Q&F: Vampires Bloodlust

Zynga’s Vampires Bloodlust follows a familiar formula already established by Mafia Wars and the like. You perform missions to earn experience and currency, which in this case is blood. And proving that the only thing deadlier than predators is a society of predators, you can turn against your fellow undead and attack other players. Gameplay isn’t anything new or particularly exciting. That being said, I felt this game deserved some discussion.

I am a new iPhone owner. Immediately I turned to the App Store to look for RPGs, and found a litany of titles that all offered arguably the exact same gameplay cluttering up the top of the free lists. Zynga, Storm8, PlayMesh and The Godfather are responsible for many of these titles. Each company puts out several titles, each basically a new theme/skin placed over their version of the same gameplay. Then for each specific title, they release severals apps you can download that offer free reward points. Then they cross-link the rewards. So when I’m playing one title, I’ll be encouraged to download the other titles from the same company to accrue more reward points. This is incestuous, insidious, and yet clever marketing. I have to browse past a huge laundry list of these titles to find anything else in the App Store; clearly these tactics work.

I found myself downloading and trying many of the titles. My conclusion was simple. Zynga puts out the highest quality version of arguably the same game everyone else is pushing. Those who already play Mafia Wars on their iPhone/iPod can attest to that. The interface is quick and responsive, yet features sharp graphics and vivid animations. Character progression is rapid enough to encourage repeat play, whereas competitors’ titles (especially those from Storm8) feel like a slow grind. When gameplay is this simplistic, the player needs to feel rewarded. I can continually set easily attainable goals of affording the next item, minion, or level in the game.

This should come as no surprise as Zynga dominates the same crowd of Facebook/Myspace apps as well. In fact, Vampires Bloodlust has a Facebook cousin known as Vampire Wars. This is where my criticism comes in. On their Facebook equivalents, Mafia Wars, Vampire Wars and the like offer more complex gameplay such as achievements you can unlock, mini-games, job mastery, collectible items and more social gameplay. I can trade items, send gifts, ask for help with jobs, assign specific mafia/clan members to roles within my organization. Adding such feature-rich gameplay might be difficult on a small screen, but it wouldn’t be beyond reason. Achievements and collectibles would add incentive to what could otherwise become repetitive gameplay.

Furthermore, the Facebook equivalents also differentiate from each other with more than just graphics and titles. Zynga manages to add unique twists to each title. In Vampire Wars, you can develop mastery levels for each ability, not just each mission. In Mafia Wars, you try to amass specific collections of items for bonuses. On the iPhone, Vampires Bloodlust and Mafia Wars are basically identical games. I believe if Zynga brought these specific elements from Facebook to their mobile versions, it would further separate them from the pack of their competitors.

Noticeably missing from the game is the ability to adjust numbers in the interface. You can’t purchase ten minions at once, nor multiple abilities. When trying to equip 100 clan members by buying 100 offensive, defensive and movement abilities individually takes too much time. At the end of the day, a game needs to be fun. Interface issues should not get in the way of enjoying the game.

I also noted that the mobile versions are more random in fight resolution. After hundreds of fights over the past few weeks, I find myself often losing battles to people with ¼ of my attack and defense ratings. Many of these players have smaller clans as well. The Facebook versions seem to place a greater emphasis on statistical superiority. Some prefer mechanics to be more or less random. I won’t suggest one is right and the other is wrong.

Lastly, I encountered what appears to be a bug in playing Vampires Bloodlust. I added a good number of invite codes to both Mafia Wars and Vampires Bloodlust hoping to build a large mob/clan. The pleasant surprise was that codes entered into one game applied to other as well. So if I entered an invite code for a player who played both games, they were added for both games. But for some strange reason, every time I opened Vampires Bloodlust, my clan numbers would drop from 99 down. Eventually they would hover around 89. So I’d add another 20 players for good measure. Later it would drop down again. I must have added hundreds of invite codes, and I cannot get my clan size above 89. This bug does not seem present in Mafia Wars. Overall, this is a small blemish on an otherwise quality game. When compared to similar titles on the iPhone, once again Zynga puts out as good of a product as anyone out there. I just happen to know from playing their Facebook versions that they are capable of even more.

I tested version 1.13 on my iPhone 3G S. Zynga has mentioned that version 1.3 should drop in July.

If you need someone to add for Mafia Wars or Vampires Bloodlust, feel free to add me with 9704 1514 51.