BloodLust Shadowhunter mixes vampires, dungeon crawling and loot into a single experience from predominately a single developer with a concept that draws inspiration from the likes of action RPGS and Vampire: Masquerade Bloodlines. Released in 2015 players will find a unique vampire driven gameplay loop with a surprising amount of deep role playing content to offer.
The world of BloodLust Shadowhunter is set in a dark city setting where fantasy and evil come together. Central to the story is that of the ShadowHunters who find themselves outnumbered in a city that is under siege by the Emperor vampire lord and other vampire families. Having leaned into the powers of vampires themselves players will find an interesting balance and ultimately choice on whether do dive into vampire powers or try maintain any shred of humanity that they can. Regardless of your choice you’ll find similar gameplay as you resurrect as one of the ShadowHunters and have the opportunity to create your own bloodline while making slow but consistency process against your foes.
Known as the Dark City there are many shadowy underground locations for players to travel between as you interact with the various other game factions through dialogue trees that impact the quests you’ll find yourself embarking on. Once beyond the tutorial you’ll get to explore the more dynamic elements of the game world which ties into the non linear elements of the game noted above which predominately centre around changing the quests and locations based on dialogue choices.
Customisation for your character stepping into this world of BloodLust Shadowhunter is high from the get go with randomised stats, visuals and several choices that dictate your characters appropriate strengths and weaknesses. Beyond the dark fantasy names though players will find them broadly falling into the core archetypes of warrior, mage and thief from which you’ll increase talents and skills towards your ideal build.
Skills draw from familiar role playing titles although include a number of unique vampire specific designs as well. Options include lockpick, disarm, alchemy, vampire gaze, mist morph, bite and secret sight that each have a role in your adventure depending on your decisions. Played as an over the shoulder game BloodLust Shadowhunter also follows the action RPG formula closely with talents, inventory, quests and loot drops forming the basis of the Dark City world that awaits you. The core locations of the game have wonderful design to them while the randomised dungeons can feel more bare depending on what the random engine decides to spit out. Secrets are generally hidden behind every corner regardless though and encourages you to constantly call on your aforementioned noted vampire sight.
The most interesting core mechanic of the game is the growing of your own personal bloodline by biting those that you encounter. Similarly players can join other clans that appear within the game world, rising through the ranks to obtain new skills or to backstab the clan from the inside. Regardless of the elements you choose to explore one thing in BloodLust Shadowhunter will stay consistent which is the hunt for loot to improve your vampire deadliness with a fantastic randomised loot pool.
Summary:
- Play as your own vampire and build your clan one bite at a time.
- Countless secrets to uncover in the random dungeon crawling levels across caves, dungeons, sewers and other dark holes.
- Use your unique vampire abilities to defeat foes as you build through one of three familiar archetypes.
- Choice based quests and exploration that change the way your world develops over time.
- Randomised loot to find and upgrade your vampire character.
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Review Platform: PC