the Epic Games store! If you're a fan of vampire lore or action RPGs don't miss the chance!