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KalJ95 (25 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Vampyr in Video Games

Jan 6, 2020 (Updated Jan 6, 2020)

Vampyr

2018 | Action, Role-Playing

7.5

(15 Ratings)

Video Game Rating Watch

Narrative is often surprising and gripping. (1 more)

I would play a sequel.

Graphics are terrible. (2 more)

Atrocious controls.

An absolute bore most of the time.

No bite, no good.

I saw Vampyr advertised a long time ago at several game conferences, with the promise of a complete Vampire experience, never seen before in video games. Already, I was salivating. Vampyr looked fantastic in its early stages. Combat looked fluid and balanced, the protagonist looked interesting enough to keep the story flowing, and Gothic London looked bloody beautiful. Where did it all go wrong?

Vampyr is a mess, from its clunky controls to its basic, bland combat. The game in it's current state is unfixable, starting with the graphics. How did any developer think this game looked ready to play? London's gloomy, black hearted environment is so breathtaking at times it feels like a support character. Thank god as theres no other interesting ones around. Character animations are abysmal, so much so they look around ten years old. Whats even more strange is the trailer released a while back shows a different game altogether. That one looked brilliant, which makes me wonder if downgrades were made.

Vampyr is such a mixed bag of narrative vs gameplay. The game of a doctor who is turned into a vampire is often so gripping in premise, especially at the start and end, that I would honestly like to know where this story will go. Should it have a sequel?

Absolutely not.
Gameplay is frankly the worst aspect of Vampyr. Jonathan Reid feels awful to control, even robotic at times. Combat is just as cyborb-ish. Yes, there are some interesting components to keep the fighting fresh, but it all feels like a chore rather than anything fun. As a vampire, making some awful decisions to feed his hunger should bring a moral dilemma to the gamer, but you couldn't care less. And that is what completely pins everything together with Vampyr.

I just didn't care.

Kudos

Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated NOS4A2 in Books

Apr 26, 2020

NOS4A2

Joe Hill | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.5

(23 Ratings)

Book Rating

Wonderfully detailed, amazing world and story. (0 more)

Not unique to Joe Hill, feels more like a book by his father (0 more)

Just Because Review

While I imagine a few already know this it is important to note that Joe Hill is Stephen King's son, which is actually what made me interested in his work. This book reflects the works of Stephen King so much that I almost thought he was the actual author. It is very clear that this book resides in the same universe as Stephen King's works. It mentions things like the Pennywise Circus and True Knot (Doctor Sleep). It also reminded me of Christine and multiple people in the book have "a touch of the shinning" and if readers pay attention they may notice elements from Dreamcatcher and Finders Keepers as well.

As a child, Vic discovers a bike that gives her the ability to cross the Shorter Way Bridge to locate lost things, so long as they are in a fixed position. The bad thing about this is that using the ability has its cost and the price she must pay is the risk of losing part of her mind each time she goes across. One day after fighting with her mother she takes off across the bridge looking for trouble and finds just that in Charles Manx. Luckily she manages to escape but Charles Manx will forever hold a grudge against her and she will see him again after she is an adult and has convinced herself that the Shorter Way Bridge was just a fantasy from a delusional mind.

I highly recommend this book. The only reason why it did not get a 5 out of 5 was that while the story was original the world felt to firmly set in the Stephen King universe and I am not sure if that was intentional or if it was just a by-product of the household that Joe Hill grew up in.

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