Review – Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars
With thanks to the kind folks at Kalypso Media and Palindrome Interactive, over the past week or so I’ve been taking a look under the gothic covers or Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars. It may sound like an emo gothic dream come true, and you can find out my thoughts just below, with the full video and extended written review, with common sense parent’s guide.
The basics
This is one which has recently released on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, meaning that whatever is your own personal choice of chalice, there’s a cup of blood wine here with your name on it. I’ve been lucky enough to check out the title on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and there’s not a huge amount of difference between the two.
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is set within a tumultuous vampire universe, and includes a campaign spanning four unique environments, with 12 missions scattered throughout. Taking control of four high-level vampire lords and their associated minions, you’ll find a campaign mode, backed by an open-world sandbox and a skirmish mode. While there’s no multiplayer, testing your mettle (and fangs, I guess) here provides a decent experience, even though the AI can be a little dense at times.
Spot the difference
As you would likely expect, the major differences between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions mostly come down to the visuals in game. Resolution in Switch of course comes out of it a little behind when comparing the two. While not a game changer usually, from time to time this makes text on the switch version a little hard to read, even when playing in docked mode.
It also has a slight effect on the parental angle, as within the Switch version blood effects seem to be slightly toned down when compared to other platforms.
Parent’s eye view
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is rated by PEGI at 16 and above, and by the ESRB at a Mature 17+. Being a turn-based strategy it was one which was always going to contain a certain amount of blood, but the vampire based combat does come with a little more than those set in the real world.
Especially on Switch, the visuals aren’t too awful when playing in game, and I’ve felt ok playing in front of the little ones when in the world map and battle modes. However, the cut scenes do show some content which I wouldn’t particularly want the Micro-bandits to see. It’s one which I’m torn on, and will sit entirely on the fence, but I would say you may want to err on the side of caution especially during cutscenes.
The run down
Visuals – Fair: I was really hoping for a little more detail on this one, and some effects could do with a little more work. It’s not awful, and those who have been here a while will know that visuals rarely make or break a title for me, but I would have liked a little more polish. On Switch, text can be hard to read, but on all platforms the camera range and movement provides a decent view of the grungy battlefields.
Audio – Lacking: Voice acting within the title is better than I was expecting, and the sound effects and music are pretty decent. This has been marked down due to repetition while controlling troops which has irked me a little, hearing the same lines repeated often can wear a little thin. In addition, during some dialogue while the text remains, audio cuts out mid way through.
Narrative – Good: I’ve enjoyed the narrative here, and with the different campaigns and vampire lords there are some nice threads to follow here.
Replay – Good: The varied environments and missions have pulled me back in here, keeping me engaged and playing on. The missions are scattered with various battles and targets, and while I would really have liked to have seen some good multiplayer, the different game modes provide a nice experience even for a single player.
The Verdict
Overall the Pixel Bandits I want to suck… your blood Level for Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is that I’ve found it Enjoyable . I can’t pretend that the title doesn’t have flaws, as they are pretty front and centre. Cut off dialogue, hard to read text and a lack of visual detail are the main culprits here, and they do affect the experience. However, even with those considered, I’ve actually really enjoyed the tactical gameplay with this title.
It’s been one which has, despite its faults, kept me pulled back in, and genuinely looking forward to working my way through the different battles. I can’t go so far as to say it’s one for everybody, but if you’re a strategy fan who can overlook some niggles with visuals and audio, you’ll find that under some fairly grubby sheets, you’ll find a decent strategy experience.