'Vampyr' casts you as a creature of the night with a conscience

Since we last heard about developer Dontnod's vampire role-playing game, Vampyr, set against the first World War, the studio released and wrapped the excellent episodic Life is Strange. But seeing as how that project has wrapped for now it's time to focus on the post-World-War-I tale of the macabre once more. Turns out that it's an action role-playing game focusing on makeshift weapons and the protagonist's newfound vampiric ways.Over on the European PlayStation Blog the studio promises that moral quandries are the game's specialty and being a creature of the night isn't without consequence in their 1918 London. Protagonist Jonathan Reid was a doctor in the war, for instance, working with blood as a specialism. "A rational man, Reid wants to come to terms with vampirism -- he wants to understand it," the post says. "Basically, he wants to treat is as a medical condition."That doesn't sound like it's going to work out so well, if I'm being honest:

"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."

See what I mean?

By using the Spanish Flu epidemic as a backdrop, the studio says its able to tell the gothic horror story that no other setting could really provide thanks to the sociopolitical climate at the time (grimy, sooty, post-war, England where superstition runs rampant). The team's proven its mettle at crafting excellently-realized game worlds before (Remember Me), so I'm not doubting its prowess in that regard.

Aside from the concept art, there isn't any other type of media available for the game just yet. But given the timing and this news' point of origin, it's a safe bet that the upcoming PlayStation Experience and The Game Awards in the next few days could change that. Just think: Dontnod could make the first game set near early-20th-century England that isn't an absolute bore to play.