Vampires: Bloodlord Rising begins like so many blood-sucking stories, with its immortal protagonist awakening from a decades-long slumber before regaining his strength by feasting on a fresh kill.  

But following this familiar set-up, developer Mehuman Games' open-world action-adventure game—now available in Early Access—immediately separates itself from the jugular-draining pack. Upon violently biting into the necks of a bunny and a buck, antihero Dragos doesn't just suck the life from the wildlife, but also loots their bones, hearts, and hides. 

Filling our inventory with these resources is the first sign that Vampires: Bloodlord Rising isn't just another gory, action-centric horror game. On the contrary, in addition to crafting, the ambitious, content-packed title encompasses castle construction and customization, choice-and-consequence encounters, open-world exploration, survival, minion management, and much more. 

After leaving a few more lifeless animals in our wake, we begin digging into all these interconnected elements, starting with the deep crafting system. Dawn is fast approaching, so we need to build a shelter to shield Dragos from the sun's deadly rays. We gather resources—rocks, wood, and limestone—from the grounds of our old master's destroyed estate. 

Collecting basic ingredients is only the first step, as many resources must be refined into better quality materials. With some of the wood and limestone, we build a crafting station, which in turn allows us to make sturdy wood planks. With these pieces, we can now craft a coffin to escape the rising sun that's about to cook Dragos' flesh. 

Our next objective—crafting a chest to hold our growing inventory, as well as a full-on crypt to call home—requires mortar, made from clay and sand found by the river. Simple enough, or so it seems, but as we approach the water, we encounter a crew of Inquisitors, one of the primary antagonists in Vampires: Bloodlord Rising.

As the aggressive soldiers start unsheathing their swords, we learn Dragos is more than your typical neck-biter. In addition to unleashing his sharpened claws for primary attacks, he can also perform a more powerful shield-shattering move, as well as counter incoming attacks. But these core combat skills only scratch the surface of his abilities. Triggering a "dash" briefly transforms Dragos into a flurry of fleeing bats, while executing a finisher might see him beat an Inquisitor baddie with his own freshly torn off limbs. 

And based on Vampires: Bloodlord Rising's sprawling progression paths, Dragos's combat prowess—as well as his other disciplines—have plenty of room for growth. On top of unlocking dozens of Arcanes (like the ability to do significantly more damage) with found Vampire Tears, you can also become stronger by simply doing things, such as exploring and crafting.

With our coffin, chest, and crypt finally complete, Vampires: Bloodlord Rising calls on us to continue building our burgeoning vampiric empire. Long-term goals include reconstructing our somewhat-deceased master's castle, as well as feeding and fueling the blood-craving core that sits among the manor's ruins. The latter is especially important, as it not only sustains Dragos, but also lifts the veil that stubbornly blocks off other parts of the massive map. 

It quickly becomes apparent we'll need some help tackling these daunting tasks, so we head into the village to find some recruits. Dragos has two forms, Hunter and Aristocrat, that he can swap between on the fly, depending on what sort of creature-of-the-night shenanigans he's getting up to. When talking to humans, it's best to adopt the second persona to learn more about townsfolk possibly suited to your cause. Of course, once you have the intel you need, it's perfectly fine to show your true colors and turn targets into loyal servants via a nice nibble on the neck.

With a few hapless humans brought under our literal wing—Dragos can also turn into a bat to travel long distances—we begin putting them to work on our growing list of projects. But as we soon discover, building a small blood-sucking army also comes with a fresh set of tasks. Minions must be fed and housed, so more blood needs to be collected and coffins crafted. We learn the hard way (when a cranky servant screams, "Where am I supposed to sleep, on the floor?!") that mismanaging our charges will ultimately lead to them leaving our ranks.

Despite losing a few unsatisfied servants, we're able to empower the core to the point that it grants us access to a new land, dubbed Hell's Chasm. The name of this unlocked stretch of map doesn't disappoint, as it immediately introduces us to rivers of lava and a burning village. The area also comes with a fresh objective—navigate the flame-engulfed environs to find Dragos's old vampire girlfriend, who might be the one responsible for reducing the village to ash.

Our time with Vampires: Bloodlord Rising concludes before we can sniff out this potentially intriguing/dangerous character. But based on our hours spent beneath Dragos's cape—and a new, intimidating objective, "Rule all the lands," that we've just spotted in our quest log—we can't wait to dive back into renovating our gothic mansion, recruiting our blood-craving army, and building an immortal empire that'd make our fanged lord proud. 

Vampires: Bloodlord Rising is available on the Epic Games Store now in Early Access.