This is one of the nice situations when an indie game manages to positively shock you. From the studio Asmodeus, under publishing Ultimate Games SA, we have an unusual title. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is a versatile game that combines simulation, adventure and action. It's a big world that you can explore, build certain things, witness violence, exorcisms, etc. The game is full of dark humor and has a catchy soundtrack. There are fights, drugs and alcohol, secondary missions and running a local church. What keeps you hooked on the story are the twisted characters and supernatural elements.
You start the game as Orlok, a vicious vampire from Hell who somehow became a priest. The village of San de Ville in alternate Poland was in desperate need of a religious leader, and the job was solemnly left to you. At first, Orlok does not take his role seriously, and mainly focuses on making money and being a more or less functional priest. He believes that the job of a priest is to have great power and no responsibility. However, after some time, our hero realizes that his role is bigger than the one he intended.
One of the primary tasks is to help your followers drive the "Shatanists" out of the village. Disobedient hooligans make a mess on the streets and paint houses with graffiti. The only way to show them where they belong is to beat them up. No worries, this team is always up for a fight. During "aggressive negotiations" with them, you can use your fists, pistol, pitchfork, baseball bat or even telekinetic powers, sacred objects, etc. as a weapon. Whichever way you get rid of them, your followers will be impressed. In addition to beatings, you will also have classic priestly tasks, such as exorcism, distribution of sacraments and confession. These tasks are inserted into you like secondary and sometimes primary tasks. One of your secondary tasks is to clean the walls of graffiti. The more you perform them, the more powerful and influential you become. In the later stages of the game, you also get a car that you can summon and use to explore the surroundings faster.
The aesthetics of the game itself are somewhat unusual. Since you're playing in first-person, every act of violence or religion is up close and personal, or at least it was originally meant to be. Instead, the final performance was still a bit clumsy, especially when it came to the action part. Glitches and bugs can be present, especially when you are trying to climb somewhere or pick something up. The action part can be monotonous after a while and there is no satisfaction in eliminating enemies. The weapon movements sometimes seem sluggish and clumsy, so it doesn't give me as good a feeling as it can be in shooters.
It should be noted that the game has a complex system of controls. There are quite a few sub-options in the menu, which is why you need time to get used to it and what it has to offer. Fortunately, level-up is a bit slower so you should have plenty of time to study. Changing weapons in hands is not that complicated. In your left hand, you alternate firearms and melee weapons, while your right hand is used for supernatural items that also have their purpose in attack and defense. One of my favorite weapons is the cross, which gives enemies the wind when you direct its blue energy at them. The cross does less damage, but it was fun watching them run away. In line with everything, the difficulty of the challenges in the game is also adjusted so that something is not too difficult, which means that it is also OK for the casual player.
As for the music in the game, Black metal band Georgia made an effort to create a soundtrack that fits perfectly into the game, especially in boss fights, and you have the opportunity to hear them as soon as your first mission with a single boss starts. In general, all the audio in the game is impressive, including the sound effects they put effort into.
[modula id="3014"]Priest Simulator is certainly fun, even though it doesn't simulate a real day in the life of a priest, but that's not the point. The exceptional level of humor and violence helps to present a story that can rarely be found on the market today, which already makes it stand out from the competition. That's definitely a positive for an indie game. It will definitely not be for a wider audience, but if you are a fan of exorcism and the morbid, you will spend about 10-15 hours in the company of a fun story. If that's not enough for you, the developer also offers DLC Priest Simulator: Her Ghost. The game is available for Windows and Ge Force Now Cloud Gaming.
A copy of the game was provided by the publisher Ultimate Games SA for review purposes
