V Rising traverses between genres, which is exactly why it’s such fun!
That “V Rising… what kind of genre is that?” Yes, good question: what kind of genre is it? You have to think about that once, twice longer with the new Early Access game. You can’t just say, “Yeah, classic shooter” or “Typical Jump & Run” like with other games. V Rising throws quite a few and that’s really good for the success of the vampire blockbuster. V Rising is not only an addictive genre cocktail, but also a new setting for video game vampires.
Away from the classic genre, V Rising is good
In the gaming community, the media, the reporting, a lot is still very much dependent on game genres. A new game is here and the first questions you ask yourself are: which platforms and which genre? The latter, however, is increasingly difficult to say in one word with many new games, and that’s a good thing. For example, V-Rising proves to me how fun it can be to wander outside of the genre box.
The new vampire game from indie developer Stunlock Studios doesn’t just belong in one genre, but mixes elements of ARPG, shooting, survival and crafting, sandbox, co-op, MMO and more. And that’s clever for the expectations alone. If you want to make a typical multiplayer shooter, then the end result is going to be compared to anything that’s fallen into those genres lately. V-Rising, however, wriggles out of such a stiff comparison like a vampire out of the sun.
It’s also what made the start of V Rising so exciting and palatable for me, because you don’t already stereotypically know what to expect – and let’s face it, with some AAA genre games, you often get the same concept in a different guise. Instead, you gradually discover new elements: character design, action battles, RPG elements and a bit of crafting in an open world. Then there is also building and designing and then you can still change or destroy the whole world à la sandbox.
That would not only be a guarantee to gamble for hours, but also to be totally overwhelmed. Other games fail precisely because of this “wanted too much”, but this juggling has hit V Rising really, really well so far. Despite so many functions, the game takes you by the ice-cold hand and shows step by step what you can collect, build and upgrade. If you do get stuck, we are happy to help you out with our numerous tips and solutions for V Rising.
Vampire survival – only this time you are the monster!
In any case, unlike other survival games, I found V Rising really approachable, with a sneaky “I’ll play until 3 AM” pull. Apparently, it just puts less emphasis on the overwhelmingly oppressive feeling of being alone in a hostile world of many survival games. Rather, the new action game simply becomes a feel-good, addictive experience despite the danger of death, and that is also due to the choice of the main character.
In Survival you are used to fighting nasty undead: monsters and zombie hordes are widespread, for example. V Rising just flips it: Survival, but from the monster’s perspective. In that case you are not the lonely person in a highly dangerous world, no: you are the danger. This makes V Rising feel less menacing as a survival game, and I don’t think it’s supposed to.
The colourful, comic-like graphics are too friendly and the character design too playful for wanting to stage really dark bloodsuckers. But it still doesn’t fall below the kitschy cringe limit of glittering Twilight cuddly vamps. V Rising skilfully balances between cheerful and scary, just like between genre boundaries.
All this makes V Rising feel like a soft version of monster survival without much creepiness. I didn’t think blood sucking could be such a feel-good experience, but this Early Access game does just that, and I guess it’s even more snuggly – and addictive – with friends on a server.
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Reference-www.eurogamer.de