Vampires, survival crafting, and an intriguing storyline, what more could a gal ask for out of a game? I had enjoyed the demo of Vampires: Bloodlord Rising when it first dropped, so I knew I wanted to dive in when it launched in Early Access. The title offers castle building, castle defense, crafting, and servant management woven into the first chapter of a compelling narrative. Learn all about the game in this Vampires: Bloodlord Rising preview.
Vampires: Bloodlord Rising Preview | Intriguing Narrative Meets Castle Building
The adventure begins with a sacrifice. Vorago, the master of the land, gives himself up to end an Inquisition raid on his castle and save his children. You awaken as Dragos, one of those children, after an unspecified amount of time. Though Vorago is gone, his whispers remain. That’s not all, his power, in the form of a crystal core, can be nourished with blood to repel the Silver Veil, a mist covering the land that actively harms vampires.
The main gameplay revolves around this narrative. You build up your castle, empower the core, and travel to the three other lands in the area. You can start with any land, but you’ll need all three unlocked and their respective strongholds under your control to progress the story.
This area of Vampires: Bloodlord Rising is pretty much an RPG. Each land has a three part questline ending with you obtaining an overseer for your stronghold. You’ll also expand your knowledge of events that occurred while you slumbered. Most of this revolves around the Pale Soarer, a flying monster attacking humans that comes from inside the veil.
While I really like the narrative, this is where I take the most issue with the game. The quests are simply too short. When you factor in how fast you can run around, how close many of the objectives are, and how easy quest goals are to complete, it really devalues the story. The RPG segment, which I was looking forward to the most, was extremely underwhelming due to this.
Yes, it is Early Access, and this is only the first chapter in the story of Vampires: Bloodlord Rising. Going through the quests is only one part of the gameplay. However, I made it through all the quests to the end of the available narrative in 11 hours. That’s along with building my castle, exploring the lands, and getting lost more than a few times.
There are a number of places where additional steps and narrative depth could have been added to the existing missions. The world is rich with bizarre plants, there are caverns and mines you can explore, and ruined houses litter the landscape. Most of these spaces, however, are empty. No animals aside from deer and rabbits to feast on, no strange animals to match the strange plants. No letters in homes where people died or ancient writings on ruins in the marshes. Adding in more depth would’ve allowed quests to be expanded and more playtime for people to enjoy.
Eleven hours is nothing to sneeze at. It’s great for those with limited play time. I just expected, and wanted, more. Thankfully, the full release promises the rest of the story.
The other half of Vampires: Bloodlord Rising gameplay revolves around building your castle, and managing it, along with your strongholds. Building your castle is straightforward and similar to other titles. You unlock more buildables as you expand your base, discover new materials, and reach building milestones. Managing and defending the castle and strongholds is left to the servants you turn from the villages.
I found this aspect rather unique, in that you gather rumors to see who would make the best servant for a task. When you’ve found someone who fits what you’re looking for, you convert them and put them to work. This can be anything from cleaning up debris, building planned pieces, forging armor, and even defending your stronghold. You won’t have to forage for resources, craft items, or continuously return to your castle for upkeep with enough servants in place.
What’s odd about this is that you can’t actually build anything in your strongholds. Coffins have to be placed at your castle. This means servants are left to run to and from each region daily. It doesn’t really make the most sense, but it could be a feature planned down the line.
In regards to Vampires: Bloodlord Rising and how it runs, the game does take some time to get going the first time you begin. After that, it generally runs pretty well. I only ran into a single issue where I was able to build an item while I was in it, getting myself stuck. I was able to teleport to Castle Hill and continue my adventure without issue.
When it comes to mechanics, climbing was the only problem I had. Either Dragos wouldn’t grab on to a ledge he previously did or once he was up there he’d immediately fall back down. Though annoying, it really only became an issue when trying to escape the Silver Veil.
Overall, Vampires: Bloodlord Rising is a promising base builder and RPG. Even though it’s a bit shallow content wise at the launch of Early Access that just means there is a lot of room for growth while the developers continue working on the title. The story itself is intriguing enough that I will continue to pay attention to the game as it moves to full launch.
Vampires: Bloodlord Rising was previewed on PC over the course of 11 hours with a code provided by the publisher. All screenshots were obtained during the course of the preview.
