French developer Dontnod Entertainment, mostly known for Remember Me and Life is Strange, is now working on an Unreal Engine 4 powered action RPG titled Vampyr.
Some additional information on Vampyr was shared today in a blog post by Game Director Philippe Moreau. On the basic gameplay mechanics, he said:
Vampyr is an action RPG with tight, visceral combat mechanics, exploration, and investigation – you’ll have to collect many clues, and talk to many people as you prowl the streets of London.
The main character of Vampyr will be Jonathan Reid, a military surgeon who somehow got transformed into a vampire. Obviously, the game intends to exploit the double nature of this character as explained by Moreau:
Reid was a doctor in the war – he’s a scientist, specialising in blood. Familiar with a new blood transfusion technique used in the war, Reid is quite the skeptic of all things supernatural, so as you can imagine he’s finding it rather difficult to come to terms with his new… condition.
A rational man, Reid wants to come to terms with vampirism – he wants to understand it. Basically, he wants to treat it as a medical condition, but as you play through the story and meet many of the characters in the game, you’ll discover that things are much more… organised, or deliberate, than that.
Interestingly, the Y in Vampyr hints to the recurring theme in Dontnod's games: player choice and morality. Players will need to feed the vampire and anyone they meet as Jonathan Reid is an eligible target, with varying consequences on the story.
Vampyr is set during London's 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. Here's why Dontnod chose this particular setting:
We wanted to tell a truly gothic story about vampires – a far cry from the glittery vampires you see on TV and in movies nowadays. The mood had to be just right.
England was recovering from the aftermath of the World War I, and the Spanish Flu was making its way through London’s winding alleys. The streets were rife with death and crime, but England was also going through many social and political changes, as new sciences sought to re-envision the way we see the world. Superstition was becoming less socially relevant, but it was still in the streets, folklore, and politics of London, so science was on the rise, but the world was still a dark, scary place. Especially the smoggy, smokey, war-torn streets of London.
Reid will have to fight off humans (including vampire hunters) and mythical creatures alike in Vampyr. He'll have his vampiric powers alongside melee (such as the saw - he's a surgeon, after all) and ranged weapons; according to the original press release, gamers can also expect a deep crafting system.
Vampyr is set for release at some point in 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Stay tuned for our coverage of the game and check out the concept teaser below.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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