Nighthawks is a vampire RPG from Wadjet Eye and RPS pal Richard Cobbett
Tapping a fresh vein of vampire fun.
There are few sentences that have me sitting up and paying attention faster than 'inspired by Vampire: Bloodlines', so interactive fiction/RPG blend Nighthawks already had me. That shot comes with a chaser, too; it's a collaboration between Wadjet Eye (of the excellent Unavowed) and prolific word-spewer and RPS regular Richard Cobbett (Sunless Sea). Suddenly, I want to know absolutely everything about it. It's early days for the game yet, but you can check out the first trailer below while you wait for its Kickstarter debut on September 5th.
Rather than attempt to juggle genres as the often-clumsy (but I still love it anyway) Vampire: Bloodlines did, Nighthawks looks to be playing to Richard's strengths as a writer. While there are stat checks, resources and other such RPG gubbins, it's laid out like a piece of lusciously illustrated interactive fiction. Apparently you'll be playing as a recently turned vampire, and on top of your usual creature-of-the-night duties (biting people), you'll get to play a more regular night-owl role, running your own nightclub - the titular Nighthawks.
Nighthawks is set in a True Blood-esque world of contemporary vampire fiction. Neck-biters are no longer a secret, and some cities are starting to come to terms with that, accepting them as (mostly) regular citizens. There's rumours swirling around regarding secret vampire mind-powers, talk of 'blood crimes' in the newspapers and plenty more going on. It's an unsteady, dangerous situation, and as anyone who played Vampire: Bloodlines will tell you, that kind of shaky ground presents new opportunities for a cocky, recently-undead punk to rise to the top.
We probably won't know all the gritty details about Nighthawks until its full Kickstarter debut on September 5th, but until then, we can at least paw hungrily at its official site here.
Disclosure: Nighthawks writer Richard Cobbett is a regular RPS contributor, often sharing his thoughts on point-and-click adventures and RPGs. He didn't tell us about any of this Nighthawks malarkey, so he's probably off our Christmas card list. He's also done words for Sunless Sea, The Long Journey Home, more games and a bunch of other sites. We're not jealous. You're jealous.