Vampyr

**"IMPORTANT: Vampyr uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the DONTNOD Entertainment Wiki. The list of authors can be seen in the page revision history (view authors).**

**"IMPORTANT: Vampyr uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the DONTNOD Entertainment Wiki. The list of authors can be seen in the page revision history (view authors).**

**"IMPORTANT: *Vampyr* uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors)."**

***Vampyr*** (stylized **VAMPYR**) is a multiplatform RPG developed by DONTNOD Entertainment and Focus Home Interactive. Set after the First World War, *Vamypr* follows the story of doctor who becomes a Vampire after he is bitten by a patient thought to have the Spanish Flu. *Vamypr* is scheduled for a November 2017 release for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

## Story

### Characters

* **Jonathan E. Reid** - Reid is a former medical surgeon who became a vampire. In the midst of the Spanish Flu, Reid lives in England and must choose whether or not to feed on the people he meets or befriends.
* **Edgar Swansea** - Swansea is the administrator of the Pembroke Hospital and a member of the Brotherhood of Saint-Paul Stole.

### Summary

Jonathan Reid is a man returned home from the War. A high ranking surgeon, Reid implements new blood transfusion techniques to save lives. One night, Jonathan Reid regains consciousness in a mass grave. The memories of his life and who he is remain in intact, but, he realizes he's been transformed into a vampire. He has no recollection of how he came to be in the grave or how he was transformed.

When he attempts to return to a normal life, Reid quickly learns that he needs the blood of others to survive. As a doctor, sworn to save lives and heal people, Reid is faced with a damning reality of having to kill to survive if he is to last long enough to uncover the mystery behind his turning.

## Gameplay

*Vampyr* is a role-playing video game, not unlike DONTNOD's previous endeavors, *Remember Me* and *Life Is Strange*. The gameplay of *Vampyr* focuses on both player choice and morality. The "Y" in the name of the game represents the moral choices the player will make when controlling Reid. As a doctor, Reid "feels the need to heal people", however, the nature of vamprism compels Raid to consume blood. The tagline the game, "Take Blood, Save a Life", plays on the moral duality of the game's story.

Players will be able to traverse the streets of an early 20th century London and interact with "a multitude of characters with their own identities and importance". The structure of the gameplay is set up around "missions" given by the citizens Reid interacts with.

However, the player will be constantly reminded of Reid's need for blood. Players will have to choose which characters will be their prey and which characters to spare. Reid can establish relationships with the characters he meets for his feeding strategy, and "seduce them, change their daily habits, or make sure they end up alone in a dark street".

Killing a character means they cannot return and the consequences will play into the environment that Reid inhabits. Feeding on human blood will not just keep Reid “alive”, it will also unlock new vampiric powers for the player to use. *Vampyr* also features combat that occurs in real time. Combat varies, from melee combat, to ranged shooting mechanics and the supernatural vampire powers. Enemy types in the game vary from human to vampire to other supernatural creatures. Reid will also encounter vampire hunters who will attack him with situational weaponry, tools and traps.

Reid's health status and "energy" power his supernatural abilities. They are considered one and the same. Using powers will drain your own blood, giving Reid an edge in battle but also leaving him weaker. The player will have to find a way to feed during combat to restore your strength. *Vampyr* also offers a crafting system. Find and loot materials and components from the corpses of your victims, or during exploration, in order to craft and improve tools, melee and ranged weapons, as well as special ammunition and coating to exploit the weaknesses of your enemies.

## Development

DONTNOD's *Vampyr* began with a team of sixty people, most of which worked on *Life Is Strange*. The title, *Vampyr*, was taken from the Hungarian spelling of "Vampire".

Art director Grégory Szucs stated that the paintings of Phil Hale influenced the art style, also for the purpose of atmosphere. The art style and visuals would be impacted by lighting and post-processes running on the Unreal Engine 4.

### Announcement

November 2014, DONTNOD Entertainment announced it was searching for developers on the French jobs website, emploi.afjv.com. The chosen criteria was "an experienced game/level designer with a strong RPG/ARPG background to work on a new project for the consoles".

November 29, 2014, shortly after the announcement of *Life Is Strange*, gaming website, Gamespot.com announced that DONTNOD was collaborating with another publisher to create an RPG for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. January 20, 2015, DONTNOD officially announced their collaboration with Focus Home Interactive and the title of their next game, *VAMPYR*.

### E3 2015

June 18, 2015, during 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo, DONTNOD and Focus Home Interactive re-announced *Vampyr*. Focus Home Entertainment released a concept trailing using animated concept stills meant to represent the game, still in in the early stages of its development, alongside the name of the protagonist (John E. Reid) and a 2017 release date. The official website and social media websites were also launched.

### Pre-Alpha Demo

February 2016, DONTNOD Entertainment began presenting the Pre-Alpha build of the game. During an event hosted by Focus Home Interactive, the pre-alpha demo presented was used to illustrate the supernatural skill set of the player character, his ability to leap great distances and control the "weak minded", and the overall environment of the game itself.

In at least one scenario during the demo, the city of White Chapel was set aflame as a consequence of player actions resulting the attack of too many people. Game director, Philippe Moreau, and Stéphane Beauverger placed emphasis on the fact death and murder was an important factor in *Vampyr*. "[...]it's not glamorous, says Beauverger. It's aggressive, with players killing quickly and with power suited to a damned being." The developer explained that it was their intention to tell an adult story with *Vampyr* and knew that the game would be rated M for Mature audiences.

### E3 2017

#### Cinematic Trailer

June 8, 2017, Focus Home Interactive released a three minute "E3 Trailer" for *Vampyr*. Additionally, the game was announced for a November 2017 release with pre-orders and pre-order incentives ready for all platforms.

#### E3 Demo

Template:Main
June 13, 2017, the official PlayStation account published a ten minute video of the alpha demo of the game, demonstrating combat and story alternatives in a quest called "The Sad Saint of East End". June 16, 2017, IGN.com published a extended demonstration (under twenty minutes) of the quests "The Necklace" and "The Sad Saint of East End", during a live interview with game director and lead level designer, Phillipe Moreau and Florent Guillaume.

### Theme and Setting

Narrative director, Stéphane Beauverger, described the story of *Vampyr* as "gothic". It would be a romanticized tale vampires without the element of romance, abstaining from established themes as seen in popular franchises like Stephanie Meyer's *Twilight*. As a story centered around that of a vampire, *Vampyr* would maintain dark, despair-filled and melancholy themes.

*Vampyr* is set in 1918, Whitechapel, England, following the First World War. Originally, DONTNOD considered placing the game's setting in 1950s America, during the "golden era" of American History. "Everybody was happy," Beauverger explained, "It was interesting to add some misery, some despair in this bright world."

However, by the time the they began considering potential weapons for the player character, the idea of placing it in 1950s America was soon scrapped. Looking back, DONTNOD settled on the year 1918, their interest piqued by the circumstances created by the repercussions of the First World War: Social unrest and the effects of pandemic.

Beauverger described the circumstances created by the First World War as "the end of the old empire[s]" and the beginning of a "brand new era"."Really, mankind is in the same situation as the vampire. You have so much power. What will you do with it? That's why the hero is on the verge of falling down, and so is mankind." The story of *Vampyr* centralizes on a tale of survival and morality, invoking established fiction such as Bram Stoker's *Dracula* and Anne Rice's *The Vampire Chronicles*.

"A vampire is a doomed creature," Beauverger says. "It's a human who has been condemned to live eternally, but he has to take lives, to kill, to survive. It's very interesting for us because it's one of the very rare creatures who is conscious of what he's doing." The focus of *Vampyr* is the evolution of Jonathan Reid's character as a vampire, which is reflected in both the narrative and the RPG elements of the game (skill tree upgrades and combat with other hunters and vampires).

His nature as a vampire is presented in a straightforward manner in gameplay, which directly impacts the narrative. Players will have the choice to make Reid feed on characters, or not feed at all. Game director, Philippe Moreau, states that players will never forced to feed on anyone. He says, "You can decide to feed on nobody, or to kill everyone. It's your experience. [...]The death of a citizen will impact, in a meaningful way, the game's world. It will change the story". How players choose to deal with killing will directly impact the environment of the story.

### Art Direction

According to DONTNOD, the art direction of the game was aiming for a realism, but with an impressionist and sculpted look. "The stylised art is something you'll see in the game, in the cutscenes," Explained Moreau. "What you've seen in the demo is still work in progress, too – we are aiming for a realistic approach in many ways, like lighting, but we have an impressionistic twist to things.

During the Pre-Alpha demo presentation, DONTNOD admitted that the character models were still rough, but that they were not aiming for a art style like *Dishonored*. "We're going to keep all the proportions of our characters anatomically correct, but emphasise this chiselled, sculpted look to faces. From a distance, the game might look perfectly photo real; but get closer, and you'll see that we've got our own signature in our reality."

With regard to the presentation of the city, DONTNOD stated that they were looking represent various districts of England. Philippe Moreau explained that the development team researched the areas of Whitechapel and took photography of the environment for reference.
"I find it very rewarding to work on a place that's real, somewhere you can go in your own life." Moreau added that that the environments would be designed using "some artistic license", but would maintain its Georgian and Victorian architecture.

## Trivia

* DONTNOD reportedly established a second development team to work on the game to work on *Vampyr* and future projects.
* According to DONTNOD, *Vampyr* is an estimated fifteen to thirty hours long, however, its length will be determined by individual play styles.
* There are fifty or more non-playable characters that players can interact with. Like *Life Is Strange*, their fates are determined based on player choice.
* While *Vampyr* can be played according to the player, developer Stéphane Beauverger hopes to tempt players to make darker choices in their playthroughs.

## Videos

### Trailers

VAMPYR CONCEPT TEASERAnnouncement trailer for *Vamypr*VAMPYR E3 2016 Trailer (2017) PS4, Xbox One, PCE3 2016 trailerVampyr - The Darkness Within Trailer"Darkness Within" TrailerE3 2017 Vampyr - E3 TrailerE3 2017 trailer
### Behind the Scenes

Vampyr Gameplay Showcase - IGN Live E3 2016Vampyr Interview @VampyrGame (E3 2016)E3 2016 - VAMPYR CAMPAIGN DETAILS, SIDEQUESTS, COMBAT & MORE INTERVIEWE3 2016 - Vampyr Developer Interview
### Gameplay

Vampyr - gameplayPre-Alpha *Vampyr* DemoVampyr Gameplay Trailer E3 2016Vampyr's Gamescom Demo Has Some Interesting IdeasVampyr - Pre-Alpha Gameplay TrailerVampyr Gameplay Showcase - IGN Live E3 2017Vampyr PS4 Gameplay Tour E3 2017
## Gallery

### Promotional

Vampyr Announcement-01.jpgVampyr.jpgPromotional Poster for *Vampyr*Vampyr E3 2015 Announcement.jpgPromotional Poster for *Vampyr*Vampyr (Early Demo)-03.jpgPresentation of the Pre-Alpha demoVampyr (Early Demo)-02.jpgVampyr (Early Demo)-01.jpgDONTNOD developers with Angry Joe of the *Angry Joe Show*
### Screenshots

Vampyr (First Screenshots)-01.jpgVampyr (First Screenshots)-02.jpgVampyr (First Screenshots)-03.jpgVampyr (Combat)-01.jpgVampyr (Combat)-02.jpgVampyr (Combat)-03.jpg
### Concept Art

#### Early Concept Art

Vampyr (Concept Art)-05.jpgVampyr (Concept Art)-06.jpgVampyr (Concept Art)-07.jpgVampyr (Concept Art)-04.jpgAlley.jpgChurch.jpgField hospital .jpg
#### Concept Trailer

Vampyr-Teaser-PV.jpgVampyr (Concept Trailer)-01.jpgVampyr (Concept Trailer)-02.jpgVampyr (Concept Trailer)-03.jpgVampyr (Concept Trailer)-04.jpg
## External Links

* Official Website
* Game Official Facebook
* Twitter
* DontNodEntertainment Wikia

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New RPG VAMPYR in development at Dontnod Entertainment
2. ↑ The Life is Strange Developer's New Game is Kind of Twisted
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 This New World War 1 Vampire Game Explores a "Dark and Brutal" World
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Everything you need to know about Vampyr, from the team behind Life is Strange
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gameinformer: Life Is Strange Creators Announce Next Game, *Vampyr*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Template:YouTube
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 World Ward I RPG *VAMPYR* Announced
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 World War I Vampire RPG revealed
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Template:YouTube
10. ↑ Exploring *Vampyr* the new game from *Life Is Strange* Developers DONTNOD Entetainment
11. ↑ *VAMPYR* Inteview @ IGN Noriega
12. ↑ Job offer Dontnod Entertainment archive link
13. ↑ Remember Me Dev Working on New PS4, Xbox One RPG
14. ↑ Remember Me developer working on RPG of some kind
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 FROM LIFE IS STRANGE TO VAMPYR: DONTNOD'S DARK TURN
16. ↑ @VampyrGame - June 8, 2017
17. ↑ E3 2017: Vampyr Gameplay Footage Shows Off Combat
18. ↑ New Vampyr Gameplay Video Shows off Story, Combat, and Difficult Choices
19. ↑ You'll be able to feed on anyone in Vampyr, the RPG about a vampire doctor
20. ↑ Vampyr Preview (E3 2016)
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 In Their Next Game, Life Is Strange Developers Are Tempting You To Make Evil Choices

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