DestinyLeah
It’s getting warmer, the sun is out, and summer is coming. I’m not entirely sure vampires enjoy summer as much as their prey, but I suppose we will find out this June when Vampyr releases. By now, most people are aware of Life is Strange developer DONTNOD’s upcoming horror action RPG. Every trailer and image are polished while giving players a glimpse of some new aspect of the game, and a series of developer video diaries introduced the plot, characters, and setting to future fans.
The latest in this steady stream of content is a trailer that finally shows what players and media alike have been waiting for: a focus on combat. While it contains a fair amount of cutscenes, much of the trailer is playable combat, complete with health bars over characters’ heads. The fights shown reveal a few of main character Jonathan Reid’s skills. While hand-to-hand seems to be the basis for combat sequences in Vampyr, Reid also has a ranged ability that stops a single enemy in their tracks. He can also regenerate health while damaging an enemy by snacking on them mid-fight. In addition to these, he appears to have an AOE ability that damages enemies with his shadow form, as well as the ability to evade or escape combat using the shadow. Enemies in the trailer range from hordes of angry humans hunting vampires, to monstrous creatures roaming the streets.
The last little treat in this trailer is a peek at the lore behind Vampyr. In the final seconds, a horned fire demon appears, while the narrator mentions the ‘curse of the Goddess.’ DONTNOD have been careful in what they have chosen to say about the story of Vampyr, avoiding any kind of spoiler in a full year of regular content. This glimpse into a possible religious aspect to the vampire community and Reid himself is intriguing, and I’m excited to find out how deep the spirits run through Vampyr‘s gameplay.
