Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is a new role-playing legend starring the creatures of the night. You have recently been sired in Los Angeles, and like all new vampires you must follow the rule of the Prince. As time goes on, you discover that you have more than one choice of who to follow. Who should you ally yourself with? Will you betray your old friends? Will you eliminate your foes? Find out as follow your own path the in the World Of Shadows.

Customer Reviews: Read 119 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

It bites. In a good way... October 26, 2004
222 out of 240 found this review helpful

There's something uniquely satisfying about being evil. Evil gets to play with the best toys, listen to the best music, wear the best clothes and generally be sinister, introspective and cool. In game terms, being evil also means that you get to do all the things that make the good guys wince, like bursting people with blood-magic or biting them in the face. Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines is the latest excuse to be deliciously evil. From developer Troika the game takes advantage of both the rich heritage of White Wolf's role-playing game, and Valve's spanking new Source engine, which powers Half-Life 2; an undeniably exciting concept.

In practice the game is a thrilling merger of RPG sensibilities and frenetic, brutal action...with just a dash of stealth and lateral thinking thrown in for good measure. The player takes command of a fledgling vampire in the dangerous employ of Prince Le Croix - the vampire overlord of Los Angeles. Like any good RPG, Vampire allows you to choose an avatar for your character from a number of different models, both male and female. The species of vampire you choose will, to some extent, dictate what sort of player you'll be in the game. Action fans will probably be at home with the more physically powerful vampires such as the Brujhar, whose natural instincts for combat will confer increased power and accuracy. More conservative or cerebral players may prefer to outsmart or out-magic their opponents - there's even a chance to play as the sanity-challenged Malkavians, which leads to some unique conversations and scenarios.

You can choose to play from either the first-person, like a traditional shooter, or to view your character in the third-person, which is useful for melee combat or to judge jumps. There's no great emphasis on any one aspect of play - combat or puzzle solving - and the fact that experience points are rewarded for completing missions rather than killing enemies means that players are invited to explore as they see fit, and solve problems in a manner of their choosing. Skillful players are able to sneak past sentries, or talk their way past an opponent. Or they could just choose to pull his head off. There is a huge variety of weapons, both ranged and melee to experiment with, as well as a great implementation of `Thermaturgy' - vampire blood magic.

Like other games such as Morrowind, or semi-RPG action games like Grand Theft Auto, there are central plot missions that need to be completed in order to really progress through the game. However, the giant sandbox world that Troika has crafted means that there's seldom a dull moment in between times, and sub-missions are often just as fun and rewarding to undertake.

Visually, the game is a treat, with the Source technology really shining through. There is a realistic physics engine that allows in-game objects to react to the players' (and other characters') actions - gun fire may dislodge boxes, doors and walls can be smashed apart...in a more gruesome touch blood and viscera has a tendency to splatter and stain the environment. Aurally, the effects are crisp and detailed. There is a huge amount of spoken dialogue, with multiple variations depending on who you `are' and what you say - coupled with multiple endings this game has oodles of replay value.

System-wise, you'll need a decent rig to play this game. I've recently upgraded my system to cope with Half-Life 2, and this game runs smoothly on what I would consider mid to high settings - 32bit color depth, 1280x960 resolution, mid-range sound etc. My system is a P4 2.6 with a gig of ram and a 9600 pro graphics card. If Doom 3 proved completely unplayable on your system then you'll find this over your head as well, but the game seems a little more scaleable than Doom, with more allowance for the average machine. One thing you will need is plenty of free hard drive space - a gig+ if you like to have as much as possible on the drive.

In the spirit of great games like Deus Ex, this game is going to appeal to both straight up action and RPG gamers, as well as any fans of the 'Vampire' series, who'll flip for the great attention to detail and the immersive visuals. It's difficult to suppress a smile when you're slinking through alleys, vaulting over high walls and slitting the throats of your vampire and supernatural foes, or going in gun's blazing with your Uzi and katana combo! This is certainly not a game for either kids, or the faint hearted; but for anyone who thinks having a taste for claret and no pulse sounds cool, this is the game for you.

4 out of 5 stars

Far Better Than the Reviews You've Heard December 11, 2004
64 out of 68 found this review helpful

No one disputes that the graphics are top-notch and it is wonderful to see the Source engine used in an RPG. But, more importantly---I have not experienced the bugs enumerated in the GameSpot.com review or suffered any of the major complaints voiced in game forum boards.

Not only does Vampire: Bloodlines run smoothly, it runs with less bugs and glitches than most games I have bought this year. But, as with any game, it is not without flaws. For example, items in your inventory often do not match their description. If there is a driver's license with Name A, it will be described with Name B, or if there is a picture in your inventory described as having a message written on the back, it will ostensibly remain blank. These are minor flaws in detail, but there are many of them related to your inventory and it shows an inattention to detail and a general lack of polish.

Building experience in most RolePlayingGames almost consists solely of fighting, but there is little to no reward for it in VM:B. The game rewards you for completing objectives--now if an objective is to kill somone, then you will be rewarded for killing them and not for the actual fight. It seems unusual that there is no XP gain from fighting all the enemies in an area. But, it is because of this feature that you learn to focus on the Masquerade and stealth, rather than indeterminate violence.

Much as been said about the long-range weapon system and most of it negative. What Gamespot.com and other review sites either never considered or ignored, is that this is a RPG and not a FirstPerson-Shooter. Your long-range weapon skill develops as your character improves their traits. This is far more realistic and in tune with role-playing. If you could run through the board riddling all the enemies with bullets as in Doom 3 or Half-Life 2, you would never allocate points to combat skills. Besides, anyone who has ever fired a handgun in real-life knows how terrible inaccurate you are initially.

The game is well scripted, the dialogue is mature and suprisingly not as cliched as most, and has excellent voice-work. There are several memorable characters. Although more cinematic, the mission system is similar to ES3: Morrowind's. Different NPC's will give you objectives and often these will conflict or possibly even negate your ability to complete another quest. This is a positive quality because it allows less linear gameplay.

Overall, the game is a worthwhile buy and unique role-playing game. I only hope that it works as well on other computers as it has on mine. If not, check for a patch and then buy it.

4 out of 5 stars

THUMBS UP! Great story and nice RPG in a real cool setting. November 28, 2004
50 out of 52 found this review helpful

Ok, finally an RPG that is an RPG.

Built as a first/third person shooter, and based on the Half Life engine, this game delivers a great story in a non linear fashion.

At the beginning of the game you can choose between 7 classes of vampires. Each class has a distinct demeanor and different powers. For example, you can choose to be a noble and aristrocratic Ventrue and use mental power to dominate foes. Or you can choose to be a Gangrel, in communion with the animals and with the ability to transform into a beast and shred your enemies to pieces while moving 5 times faster than them.

Believe me, in Bloodlines (as in the original White Wolf RPG) there is a Vampire that will just fit your needs and desires.

All missions can be completed in various different ways and using different sets of vampiric powers.

Game Breakdown:

Graphics 8/10: Downtown LA is absolutely awesome and well done. People walk around the roads, talk on their cell phones, chat with each other while smoking a cigarette. Lighting is good, but not even close to Doom 3.

Sound 9/10: The soundtrack is awesome and you will find its CD in the game. Voiceovers are good, but not exceptional.

Story 9/10: well written and fun. You will be in for a few surprises. Moreover, it has a high degree of non linearity. It modifies based on your gender, your vampire clan and your decisions. This brings awesome replayability.

Gameplay 8/10: I think combat in this game is very good, however weapons need to be equilibrated (your plain fists seem to deal more damage than a knife). Spells work awesome, and if you choose certain clans (like the Tremere) you will be able to see how powers and spells are more effective than hand to hand combat.
Moreover, you have a good set of skills that enhances your interactions with non playing characters. You will be able to seduce, manipulate, convince, threaten... these options are many times better than just killing somebody to get what you want.

I take a star off of what would be a 5 star product for 1 reason:
THE GAME IS BUGGY!!!
1. Doors are messed up, they open and close really bad.
2. Movies and cinematics seem slapped together and the soundtrack doesn't work very well in them.
3. You will get stuck in wierd places sometimes and have to reload. Save often!

A patch will surely fix all this.

Bottom line:
I LOVE THIS GAME! And I suggest it as a must buy to any Vampire or White Wolf fan. For all the others, I suggest this game to:
1) RPGers who like FPS games.
2) People in search for a non linear RPG in a non fantasy setting.
3) For big time fans of RPG, this game is nice.

5 out of 5 stars

From Niche Market to Broad Appeal September 18, 2004
30 out of 38 found this review helpful

Like Nihilistic's Vampire the Masquerade - Redemption from four years ago, this game from Troika is loosely based on the p&p Vampire game. From the well-orchestrated previews and interviews, however, it's obviously a much slicker operation. And for fans of vampire lore, much deeper. Players will, this time, be able to choose their character from a number of the clans (including Malkavians!), and this choice will affect dialogue options and game play. The other interesting features are a decision to award xp not on the basis of killing enemies, but completing quests, so those who wish to play stealthy or peaceful (!) characters are not forced to blast everything in sight to go up levels. Plus, the unbalanced skills (feral claws and prison of ice) in the previous game have been reviewed and corrected. Expect witty storyline, and visuals that reach out to a base of players that is much wider than fans of vampire literature. It looks set to be outstanding: so bite me!

3 out of 5 stars

Not Bad, But Not The Best November 22, 2004
20 out of 27 found this review helpful

The good part of this game is you want to do the side shows and journeys.

I have an NVidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and a 3.2 Gig Athlon and its slow as crapola. Load times sometimes over 2 minutes. Lots of Hiccupping. But, hey, that just could be my box. Not yours.

But heres what isn't so good:
1) Sound clips run into each other
2) People pop in and out of some scenes
3) There are few objects to interact with (Wish it was more like Morrowind)
4) Few people, no moving cars, streets empty, seems like a "dead" world?
5) Weapons are less effective than your hands. What? I find spells to be better, but you run out of blood too fast, and still have to use hand-to-hand.
6) Combat sucks.
7) I expected more of vampires. Morrowind is a pretty cool example of what is lacking here. Bloodlines has no sunrise to worry about. Bullets hurt you? Come on. I don't feel like a vampire. I feel like a deranged person sucking on peoples necks, cause a gun acts like a rubber band.

Point is, for 20 bucks it would have been worth it. At 50 bucks, its a rip off.

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