A Vampyre Story takes place in your stereotypical 1880’s European castle. Think Count Duckula’s home with gothic architecture, a moody lake filled with ‘scary’ creatures and plenty of thunder and lightning. You play a melodramatic female vampire known as Mona who’s been kidnapped by the tiny lord of Castle Warg, Shrowdy. It’s a tough world in Draxsylvania and it’s not long before Shrowdy finds himself victim of the stake. Left alone in the castle, it’s your chance to point and click your way to escape.
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Luckily you’re not alone. You are accompanied by a humorous bat that goes by the name of Froderick. He is the game’s comic relief; rich in sarcastic responses; witty dialogue and helpful hints. The voice acting successfully escorts the writing allowing for a sharp script that entertains. The plot’s fluid, but never takes itself too seriously. This is directly aimed at those who want to have fun while they explore a competent story. Character development is right up there with the best and it results in a well rounded narrative package.
The game delivers all of the above via well animated cut scenes. The game’s cartoony approach suits the drama and setting particularly well. It’s a joy to watch and it’s difficult not to get sucked in. This is one game where you don’t feel the urge to rush through, skipping the plot developments. It’s a game where you laugh out loud out of genuine entertainment. It is how adventure games should be.
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When the game finally gives up control, the animated approach is continued. The game’s environments are deliciously recreated from the window to hell to the crude torture implements. Everything is authentically gothic, yet has a slight comedic edge. If this was a ‘serious game’, we would be seeing an obsession of browns and greys, but the game manages to throw in dashes of colour where needed. Character models are detailed and distinctive. The visuals are unique and therefore deserve full praise. Another advantage of the cartoon approach is the machine-friendliness of the game. It will run on any half decent rig thanks to a stable engine.
While the game’s aesthetics / scriptwriting offer something new, the actual core gameplay sadly doesn’t. The innovation gets stunted by a traditional approach to game design. You’re constricted to set perspectives where movement follows a defined path (and is committed by pointing and clicking). Item interaction comes down to context sensitive clicking. The interface usually allows conversation (by conventional dialogue trees), examination to which Froderick gives up an entertaining quip, searching / using (which is self explanatory) and flying (which is a selective form of navigation).
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Inventory management is the only other HUD / UI that you deal with and that’s a basic click on object, apply to other object. If it’s a no-go, you get a stock phrase of “this cannot be used with that,” which can begin to annoy. The game’s difficulty results in plenty of guesswork and unless you’re extremely logic-based, you’ll be occasionally frustrated. There’s plenty of item manipulation which once figured out will show its simplicity. If you’re stuck, a friendly press of the Tab key brings up all the interactive points in the screen.
All this comes together in a digitalisation of the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” The game’s got shiny visuals that are definitely unique, but it fails to push any boundaries in the core game design. There’s enough there to get adventure veterans excited and you’ll be kept entertained throughout the game.
A VAMPYRE STORY VERDICT
All this comes together in a digitalisation of the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” The game’s got shiny visuals that are definitely unique, but it fails to push any boundaries in the core game design. There’s enough there to get adventure veterans excited and you’ll be kept entertained throughout the game.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Witnessing the castle’s comedic torture chamber.
