Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines

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.

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.

First let me state that to play this game and enjoy the benefits, you must meet certain "eligibility" requirements.

First, You need premium hardware to play this game. Second, You are not expecting a fast-paced action intensive game where you go around mindlessly shooting baddies.

The environment and story line is intense. I'm about 60% through the game and have enjoyed every moment of the intricate story line, different quests, and amazingly detailed characters and personalities. The game, apparently, has four endings depending on what choices you make, and NPC's react differently to you whether you are male/female, what clan association, and how your stat pool is allocated. I can't wait to play this game again as a different character and see what new surprises await.

The most enjoyable aspect of this game is NOT combat - the combat engine, to be honest, is sub-par. You must understand that this game is about RPG and interacting with the environment. For example, as you complete different quests, you can watch the television and see the news "spin" the mass media takes on reporting your activities. It's quite hilarious.

I have read about the glitches in the audio/video in the cutscenes and other aspects of the game and would wholeheartedly agree that this game is not bug-free. Be prepared to deal with that until (hopefully) Troika/Activision release patches to address these issues.

FYI- I have a 3.2 Gig dual processor Intel Pentium 4 system with 512 megs ram and 256 mb video card and I have to play the game on lowest resolution to enjoy relatively stable game play.