Vampire: Bloodlines Retrospective

Eurogamer brings us a pretty enthusiastic retrospective on Troika’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, though they do point out some of the flaws we’ve happily endured over the years.

It’s the little stories like that of Ocean House – the ones not obviously related to the main plot – that fascinate me most about Bloodlines. Almost every quest, mandatory or otherwise, tells a tale or explores a character. All are fiendishly intelligent, and adult in exactly the right way. Bloodlines tackles issues that would have most games cowering in a corner, but never is it crass or exploitative. It’s a game about people, about the nasty truths of our society. Despite the supernatural front, it’s irrefutably a game about real life.

It’s a beautiful thing, and I’ve yet to play another game with such astounding attention to narrative detail. The script isn’t just witty and intelligent; it’s positively huge to boot. That each character delivers his or her lines so candidly, so effortlessly, throughout this mammoth spread of dialogue is nothing short of spectacular.

I’m almost certain they’re real people, digitised. Nuanced and entirely credible, they speak with innumerable traits intact, never missing a beat. From the delightfully twisted Voerman sisters near the start, right through to Gary the Nosferatu in the later sections, each is thoroughly spellbinding.