It’s not everyday that a project comes along that taps into people’s excitement quite like The Blood of Dawnwalker has since first being revealed. Polish developer Rebel Wolves, a company formed by former team members at CD Projekt RED, seems to have struck proverbial gold, thematically at least.
The game is an open-world dark fantasy action RPG set in an alternate version of 14th-century Europe where vampires happen to be real. You play as Coen, human by day and vampire by night, as they attempt to save their family in a cold and unforgiving world.
In the developer’s own words, “Bloody conflicts sweep the lands, and the Black Death comes for the survivors. It's a moment of weakness - and that's all they needed. Vampires seize their opportunity to walk out of the shadows and claim what they've been denied for centuries: freedom, and the power that comes with it. Other creatures of the night follow their lead. Legends turn into reality, and history as we know it will never be the same.”
It’s a very compelling premise set in a period of history that has only been occasionally touched upon by games. The influence of the Witcher games is also clear, as fantastical creatures with very nasty bites and scratches await the player.
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As with any of these things, the quality of the finished product needs to be taken with a grain of salt until we actually get our hands on it. That said, gameplay footage from The Blood of Dawnwalker does help assuage concerns and the devs behind the game have just dropped a whole fresh video for us to take a look at.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Gameplay Looks Mightily Impressive
The new video drops a little over 30 minutes of gameplay footage that really stresses the differences in the game when you play during the day or at night. The main character Coen is both half-human and half-vampire. When approaching the cathedral in the footage we see, he has a much easier time of things during the day, when he can just stroll right up to his goal.
That ease is offset by the fact that Coen can tap into extra powers at night, becoming faster and more potent as his vampire half takes over. He gains access to unique abilities, with this being a huge factor in both the gameplay, and what the developers are describing as the “narrative sandbox”.
Take a look at the footage for yourself and see what you think, but we’re quietly confident that this could be one of the sleeper hits of next year (presuming it doesn’t become the latest victim to fall to a delay).