V Rising Review – Bloodsucking Brilliance

Stunlock Studios’ V Rising is a MOBA-esque survival game that differs from the normal path of others. You play as a newly awakened vampire on PVE, PVP, or private servers, and are determined to become the most powerful bloodsucker. Many other survival games have you follow the same pattern: punch trees, build a workbench, make tools, dig rocks, and build a wall.

To my surprise, this pattern hasn’t changed. However, to become a more powerful creature of the night, you’ll have to craft clothes and weapons to raise your Gear Score. To gain unfathomable power, you’ll be required to build things, until the thing you want to make requires you to create something else.

The building loop grinds in most survival games wear thin on me because the process of gathering things can be laborious, unclear, or not worth the hours of gathering. V Rising sets itself apart from others by gathering materials, which is simple and bountiful. You hack trees with your duel axes just like you’d attack an enemy, and a plethora of logs fall into your inventory automatically. However, please remember, you are a vampire first, so while out farming, stay out of the sun. While farming gems I may have forgotten the sun, stepped out of the shade too long and boom DIED.

Being that you’re a vampire, blood is a key resource in V Rising. You have a pool of blood that drains over time, so you need to keep it topped up by plunging your fangs into necks and sipping up the sweet mineral crimson life source. Different creatures confer different blood types, with different benefits. Higher quality blood, marked by a percentage when enemies are at low health, also means better passive buffs. So with this knowledge, you need to be mindful when feeding. You can have a 73% from a feed, and then on the next creature, you may get it replaced with a 3% and that will change your benefits a lot.

To become a King of the Undead, not only is crafting your friend but also tracking down certain creatures V Carriers. These are special creatures to hunt down to drink from and unlock more blueprints. You will bring up your map and click on V Carriers, select a V Carrier with a similar level to yourself, click “track”, and then follow their scent to wherever they’re tucked away. Their sent is shown visually in front of you in a red-like mist. Defeat them and you’ll unlock new building recipes, as well as spell points you can spend in one of several skill trees.

And fights are intense, ramping up as you start unlocking new abilities. This is where I start to get the MOBA vibes, they are essentially one-on-one duels (if you are lucky) where you’re dodging area-of-effect attacks and waiting for your dash to come off cooldown. These boss fights gave me a great Diablo vibe, and when I unlocked my first ability (Turn into a Wolf), I felt a great form of achievement. The V Carrier for me is a great playthrough. First off you are tracking your prey in unfamiliar territory, you’re guaranteed a good and most times very difficult fight, and the rewards are without a doubt worth the hassle.

Being a vampire, you can better navigate the woods by shapeshifting into a wolf, a bear, and a spider (Oh, MY!). These forms are a huge help for those who want to avoid being burned while they traverse the daytime roads. As a spider, you can burrow under the ground, not only protecting yourself from the sun’s rays but also from nasty players who might loot your corpse if you need to step away from your keyboard.

One major factor I love about V Rising over other survival games is your base. Once your Castle is upgraded to the second level, you can relocate your home by using a green castle heart in the territory want to claim. Put down the green heart, and interact with it with the new build menu to piece together a replacement castle. Confirm the change and your old castle crumbles away, while your new one forms. All unused parts will then be down into resources for you to use.

V Rising is for me a great addition to the survival game genre. I wish I could have tried it out with friends and seen how the multiplayer will work. I also am looking forward to PVP servers, as at this time, I have not had a chance to play on one.

I will state that V Rising is a survival game that doesn’t fall flat in keeping you entertained and is wonderfully streamlined. You ascend through the vampiric ranks, between farming, crafting, building, and bounty hunting. If you’re a survival game fan and enjoy MOBA-style combat, whether you’re a single player or want to play with friends, then Stunlock Studios, V-Rising is a must-have game.

This review was written based on a PC review code for V Rising provided by Stunlock Studios.