Having the gift of immortality and always lurking in the shadows, vampires have sparked a peculiar interest since the beginning of time. Their notoriety became even more visible with the release of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, more and more media products trying to shed some light on these mysterious blood thirsty creatures. And since video games are a major part of the entertainment market, they have their fair share of vampire themed products, many of which you’ll find in today’s list that encompasses 10 of the best gaming titles that let you play as the blood sucking antihero!
The video is way better:
Vampyr (Featured Image)
Vampyr is an upcoming role-playing action game that tells the story of the vampire doctor Jonathan Reid who must find a balance between his life based on the Hippocratic Oath and his newfound bloodthirsty nature. A semi open-world game based in 1918’s London during the Spanish Flu pandemic is the game’s setting and the player is not required to kill in order to finish the game, dialogue options being used instead for finding prey to feed on. Vampyr’s gameplay and plotline seem to blend together well, and we can expect this title to be coming out in the fourth quarter of 2017, when we’ll hopefully be able to get our hands on this revival of the vampire games genre.
Dark
Dark’s gameplay is based on stealth combat, Eric, the main character, having many supernatural vampiric powers that he can use. Skills such as Shadow Leap with which he can teleport to different areas or temporary Invisibility are just the tip of iceberg. In addition to these, seeing in the dark and slowing down time are some other highly useful powers that he can employ during a fight. As he is an amnesiac newly transformed vampire, Eric has to drink blood from his sire in order not to become a mindless ghoul, thus his quest is to regain his memories and his true self.
Blood Knights
Blood Knights is a hack and slash action role-playing game that includes two playable characters: Alysa, a vampire, and Jeremy, a vampire hunter that is ritually bonded to her due to a quest that he must complete where an artifact that can cause cataclysms has to be retrieved. Some of the gameplay elements found in this game are precision jumping, puzzle solving tasks, the combat taking the form of set piece battles where a number of enemies appear and must be defeated. Blood Knights is a game that allows the players to enjoy simple hack and slash action, without too many bothers.
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)
A role-playing action-adventure game that follows the young vampire Spike McFang who is on the quest to battle the evil zombie general Von Hesler; this gaming title is played from a top-down perspective. Like the respectable vampire that he is, Spike can use his cape as a short range weapon and his top hat as a boomerang. Besides these fancy weapons, the player can also use some of the magic cards that have a variety of special effects, including but not limited to invisibility, summoning angels and bats and elemental attacks.
A Vampyre Story
In A Vampyre Story the player takes the role of Mona, an Opera singer turned vampire who tries to return to her native city of Paris in search of fame and normality. Being developed by LucasArts, this game is similar in style and presentation to other famous titles such as The Curse of Monkey Island, using a point-and-click style of gameplay. As the story moves forward, Mona will have to use both her new supernatural abilities and inherent vampire weaknesses to solve puzzles and progress through the game.
Darkwatch: Curse of the West
Mixing elements from western, horror and steampunk genres, Darkwatch: Curse of the West tells the story of Jericho Cross, a vampire outlaw gunfighter. The gameplay system is reminiscent of Halo: Combat Evolved and it includes a reputation system that affects players’ abilities. Throughout the game, Jericho is faced with multiple choices between good and evil and by choosing one or the other new powers, called “Brands”, will be unlocked. Darkwatch offers a complex gameplay, with countless unique elements that make it a dynamic first-person shooter.
Infamous: Festival of Blood
A standalone expansion in the eponymous series, Infamous: Festival of Blood is a spoof told by the main protagonist’s friend Zeke Dunbar. Cole is the game’s main character and as he investigates a nearby church after hearing screams, he also proceeds to save some civilians trapped in its catacombs. During this event he is attacked by a vampire woman and transformed into a blood thirsty creature. From here on a new plotline full of intricate quests begins to unfold, Cole getting help from his friend Zeke while trying to find a cure to his vampiric curse.
BloodRayne
Rayne is a Dhampyr, a half Human – half Vampire hunter who works for the Brimstone Society and is in charge of destroying the supernatural enemies that threaten the world. Rayne is recruited to act as a killing machine for the secret order and help them get rid of all the vampires, as absurd as it may sound, since she also has vampiric blood in her veins. However, the BloodRayne franchise has inspired a series of films and self-contained comic books, becoming a very worldwide popular vampire themed source of entertainment.
Legacy of Kain (Series)
Legacy of Kain is a game series that, besides its memorable gameplay, tackles with more serious themes such as destiny, the power of free will, morality, redemption and the hero’s journey towards finding his true self. Drawing inspiration from ancient literature, horror fiction and Shakespeare’s plays, this action-adventure saga tells the story of Kain, a newly resurrected vampire who, at first, tries to find a cure for his curse, but after a while he will learn to embrace his powers and use them to defeat his enemies. Legacy of Kain is definitely one of the most iconic and beloved series of all time!
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
An action role-playing game where the player can assign their character to one of the seven vampire clans available, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines offers customizable combat and dialogue options that give a highly personal feel to the whole gameplay. As a newly turned vampire, you get to decide if you want to follow a more direct path towards drinking blood or you want to keep a low profile and drink only from rats and blood banks. The humanity points are very important, losing them will make you go into a frenzy state that will finally transform you into a mindless blood sucking monster. With a dense character skill tree, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is perhaps the most complex title when it comes to vampire based video games.