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Could have been a contender ...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Pros:

-great storyline, kept me wanting to learn more and to progress throughout the story. Well-written. -the most beautiful graphics I've seen in a game to date. Shadows! Great, great lighting. -Great adaptation from the pen and paper game.

Cons: - BAD, BAD save game problem. Cannot save at will, must use save points. I downloaded a fix that some person made, allowing me to save everytime I equipped with a torch or a flashlight. And the designers will release a patch that fixes this problem. HOWEVER, it should never have been released like this. - Horrible party AI. Your team members are SO stupid. It's party the problem of the game engine. Most of the time your party will get stuck, and won't help you as you're being attacked by Monster X, Y, or Z. Narrow corridors are enough to cause screaming fits, what with all the stupid AI problems. - Ranged weapons are useless. The stupid party members can't use them right. They either shoot you or they are shooting through a wall. It's very rare, very very rare that they actually hit the enemies. I gave up and equipped everyone with swords. This applies to Dark Ages and Modern weapons. - Little role-playing choices. You have a few dialogue choices that you can make, and some affect your humanity, but overall, the storyline is very rigid.

Vampire is another case of a game being released two weeks too soon. I would have rather waited for those few weeks, than deal with all the problems (that will be fixed in a patch, presumably).

My ideal game? Take the worlds of darkness, and a vampire background, and use the Deus Ex model. I'm not too interested in the Deus Ex story, but the gameplay is superior.

Terrific game, horrible pathing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If this were a review purely about content, then Redemption would get a well deserved 5 stars. Unfortunately, the technical problems drag the entire game down.

The bad:

Horrible pathing! Your party members block you all t he time and walls trap you sometimes. In Neverwinter Nights, party members would just scoot out of the way when you needed to get by them. In Redemption, you need to move around your party. I can deal with that, except you're constantly put in scenarios where your 4 party group is traveling through a tight corridor, and needing to go backwards is a nightmare. I finally gave up and switched control to the lagging member and used that character to move back.

In most other games I've played, you could just 'shove' characters other characters out of your way. That's the best way about it, because when you're mid-fight, the last thing you want to do is reposition a stubborn party member who just won't get out of your way. Absolutely abismal pathing in this game.

There's not much pizazz to the weapons and armor available, either. Guns and ranged weapons are pretty useless in the game, and I've found sticking with the good old shield and sword works better. Again, I blame the developers.

There is little to none available as far as support, and I've only found one patch so far.

The Good:

This game contains THE MOST engaging, engrossing and interesting plotlines I've seen in a game. The story content is unparalleled. You follow Cristof Romuald, a crusader knight of the dark ages who fights in the crusades. He is wounded and nursed back to health in medeival Prague by the beautiful nun, Anezka. You begin the game playing Cristof as a human, and you follow the character through his Embrace and change into vampiric state.

The game is based on White Wolf's 'Vampire: the Masquerade' and 'Vampire: the Dark Ages' tabletop RPG books. The designers of Redemption did a good job of bringing WW's material into the game, and do so in a way that is pleasing to a V:tM fan yet still easy for a beginner to digest. As the plot continues in the game, Christof's sire and friends explain to him about the vampire clans, vampire origins, etc. etc. I had my doubts about getting this game because I doubted a game could do justice to WW's publications, but after playing it, you really can't help but enjoy the story.

Basically, you play Christof through the ages and travel through Prague, Vienna, London, and modern day New York. He's basically on a path to redemption (thus the name of the game is Redemption), and depending on how humanely you act throughout the game, you may or may not receive redemption. (A humanity score is kept.)

With the gaining of experience points, you can buy skill points, and with enough skill points (strength, dexterity, intelligence, charisma, etc.), you can buy discipline points. That's where the real fun is at- the disciplines (vampire powers).

Multiplayer is ok. I heard Redemption's multiplayer capabilities referred to as "Neverwinter Nights Lite." There's not much by way of video-gaming you can do on multiplayer, but you can hold campaigns and assign a storyteller. The storyteller holds GM powers and can access each player's advancement menu to grant exp, control players, speak through players, spawn items, and kill or revive players. So if you'd like an alternative to tabletop and currently play V:tM, you can definitely check this out.

This game is definitely roleplay heavy, and they speak in Ye Olde English (at least Christof and Anezka do). It's not to say it's corny, though. They may say "thee," "thou," "thy," and "hath," but the dialogue and voice acting is *fantastic*.

Despite the (inexcusable) technical problems, Redemption offers the richest content and voice acting I've seen in a game.

I truly hope that game developers will pick up V:tM to base another game on, and hopefully, they'll do justice to all the fabulous content they put in it by making it sufficiently playable.

It's really worth picking up if you're like me and are more an RPG fan than a hack and slash powergamer. If you want a game with a rich story, this one won't disappoint in that aspect. But be warned of the pathing, lack of support, and other gameplay issues.

They're in your World now.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: August 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Thanks to Nihilistic and Activision, PC gamers can finally play the game that has mesmerized tabletop RPG fans for years. Those who have a thirst for creative freedom will want to sink their teeth in to Vampire

While Vampire's presentation is as good as it gets for an RPG, it's a little clunky for the intense action Vampire tries to provide. Highly detailed characters spout purple prose in the one-player story, while point-and-click controls don't work that well with the clingy camera, making retreat and precision attacks nearly imossile. Plus, the one-player game seems under-designed; You may waste hours on an implied quest just to learn later on that you could've won earlier by simply hitting the bad guy with a stick. That's disappointing in a game based on an RPG system that emphasizes social role-playing ovr constant combat. Redemption's innovative multiplayer mode, however, easily sets the standard for all future RPG's. Vampire's Storyteller mode allow you to create your own stories and play as game master while three friends roam your world. Powerful editing tools enable you to create entire cities and script your own events, while an enthusiastic online community exists to support your fledgling chronicles.

Because there are better hack-n-slash games on the market (from Diablo II to Darkstone), Vamire's frail one player game offers little reason for purchase. Still, its multiplayer mode saves Vampire from eternal extinction. If you're a budding storyteller and want to create custom worlds, then you should seek Redemption.

Good Multi-player, if you can find the right people....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first started playing this game, I realized several things. First, the single player is pretty weak. This game was obviously designed as primarily a multi-player game. Single player CAN be fun, but for a RPG, the game is pretty linear. I mean, you can pick from several pre-designed phrases when talking to certain NPC's. According to what responses you pick, your "humanity" rating will either be raised or lowered. Humanity is basically defined as how "human" your character still is. In other words, if your character has low humanity, then you are closer to becoming a monster, and if it drops completly to 0, then you don't have any more control over your character, and you have to start from you last save point. Naturally, only the most sadistic and demented players will actually reach a score of 0, as you literally have to go and kill civilians over and over to get a score that low. However, I've found a way around this. If you use the spell "Theft of Vitae", you can get all the blood from humans you want, and your humanity score will not be lowered! Yet, if you "feed" from a human (meaning you bite the person and drain their blood in the "traditional" vampiric way) and actually kill them through doing this, your humanity score will go down. The manual is also not very clear on what raising your humanity actually involves. I literally had to play through the game several times before I realized what things I had to say in order to have a higher humanity rating. However, at the end of the game, if your humanity is very low, let's say 5 (out of 100), the last boss will say something to you, and you will have three choices to pick. Thus, you can get all three endings by having a low humanity score! Yet if your humanity score is high, (I think above 50), then you only get the "good" ending, and you can't even see the other ones! Obviously, then, there's almost no incentive to keep your humanity high, which is one of the most critical (and tragic) elements of any Vampire:The Masquerade game.

The multi-player is where this game really shines. If you are playing with people who are actually serious about playing the game the way it was meant to be played (i.e. role playing) this game is a blast. The "storyteller", or person that hosts the game, has the option to create enemies, objects, props, etc. and so the levels can be customized pretty much any way you want them to be. However, unless you're good with programming, you will have to use the "pre-made" levels, although you can fill these levels with whatever you want to. There IS an option for more experienced players to create their own levels, though you have to have a special programming tool for this (which was not released with the game, you have to go and download it for yourself). I believe the name for it is the NOD SDK, but I could be mistaken. In either case, it's readily available on almost any web-site related to Vampire:The Masquerade-Redemption, although the "official web site" ... is where I'd go for most of this stuff.

Overall, Vampire is a decent single player game, and it has the potential to be an excellent multi-player one. Like any game that you play online, the amount of fun you have is largely influenced by the people that you play with, so it's important to make sure you find people that are serious about role-playing. That is, unless you want to join a game where all you do is hack-and-slash, because the majority of games that are created seem to be more like that. Still, like with any good game, it supports people who want either/or, you're not forced to roleplay if you don't want to, nor do you have to hack-and-slash.

Very good and relatively spooky

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: August 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I love Vampire fiction, and i also love an RPG

This game, is relatively easty, the puzzles aren't that hard, so it dosen't take a long time to do what the mission requires from you!

Graphics : are extremely clean, good and professionally done.

Sound : Unlike many good games, the sound and music of this game, is very good! the music is spooky yet fun to listen to.

Stability: Many games with good graphics have lousy stability, ... but Vampire: THe masquerade Redemption is very stable! all movements of the characters are stable and well animated!

There are a few things however that i do not like: (maybe i haven't calibrated the graphics yet)

When you put on a..., for example a helmet, it isn't shown on your character! and in the cutscenes, the weapons aren't shown, nor the armor and such!!!

But that dosen't affect my love for the game, in the other hand, the animations and such of the cutscenes, are very well done! If you liked any RPG, or/and Vampire fiction, this is a game you'll like it's fun, has many, yet relatively easy puzzles good graphics, cool animations, cool weapons!

Legions of the Night and Disciples of White Wolf, rejoice!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: June 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Even if you're more of a slayer of evil than one of the Kindred, there's a lot here to sink your fangs into. The graphically impressive, musically enticing single player is one of the best Ive seen in awhile. The artwork is in fact, very true to form, you might even think for a moment that you are in the simplistic ancient Prague or Vienna vistas or in the ghoul infested foggy London streets. The music is quite effective at conveying the mood of the different settings of the game, from the elegance of the Prince's Manor, to the partyesque Rave Club. The sound effects are equally well done, with rain and lightning and creaking gates at appropriate places, and the clock tower in ancient Prague actually tolls its bell, which impressed me. One of my favorite locations is the Tower of London, which, after climbing to its top floor, you are treated to a windowside view of an angry sky, from which brilliant lightning bolts stream out, also barely illuminating the darkened tower, with the sound effects matching that, as well as rattling chains and creaking gates, you will feel like you're there. The "Nod Engine" as its known is very well designed, as is the storyline, taking you from medieval Prague, to the more modern New York and London scenes. One gripe I do have though, is its multiplayer. The Storyteller system, which I find both deep and interesting isnt the problem here. The problem is connecting to won.net, its main server, via various networks. There is a common problem that many ISP's will not let games connect, due to firewalls, proxies or other hazards. Activision knows this and is hard at work on a fix, which I hope comes soon. The Storyteller system seems to be quite true to the pen and paper game though, as the host can take an empty level, and position various monsters, props, and items wherever he wishes. Not only that, but he can then set up scenes and events to happen at certain points in the game, or as certain criteria is met. He can also set characters, as merchants and such, and let them do their jobs, or possess them, and switch back to character mode, becoming that character. A unique experience for sure, but one that screams limitless options and quests, and begs replayability. I know this title has been awhile in coming, and was it worth the wait? Join the Crusades and drink up!

Valiant effort, but not quite

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: August 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The idea is sound enough: Follow the life of a Vampire throughout the ages, in different parts of the world, battling different creatures of the night. If they had managed to make this game more suitable to a wider audience of people with mediocre computers, it would have been a lot better. The Gameplay, equipment and character management are all remeniscent of tried-and-true Diablo. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that the large 3D areas you will encounter will leave the game very choppy, even on Maximum installation. In short, I would recomend this game to anyone who has a very high end computer, and enjoyes RPG games. If your like me with an average computer..I'd have second thoughts.

Pros: + In depth story + Equipment and Character Management is good + Good Cutscenes

Cons: - Game becomes very slow at times, even on my Pentium Celeron 500 with 96 Megs RAM, with Voodoo 8 Meg Graphics Card - Giant Resource Hog.. (1.25 GB for max install) - Combat is more than a little mundane

Gothic, beautiful, dark and wonderful.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The deep inner horror of what it must be to become a creature of the night is truly unveiled in this erotic and intriguing game and I was fascinated to watch this passion play unfold. You feel the utter tragedy of Christof's life as he is turned into a vampire against his will, destroying his life, his dreams and desires. I am somewhat loathe to discuss it in the normal terms of video games: it feels far more than your basic hack and slash/ Kill the monster/cool graphics game. It is the story that is most intriguing. On that note: the game is wonderful, allowing you to play a vampire and get caught up in the moment without dealing with the often hard to follow rules of the original paper & pen V:TM RPGs. The graphics are great: you see reflections, and shadows! The "monsters" that you must fight and destroy are drawn in gruesome detail -- the war ghouls and nosferatu are practically worth the price of the game alone! Two thumbs up.

Not bad, but WW fans beware.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The other reviews sing the praises of this game enough. And I'm forced to agree with most. The graphics are great and the storyline will please most hardcore Vampire fans, or RPG fans alike.

My main problem was with the fact that White Wolf canon was tossed out the window for this game. My biggest desire for this game was being that it was Vampire, but it only loosly stuck to World of Darkness canon. It was more of a story driven, vampire fighting game instead of the deep intrigue and layers of manipulation V:tM fans look for. Actually, it would have been better as a Werewolf: the Apocalypse game then Vampire due to the heavy fighting involved.

Vampires can drink from one another at will without fear of bonding, they can walk around during the day (not in sunlight, though), Disciplines are far more hassle then they're worth (though there are a lot you'll use very, very few), and the Sabbat are laughable (where are the Lasombra? and what's up with all those Sabbat Ventrue?).

I enjoyed the game a great deal for what it was worth. A beautiful, enjoyable RPG that had enough WW influence to keep me satisfied. As soon as you get over the poor representation of WW canon you'll enjoy it. I just wish they could have at least made the Sabbat more....Sabbat.

If you love vampires

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is such a wonderful game. It's funny when you suck someone's blood they moan. LOL. The story line is awesome. However, it is true that when you're online creating a story with other players it depends on how good the people who are hosting their own room are for that to be good. However, you can create your own storyline so if you don't like other people's rooms make your own!! I LOVE THIS GAME!! I want it to come out with a sequel sooooo bad!! I beat the game and I LOVED IT!! There are three different endings!!! I won't tell you what they are I'll just say please!!! SAVE YOUR GAME BEFORE YOU BEAT THE LAST BAD GUY IN THE GAME!!!!! That way you can see the other two endings...

How to get the Ultra Happy Ending: Make sure your humanity is REALLY HIGH!!!!

The Okay ending: Below 50 Humanity

Bad bad ending: This may or may not be a spoiler I don't know, but to get a BAD ending say yes to the offer the bad guy gives you.

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