Vampire: Bloodlines Preview

ComputerAndVideoGames.com has put together a preview of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, after seeing Troika’s CRPG firsthand at Activision’s Activate 2004 event in Barcelona, Spain last week. An excerpt to follow:

Your first decision as a newly created member of Nightwalkers United is choosing which of the main vampire clans you’ll join. Like most RPGs, each clan has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, with the Brujah, for example, specialising in combat, the Toreador emphasising Influence and the rather unhealthy looking Nosferatu preferring stealth (they don’t get invited to too many dinner parties looking that, you suspect).

After you’ve chosen your particular bloodline, you get to assign extra skill points in all sorts of unholy areas. There’s probably too many to mention without it sounding like a list, but suffice to say, you can pretty much specialise in anything you want, from shooting to computer hacking, although it’s fairly wise to play towards your clan’s natural strengths. Selecting a combat-ready male Brujah, with a few additional social and charm skills, it was time to plunge straight into the game itself.