Vapour: Borders of Purgatory - prototype 2

First-person adventure about warlock trapped in the foul depths of Purgatory.

First-person adventure

The game is played as a first-person adventure and has much in common with nineties hits such as Doom, Duke Nukem and Heretic, not least its black sense of humour, moody visuals and of course, plenty of in-your-face action. The player takes control of a classic anti-hero, a psychotic mass murderer and warlock who finds himself trapped in the foul depths of Purgatory, after having been executed for his crimes. With his mystical powers now scattered to the four corners of Hell, the warlock must explore this nightmare landscape, doing battle with the ravening hordes of monstrous creatures which lurk at every turn. If he can brave every terror and defeat the mighty Hell Lords which rule this domain, then he might just win his freedom.

Superbly horrific beasties to slay and be slain by

As a bit of retro fun which doesn't take itself too seriously but which provides action and scares aplenty, Vapour is pretty entertaining stuff. The world that has been created here is both imaginative and believable, with some well realised and genuinely creepy environments and some superbly horrific beasties to slay and be slain by. Vapour was built using the Unity engine by a two-man team and the graphics are surprisingly effective, with good use of textures, lighting and environmental effects and which contribute to the overall mood of desperation and subdued terror.

Decent amount of scares too

There's a decent amount of scares too, including some real shockers that are guaranteed to have you leaping out of your seat in fear, so this definitely isn't a game for the faint-hearted. Sound however is a little on the minimal side, with a few atmospheric effects, such as beast noises, creaking doors and the like but little else. This leaves the game feeling slightly empty, which is a shame as so much has clearly gone into building an immersive world. There are however, plenty of one-liners from the game's hero so if you miss the days of Duke Nukem cracking wise at every turn, then this is certain to bring a smile to your face. Many of the lines are genuinely amusing, but the idea does feel a little dated and it's not long before it outstays its welcome.

An indie game from a micro-team

For an indie game from a micro-team, Vapour is impressive stuff. It's got all the action and adventure you could hope for, and which is backed up by solid visuals and some interesting gameplay mechanics which show the designers' ability to create something more than just a pretty world. It plays smoothly on the whole, with controls that are intuitive and easy to handle, and although there are few bugs, this can easily be forgiven thanks to the game's generally professional air. As is common these days, there's a Steam Greenlight campaign to get a more complete game produced but unlike many games which are relying crowd funding, Vapour actually shows enough promise to make you hope it gets there.

Make sure to take a look at the Vapor's Wussy Guide to learn the controls for this game.

You're gonna be lonely out there in those empty fields, so you'd probably think that you might be doing something wrong. In case you feel that way, I suggest you take a look at Jess and Zorine's video made for gamespot and see how they were doing and whether you missed something ...

Vapour: Borders of Purgatory - House of Horrors