Vampyr is an upcoming action RPG based around the choices and experiences of a vampire living in London during the Spanish Flu Epidemic. Information about this upcoming RPG’s combat system has been revealed via Gematsu and the developer has gone into detail about various aspects of said system. The game is being developed by Life is Strange developer, Dontnod Entertainment. We wrote about Vampyr earlier this year when they released a “Pre-Alpha Gameplay Trailer” and that article can be read here.

To begin, a lot of the combat in the game will be based on the use of a variety of melee as well as ranged weapons. As you attack and dodge enemy attacks the main character’s “Blood Gauge” begins to fill. The “Blood Gauge” is what is required to use more powerful special attacks. These special attacks include everything from taking an enemy’s blood from long range to impaling them on a spike. As the “Blood Gauge” fills the protagonist begins to be more controlled by his vampiric side and his human side wanes. The more vampiric the attacks, the more powerful they are.

As the player gains experience through combat, they fill out a nonlinear skill tree. As the skill tree is filled up the player will gain more abilities and attacks to add to their combat arsenal. Players can equip and unequip these attacks and abilities and put them together however they want. This allows for players to design the combat to their own style. Whether they want to focus on higher damage attacks or more on their ability to control a crowd of multiple enemies, the player is able to design their combat style.  The skills the player enjoys can also be built upon and improved rather the player having to invest skill points into abilities they are not particularly fond of.

Combat is also directly affected by how the player progresses through the story. Vampyr is all about choice and who the player chooses to feed on to quench the protagonist’s vampire thirst. For example, if the player feeds on a number of civilians they will gain huge boosts to their XP but this comes at a price. Other than the implication it will have on the narrative of the game, the player will also have a harder time moving though the world without being attacked. The player could also feed by stalking their prey and choosing carefully who they use to feed. The player even has the option to use speed and agility to completely avoid combat situations.

Vampyr does not as of now have an official release date but is expected to have a 2017 release date and will be available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Vampyr‘s official website can be seen here.