Stunlock Studios might not have had the best start when the company was founded in 2010, but they’ve steadily made a name for themselves as the years went on. With their earlier releases like Bloodline Champions, an action-packed MOBA similar to DOTA or Smite in 2011, or Battlerite Royale, a top-down battle royale that really showcases how far the studio has come, it was very clear that Stunlock Studios had high ambitions and even bigger plans. This was semi-made real when they released V Rising onto Steam’s Early Access in 2022.

While V Rising might still be in Early Access, it’s been receiving a lot of love from fans and attention from the developers. The game has been steadily growing in content and overall beauty as time went by, making the game so much more appealing with each new patch and content update. V Rising’s latest expansion, Secrets of Gloomrot, is one of the biggest updates the game has seen so far. However, you can’t just jump into the deep end of Gloomrot, you’ll need to make sure you’re quite well prepared for the journey into the incredibly dangerous steampunk-themed area.

Your adventure and rise to power in V Rising begins with your initial rise and highlight of being at the top as a vampire, ruling the lands and owning the night. Though, what goes up must come down… As the humans rose up against your and your kind by overthrowing you and leaving you thirsty while hidden away in a graveyard, that is, until you eventually awaken to reclaim what was taken from you. You’ll have to survive, hunt down all those who wronged you to reclaim your lost powers, and rebuild your empire in the lands before you. However, a word a warning, the humans won’t back down so easily.

Like with any survival game, you’ll need to gather resources and find your bearings if you want to make the start of your adventure somewhat bearable. Luckily, while the questline might be vague, it also serves as a tutorial as well while rewarding you with new powers and a blueprint to craft items. The graveyard you initially rise up from is also a great practice area that will give you tons of starting resources, some might be eager to jump into the action, but you’d be surprised at how much time you can spend in that area and how much those starting resources help. The most important resource you can get there would be bones, and with a ton of skeletons shambling around, you have a literal bone factory on your hands to power your mist braziers when you start building your first castle. The reason for this is, when you leave that graveyard, there’s no going back to it, and your bone mine dries up faster, you can say, ‘Bam, insta-cremate’.

Now that you’ve got your bone stockpile, along with some wood, stone and possibly some blood essence, you’re ready to head out into the wild world and build your first castle. Well, more like a basic camp, but it becomes a castle quite soon. Building a castle starts off relatively simple, you just need to pick a territory from the many on the map, clear it out and start building. Though you’ll have to keep in mind that your first castle will most likely become your main hub for everything from crafting to recovery, so it’s wise to pick a good spot and not just plop down anywhere.

After you’ve gotten your castle heart set down and you placed a few walls for safety, you’ve probably noticed that, like with any form of vampire, the sun really doesn’t like you. Remember those bones you gathered? This is where they save your undead skin with mist braziers, they’re quite cheap on resources to construct and all they need for fuel is just bones. As simple as they are, they create a decent-sized area in which the sun is blocked out while looking amazing around your castle. At least once you’re safe from the sun, you can start preparing to exact revenge against the humans by going after their champions and a few animals as well.

This is where V Rising takes an odd turn, as it turns out, a select handful of humans and animals scattered throughout the world will have what’s known as ‘V Blood’. This not only makes them quite dangerous but also incredibly valuable to you as you’ll need to track them down and feed on them. Extracting the V Blood from the champion humans and animals will reward you with new spells, vampire powers, crafting bench types, or even blueprints. Each champion you take down brings you closer to retaking the land.

As you progress through V Rising, you’ll unlock new blueprints that you can use to construct the various crafting benches, decorations, castle walls, flooring and so much more. Then there’s also the sub-type of crafting bench that refines your resources for uses in other forms of crafting. This game has an intensely diverse crafting tree that just expands as you progress, though this also keeps things interesting because there’s never a dull moment. The best part is, if you can’t craft it yet, you’ll likely find it on some unsuspecting humans as a loot drop. This will get you by at least until you can make it yourself.

Taking into account just how big the world is, you’ll see that while there are empty territories, there are also territories occupied by humans along with their possible loot drops. Planning your trips to get what you need is key in this regard to make the most of the nights because if the sun rises while you’re out pillaging, you’ll find yourself jumping between shadows to avoid the mother of all sunburns.

However, you can’t assume the humans won’t fight back. They will almost always raise their arms against you, so you need to make sure your gear is up to scratch. However, your weapons and gear only count for half the equation in the battles ahead. You’ll also have a blood type to rely on, when you’ve recently died or just started out, your blood type will be Frail. It gives you no bonuses, and you’re basically just a garden-variety vampire. Feeding on certain types of humans will change it from Frail to Rogue, Brute, Scholar, Etc, depending on what you feed on, and you’ll gain bonuses depending on the purity of the blood. Nothing lasts forever, and you’ll need to top up your blood as it drains slowly over time, that is… Until you can start housing prisoners to keep as livestock and tap for Blood Potions.

On the matter of Blood Potions, they’re not the only consumable item you’ll have. You’ll need to craft healing brews known as Bloodrose Brews, a few resistance potions for their respective encounters like holy magic or just the sun. Though there are brews, you can make for a temporary boost to spell power or physical power and even movement speed. However, like with everything else in V Rising, you’ll need to hunt down the resources to make your consumables. Luckily, the land has lots to offer, and you’ll eventually even be able to grow your own plants for a little apothecary section in your castle.

During your adventure through the world in V Rising, you’ll come to see that each area of the map has its own unique dangers to look out for. The Farbane Woods is typically filled with bandits, Dunley Farmlands has your villages and churches along with a nearly endless supply of vampire warding garlic, the Cursed Forest, which is guaranteed to get you lost in its cursed mist, and so much more. Then naturally there’s also Silverlight Hills, the stronghold of the humans and, for now, where you’ll find your most powerful adversaries.

V Rising has seen quite a few quality-of-life patches during its time in Early Access and a previous expansion. However, with the release of the Secrets of Gloomrot expansion, V Rising, in a matter of speaking, got a major overhaul. The world saw a major size upgrade, new human types to face off against, new spells and best of all… Even stronger champions. While most of the world in V Rising carries a strong Middle Ages theme, Gloomrot is in an era of its own. The entire area has a strong steampunk and industrial age atmosphere, though this also makes it so much more dangerous to be in if you’re unprepared.

You’ll have to face off against technologically advanced enemies who don’t play by any rules and will instead roast you with fire, electricity, or just sheer robotic strength. Those aren’t the only threats waiting for you, as you’ll also have to deal with the various mutated animals that will stop at nothing to turn you into a nice meal. The contrast between the rest of the world and Gloomrot is extremely clear, but it’s also an interesting change of pace from axes and swords to guns and robots. It would almost make Doctor Frankenstein proud.

To save the best for last, the combat system. Of course, you’d need to be able to fight to survive, but V Rising has a strangely unique combat system that’s mostly built on the weapons you wield. You’ll start off with a simple bone sword and a basic weapon ability, but as your gear level rises with each new upgrade, so do your armory and options. You’ll eventually be able to switch to weapons like Reapers (Scythes), Greatswords, Pistols, Crossbows, Spears, etc, and each weapon type has its own unique abilities that can help turn the tide of any battle. Combining that with your spells will make you a force to be reckoned with.

However, you won’t have access to everything from the start, you’ll need to unlock the blueprints and still craft them as well. Then the gear level of each weapon is a factor to consider too, you’ll naturally have to raise your gear level, but with that higher gear level comes extra weapon abilities too. With the many weapon types and spells at your disposal, there are nearly endless combinations to suit your playstyle, but not all of them will be effective against certain champions. Changing things up and keeping your strategy fluid is key to survival and victory, even more so when you eventually brave the wastelands of Gloomroot or the mystical confusion of the Cursed Forest.

As mentioned before, the Secrets of Gloomrot expansion brought a whole slew of changes to the V Rising, not just with new land to explore but also other changes that made life better in the game. One of the more notable changes is the huge improvement in combat and exploration, those have both been heavily improved upon. When compared to the earlier version of the game, combat is actually a lot smoother now, and you can chain attacks together much more easily. On the exploration front, there were quite a few bugs, but it seems those have been ironed out as well and actually given a few extra features.

V Rising is turning out to be Stunlock Studios’ crowning achievement and a clear show of how they grew over the years. One of the more notable places it can be seen is on the visual side of the game, with how diverse the world has become and the unique atmospheres of each area. It’ll feel like you’re not just traveling to another part of the world. You’re instead going to a whole new world within the world, and Secrets of Gloomrot’s Gloomrot area is no exception even more so with the perfectly executed steampunk-themed and industrialized area that seems to be ravaged by what looks like toxic waste. One thing that is certain and hasn’t changed, V Rising’s overall theme is typically aimed to be very dark and somewhat primitive when you look at the humans and their settlements at night, but it becomes the exact opposite during the day.

Unfortunately, while the game has some character creation, it’s also quite limited and feels rushed. A little bit more expansion on this aspect would add another layer of uniqueness to the game to give it that last little bit of shine it needs. Equipping new armor and weapons can change the appearance of your character, it still seems a bit lacking and could use some cosmetic clean-up or options.

Where V Rising doesn’t disappoint at all is with sound engineering. Whether you’re exploring during the day or the night, the ambient sound is always there, from crickets to people marching along. This builds such a great atmosphere but also helps you stalk your potential prey. The game doesn’t focus too heavily on music, but there is some, it’s not overbearing or distracting, yet it’s somehow also a major driving force when you’re exploring or fighting while maintaining the dark gothic theme to fit the visual side and genre of the game. V Rising’s sound design and engineering breathe so much life into an already brilliant environment, and this also really gets you drawn into the game as a whole.

Overall, V Rising and its latest major expansion, Secrets of Gloomrot might become the next major hit with its unique survival and building mechanics, but also the combat system. The Gloomrot area, in particular, is a shocking change of pace and scenery while bringing a whole new set of challenges to face off against. However, it also brought in a lot more for the vampires who like to stay at the castle and decorate. As a whole, V Rising is on its way to becoming one of those long-lasting games that will simply never die because it just keeps getting better with age.

Jay Claassen
Editor, NoobFeed