The Vampire is an important element in almost all popular video games. Irrespective of the genre, vampirism as a supernatural trait can be turned into horror video game mechanics. Thus, over the course of history, there have been a lot of video games allowing players to step into the shoes of vampires.
In the list below, we shall be discussing and recommending some of the best video games where you play as a vampire.
Best Vampire Video Games
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Starting off with the most obvious one that should be on everyone’s mind when it comes to the topic of vampires. But if you have no idea of what we are talking about, then all you need to know is that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is still one of the best to do it.
The game is based on the original tabletop RPG, which has a long-running history. Despite the troubled development, we could say that the game came out pretty well. All thanks to the strong fanbase, who released their own mod that completely patched the game.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is definitely a title you need to try out if you are looking for a game where you get to play as a vampire.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
The plight of the Soul Reaver franchise is not for the faint of heart. The series had one of the best ongoing plots that fans were eagerly following until things fell apart on the development side. Fans still yearn for the franchise to get a new sequel that continues the story of Rasiel.
For those unaware, the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver series is one of the best video games from the early 2000s that dealt with vampires. It followed the story of Rasiel, a lieutenant to the vampire lord Kain. He gets betrayed and killed by Kain, but is revived as a Soul Reaver.
You journey through fantastical realms seeking answers and vengeance for his death. But unfortunately, we never got to see the end of it. Still, the games are absolutely worth playing if you are looking for a video game where you play as a vampire.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Set in the same franchise, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain instead lets you play as Kain himself. This time, before holding any grudge against your player character, you get to learn the motivations and history behind him.
Before he became a vampire lord or had lieutenants, Kain was a regular nobleman. But the game kicks off with him getting resurrected as a vampire after being murdered. Thus begins his journey of hunting down his wrongdoers, while also looking for a cure to his vampiric curse.
By the end of the game, he starts to forsake his humanity and fully embraces the curse. Definitely a game that is a must-play for anyone looking for a game that lets you play as a vampire.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls games require no introduction. It is among the most well-recognized fantasy RPG franchises in the modern era. This is all thanks to the immense amount of success garnered from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
The fifth entry in the series specifically set a new bar for open-world RPGs. Something that Bethesda themselves are still trying to live up to, as the next game has been in development for ages.
But regardless of all that, we are here to talk about video games that let you play as a vampire, which includes Skyrim. Specifically, the Dawnguard DLC. It allows players to take on the mantle of a vampire, and if you are lucky, you can also turn into a vampire lord.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Symphony of the Night is one of the most important side-scrolling video games ever created. It, along with Nintendo’s Super Metroid, influenced the whole search-action genre, which later came to be known as metroidvania.
Besides that, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is also a video game where you get to play as a vampire, specifically a damphir. Castlevania games follow the tale of a powerful lineage of vampire hunters. You play as the Belmonts, hunting down Dracula and other foes.
The plot around them takes a step back as things are changed up with Symphony of the Night. Now you get to step into the shoes of Alucard, the son of Dracula, who is also an ally to the Belmonts and fights against his father.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
As video games moved to the HD era, the developer Konami went through a lot of restructuring. The original creator of the Castlevania games took a step back, and the company went back to the drawing board with the Castlevania franchise.
Their decision was to reboot the games as well as the story, while utilizing existing characters. So with the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, we assumed the mantle of a Belmont yet again. But an important twist in the game led to a drastic change in the franchise, which was reflected in the next game.
In Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, you play as Dracula himself. All those years of fending off against the lord of vampires, but now you get to assume the mantle for yourself.
V Rising
V Rising is a game that was released very recently and has been making quite a noise among gamers. It is once again an action-RPG take on providing players with a blank slate vampire character.
Created by Stunlock Studios, the game was first released in early access for the Windows platform in 2022. A full release later came in 2024 with fully realized features and a PlayStation 5 release.
The game is a top-down open-world RPG with survival crafting mechanics. You start as an awakened vampire in a weaker state, slowly building your empire and castles. The game even had a proper crossover with Castlevania, where you, Vampire Lord, fight against a Belmont boss.
Vampyr
For a good deal of time, people have longed for a Vampire RPG from the bygone era of Vampire: The Masquerade. But there have not been many attempts at cracking it, as horror RPGs became a dying genre.
But in 2018, people’s wishes were granted. The famed creator of the Life is Strange series, Dontnod Entertainment, dropped their Vampire RPG. It wasn’t the perfect recreation of the magic that was created by Vampire: The Masquerade. But it had a combat system that felt nice.
Vampyr is an action RPG that follows the story of Jonathan Reid, a doctor who was turned into a vampire. Now he must choose to either live with the hypocrisy of being a doctor or satiate his thirst as a vampire.
BloodRayne
If you had been old enough to enjoy some mature-rated games around the 2000s, then you probably know about BloodRayne. But if you have no idea what it is about, then all you need to know is that this was a video game with multimedia fame.
Most might know of BloodRayne from the films and comic books, but it was originally the video game where it all started. You play as Rayne, a skilled dhampir who is on the lookout for her vampiric father.
She is a member of the Brimstone Society that monitors and tackles supernatural threats. One fun fact is that Rayne is the only established vampiric female protagonist out of all the games on this list.
Darkwatch
Darkwatch is the most vampire-western piece of video game media from the mid-2000s. Heavily inspired by nerd cult classic films such as Van Helsing. Darkwatch puts players in the shoes of a Jericho Cross in a late 19th-century fictional wild west.
Jericho is a gun-toting vampire who hunts down other supernatural threats. Kind of similar to the last game, because this is a trope that is fairly popular with vampire media. As an action game, Darkwatch boasts a plethora of interesting vampire-based abilities that are based on a morality system.
If you are looking to play an old action game where the player character is a vampire, then look no further than Darkwatch. It is one of the really good console games from the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox era that is now lost to time.
