Rebel Wolves released its first video game, “The Blood of Dawnwalker,” on Sept. 3.
“The Blood of Dawnwalker” is a fantasy action RPG set in a valley in the Carpathian Mountains during the 14th century. Before the start of the game, the valley, known as Vale Sangora, was overrun by the Black Plague. The sickness spread through the land like wildfire, threatening to wipe out the entire valley. Mixed with the tyrannical oppression of Vale Sangora’s ruler, the future seemed grim for the valley’s residents.
Everything changed when a group of vampires looked at the chaos gripping Vale Sangora and saw an opportunity to take power for themselves. They deposed the ruling and used their vampiric blood to cure the people of the plague. They then declared themselves the rulers of Vale Sangora and cut the valley off from the outside world.
The game starts two years into the rule of the vampires. The player takes the role of Coen of Laslea (Will de Renzy-Martin), a young commoner and recently turned Dawnwalker, a type of vampire who is human during the day and a vampire at night. After a failed rebellion against the vampires, Coen’s family was taken by the leader of the vampires, Brencis (Andrew Spooner) as a punishment for his insolence. Using his newfound abilities, Coen races against time to save his family before Brencis sacrifices them in 30 days.
The 30-day timer is an integral part of the structure of “The Blood Dawnwalker’s” gameplay. Each day is divided into time segments, with there being eight in the day and eight at night. Almost every decision the player can make during their playthrough takes one or more of these time segments. Clearing enemy camps, clearing rubble, leveling up your skills and even looting chests all have a time cost to them. Because of this, the player has to think carefully about what they are willing to do and what opportunities they are willing to sacrifice in order to get Coen ready to save his family.
There are many pathways the player and Coen can take to save Coen’s family. Scattered throughout the mountains and marshes of Vale Sangora are many individuals willing to help Coen on the journey. Some of these companions include the former nun turned witch Anca (Helen Keeley), the Egyptian vampire Lacra (Megan Smart) and rebel leader Marat (Colin Ryan). Each of these companions has their own story and Coen can choose to take part in each or choose to take on the vampires on his own. It is recommended the player at least play through one of these storylines, if not all of them, as they show off the high-quality character writing the game offers.
Coen himself is a surprisingly well-crafted player character. While the decisions Coen makes are up to the player, the game still puts in plenty of legwork in building Coen as dimensional. Coen is initially introduced as a smart, compassionate person who cares deeply for his family. As the story progresses, the player comes to understand Coen as a young man burdened with immense guilt and far too much responsibility for far too long. Players learn early on Coen was holding his family together at the seams before becoming a Dawnwalker. The story gives the player opportunities to uncover why Coen’s family was falling apart, albeit in places well off the beaten path. Even if the player never learns the truth, Coen is still an interesting character to keep the player invested.
The characters aren’t the only interesting part of “The Blood of Dawnwalker,” as the gameplay is just as enjoyable as the story. The combat is built around a direction-based sword-fighting system, where the player has to move their blade in the direction of an attack in order to block it and watch the enemy to attack them from different angles. The combat has a perfect dodge and parry system built in to boost the player's defensive capabilities. Though the combat can be a bit sluggish at the beginning, the system becomes incredibly rewarding once its intricacies are learned.
The game also takes full advantage of Coen’s dual-sided nature as a Dawnwalker. As time progresses, Coen will shift between his human and vampire sides, granting him different abilities in each form. While the core gameplay is the same, the different abilities Coen gets during the day and night create enough distinction in the gameplay. If two players approached the same objective, one during the day and the other at night, they would develop completely different methods.
“The Blood of Dawnwalker” is a remarkably fun game from beginning to end. The utilization of Coen’s two-sided existence mixed with the timer creates an experience making every choice meaningful. From the combat to the characters, everything works together flawlessly to make the game stand out as a remarkable game. Rebel Wolves has said it is currently working on the next game in what it is calling “The Dawnwalker Saga,” so players can look forward to more vampiric action like this in the future.
Rating: 4.75/5
