Dontnod—you know, the folks that made Life Is Strange—are opening up the E3 marketing pipes for Vampyr. Vampyr is a narrative-driven action role-playing game set in a Spanish Flu-stricken London in 1918, to be precise. It's a land flowing with milk and honey, where the milk is actually blood, and the honey is just a whole lot more blood.
This trailer is mostly window dressing. I'm not seeing any gameplay here (you'll have to rewind to the 15-minute gameplay demo from last August for that), but it's still doing a great job of setting a tone. Early 20th century London all at once looks fantastic and frightening, with vampire thralls stumbling through the streets, pints of blood spilling over the cobblestones, doctors and charlatans plying their trade to a broken populace, sewers packed with dungeons and Draculas, and supernatural brawlers duking it out in the alleyways. Plus it looks like the wealthy prey upon the working class, just like the metaphor vampires are. But it looks like the anti-undead—that is, the mercs—will clean up this vampire menace with fire. Nothing cleanses the spirit like a good old flamethrower.
From this trailer alone, it's impossible to discern what side you'll be playing, if not both sides. But if the pre-order DLC is to be trusted, then you're going to be stabbing swords and shooting guns into and at the vampires. Either way, in the end, it looks like a bright-faced demon woman with fiery nipples is behind it all. Should be a good time.
Congrats to the video director that fit in one of the most obvious Wilhelm Screams I've heard used in a while. And actual kudos to the brooding-rock song choice ("Devil" by Ida Maria, if you're looking to add a Norwegian-born musician to your Spotify playlist).
Vampyr is heading to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this November.
June 8, 2017
Vampyr's bumper E3 trailer begins journey into 1918 London with the Ascalon Club
Fly through the streets as imagined by DONTNOD Entertainment, in the bumper E3 trailer for their upcoming narrative driven action-RPG Vampyr. Witness deep into the heart of a flu-stricken London, where secret societies operate in the shadows.
Accompanied by the rock song Devil by IDA MARIA, set out on an exciting journey with an uncut sequence shot throughout the city’s dark alleys, deadly underground passages and corrupt neighbourhoods and get a first glimpse at The Ascalon Club, a society formed from the richest vampires, unbeknownst to the mortals.
You are Dr. Jonathan Reid, a famous surgeon home from the Great War and recently turned into a vampire against your own will. As a doctor, you have taken an oath to save lives and take care of the sick. As a vampire, you are cursed to hunt those you vowed to heal.
To survive against deadly foes roaming the streets – vampire hunters, undead Skals and other monstrosities – you will need to choose which civilians to feed on, so you can grow stronger and evolve your vampiric abilities. Use your unholy powers to manipulate and delve into the lives of those around you – but be prepared to live with the consequences of your actions. A web of interconnected citizens with unique lives and relationships react to your decisions, and killing just one may cause the downfall of an entire city district. Your actions will save or doom London.
Vampyr releases November 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Preorders are now open.
