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Essays 28 June 2022, 14:18

author: Adrian Werner

Vaporum – a steampunk Grimrock. RPGs you might have wrongly skipped

Table of Contents

VAPORUM IN A NUTSHELL:

  1. Developer: Fatbot Games
  2. Platforms: PC, XONE, PS4, Switch
  3. Release date: September 28, 2017
  4. 767 reviews on Steam

Legends of Grimrok had many copycats, but most of them did not have much success. Of all these obscure productions, Vaporum certainly deserves more attention.

The game can be described, in some simplification, as a steampunk Legends of Grimrock. This is no reason for shame for the authors, as the idea was implemented perfectly, both in terms of atmosphere and gameplay mechanics. The world has a dense atmosphere, and the graphics are very detailed.

During the game, we climb up the subsequent floors of a mechanical tower, gradually learning the history of this place and its creators. The plot seems quite extensive and intriguing, but the campaign was designed so that the story can be almost completely ignored if someone prefers pure gameplay.

So the game should suit all tastes. We have some well implemented solutions typical of this kind of games, such as the first-person perspective, a leapfrog navigation system, real-time combat, numerous logic puzzles, and the ability to turn only by 90 degrees.

In several key aspects, however, Vaporum departs from the standard of the genre. We control only one character, not a whole team. On top of that, instead of being based on the classic XP system, the character development is done through modifying and improving their combat suits, on which we can also install numerous useful gadgets.

Vaporum understands perfectly well what the cornerstone of an old-school dungeon crawler is, and at the same time adds to this a handful of interesting ideas rarely seen in steampunk RPGs, all presented in modern graphics. All of this makes it more than just a simple clone, and we heartly recommend the title to fans of the genre.

Vaporum is the game for you if:

  1. you are looking for a fresh take on this particular genre;
  2. you like old-school dungeon crawlers;
  3. but you're not necessarily interested in retro stylistics.

Adrian Werner

Adrian Werner

A true veteran of the Gamepressure newsroom, writing continuously since 2009 and still not having enough. He caught the gaming bug thanks to playing on his friend's ZX Spectrum. Then he switched to his own Commodore 64, and after a short adventure with 16-bit consoles, he forever entrusted his heart to PC games. A fan of niche productions, especially adventure games, RPGs and games of the immersive sim genre, as well as a mod enthusiast. Apart from games, he devourers stories in every form - books, series, movies, and comics.

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