Take blood. Save a life.
Dontnod Entertainment’s 2013 title Remember Me was met with mostly mediocre reviews, and i didn’t agree with a single one of them. In fact, it was one of the few games that I played from start to finish that year in a matter of days. I was hooked. Sure, the combat and city traversal was pretty much plucked from other, more popular, game franchises- but it was fun and had a killer story. My one complaint was the scarcity of the (super cool) time warping element. It played a major role in the story, but it was ultimately only utilized a handful of times. Fast forward to 2015, and we got the episodic Life is Strange [Review] from the same team. And it was all about the time warp.
Unlike their previous title, Life is Strange was praised for its creative story and risk/reward consequence system. I was faced with some really tough decisions throughout my time with the game. More so than the critically acclaimed The Walking Dead series. Perhaps more importantly, this story was absent of any classic monsters and relied mostly on supernatural events happening to a small town of teenagers. One site went so far as to call it “the best TV Show of the year“. That’s no small feat for a video game. But now that Life is Strange has come to an end, many have wondered what would be next for Dontnod. Would they return to the large-scale linear story telling of Remember Me? Or would they continue with their episodic and consequence-driven narratives? Well, now we know, and it’s fantastic news for us genre fans.
This is VAMPYR:
VAMPYR is set in early 20th century Britain as the country is gripped by the lethal Spanish flu and the streets of London are crippled by disease, violence and fear. In a disorganized and ghostly city, those foolish, desperate, or unlucky enough to walk the streets lay prey to Britain’s most elusive predators: the vampires. Emerging from the chaos, a tormented figure awakens. You are Jonathan E. Reid, a high-ranking military surgeon transformed into a vampire upon his return home from the front line.
While the above teaser trailer was released at this year’s E3 conference, we hadn’t heard much more since then… until today. Director Philippe Moreau typed up a quick Q&A on the European Playstation Blog to share some additional information. Here’s what he covered:
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.
We researched the events surrounding the catastrophic flu endured by London in 1918, but also research about the medical and scientific enlightenment of this period.
The authorities in London barely managed to handle the epidemic, since they were recovering from the trials of the Great War, and didn’t want to communicate too much on the flu to London’s populace to reduce panic, and manage people.
This grim vision of London is presented in hundreds of historical documents and visual accounts of the flu, each darker than those before it. But for the streets, architecture and feeling of London, there are many factual but also fictional references that are fantastic visual reference pieces.
Killing innocent people is unfortunately the price of immortality. Besides, in the eyes of a vampire, how do you define innocent? You’ll have to kill people, that’s for sure… but how do you decide who? The information you gather, the things that you see, and the relationships your nurture will all define your decisions. But you will have to feed. You cannot escape that you are a vampire.
I hope this short Q&A has piqued your curiosity, and if you want some more info do not hesitate to visit our website! We’re working on the first in-game assets so stay tuned, there will be more coming your way very soon !
VAMPYR is powered by Unreal Engine 4 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. A release is expected in 2017. We’ll keep you posted with additional information as it comes our way. Until then, check out this super awesome concept art shared today during the Q&A:
The Author
You Might Also Like
