Vampire: Bloodlines Reviews

Yet another handful of reviews for Activision and Troika’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines have made their way to the web. The first is over at Just RPG with an overall score of 74%:

The atmosphere in Bloodlines is quite good. The majority of the game takes place within a city during the night (which, for some weird reason, never turns to day). The ambient noises, good graphics, and dark atmosphere add a lot to this dark world of Vampire. Why, there was a haunted house in the game that had me scared witless. And I’m the vampire!

The second is at Gameguru Mania with an overall score of 85%:

But, overlooking the bugs, thinking that they all will be fixed one day, this game is a must buy for any RPG player and definitely deserves a good look from anyone wanting to get into the RPG genre. It’s immersive, totally different from anything you’ve ever played It’s more like 30-50 hours, and after you are done playing, you can choose a different clan and get an entirely different experience.

The third is at Deadalfs with an overall score of 8/10:

My last memories of the game (which are assuredly spoiler free) involve surveying the vicinity with my maxed-out Auspex discipline, using blood buff to improve my stealth feat and brutally forcing my Katana through the hearts of my prey, one by one. I remember the satisfaction of creeping up to a supposedly elite warrior and draining them of every last drop of blood. I recall the epic fights. Just me against 8 or more opponents, frantically turning on Celerity and going bullet time with a magnum. I remember thinking I found a safe place to hide from the Werewolf, only for it to crash through the wall, sending the cubicles flying. I remember so much.

.and I think that counts for a lot.

And the fourth is at Pro-G with an overall score of 8/10:

It would be a tragedy, however, to write Bloodlines off as a missed opportunity, because it’s by no means a bad game. Yes, it has bugs. Yes, I’ve noticed quite a bit of stuttering sound when starting conversations. Yes, I’ve been trapped in doors by dodgy clipping. Yes, I’ve had a couple of “Derek Smart’s Desktop Commander” moments. All of these have made this game very hard to objectively score. But then I remember all of the great moments: leaping into a nightclub’s mosh-pit wearing a g-string, a cowboy hat and boots, like a deranged Shania Twain; getting scared witless in the Ocean House kitchen; getting erotic e-mail from a pole-dancing vampress; teasing a ghoul bleeding to death on his own couch; beating a Sabbat vampire to death with a severed arm. The acid test when scoring a bugged game is this: Do the bugs make you want to stop playing? The answer here, for me at least, is “No”. There’s no doubt in my mind that Bloodlines is the best RPG of the last 12 months. It’s not without flaws, none of which should be ignored or forgiven, but they don’t completely kill the game, and that’s the most important thing. The finale of the game is also a tad disappointing when compared to what precedes it, but again, the first half of the game is so outstanding, Bloodlines isn’t a game that should be overlooked.