User Reviews (31 - 41 of 125)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Remember Kindred...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It's like this: This game is one of the buggiest titles I've ever played, and it is also one of my most favorite. It has one of the best storylines in a video game, you can chose how you want to play different levels(a la Deus Ex), and it looks pretty.

It should be recommended that you have at least a Gigabyte of RAM, as the 512mb recommendation really isn't enough.

Bloodlines, a game about a story

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Troikas Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is a Computer Roleplaying Game.
But what you might associate with Computer roleplaying games, such as boring slaughter of mindless critters for the shallow reward of Experience, Item-fetishism (the search for the Mega Holy Slayer Sword +12 or the Uber Ultra Superarmor +5 ) as well as a "Level" system that feels horribly unrealistic and unattached to the story.
Bloodlines is the Opposite of that.

Many previous Roleplaying games have approached the genre from the Dungeons and Dragons perspective, a way of playing that has it's roots in the 70s when Roleplaying as a hobby was young.
Vampire the Masquerade however approaches the genre from the opposite direction. The approach that is called "Storytellers perspective". Simply the rules are supposed to be as non-intrusive as possible, while still having an impact on the game and story.

And the story is in short pure genious.
It features interesting characters, marvelously well thought out scenery and a plot that is simply mindboggling.

The World is that of White Wolfs (a company producing Roleplaying Games) World of Darkness, an occult gothic horrorversion of our world where there are vampires (and assorted other undead including zombies, revenants and mummies), werewolves, ghosts, magicians and sorcerors, church sponsored inquisitors and vampire hunters, angels and demons.
All who live behind a shadowy viel of secrecy to hide their existance from mankind.
You will meet many of these creatures and characters, in many different enviroments (everything from creepy mansion asylums, to wierd clubs, biker bars, sewers, strange hospitals, slums, fire-damaged hotels, victorian theatres, mysterious freight ships and places that could only have been spawned in your nightmares). Yet however diverse the scenery and characters it will all feel very integrated and immersive, thanks to the superbly crafted story and characters as well as wonderful voiceacting and soundtrack.

Your own character is a newly created vampire, an outsider who by "misfortune" is created outside the powerful powerpyramid of vampire society. So with many who wish you dead, and many more who wish to play you as a pawn you try to survive and thrive as well as you can, playing the deadly powergame that is Vampire society.
You never know who you can trust to tell the truth, you knever know who is on your side, on their side or who is playing you for a pawn and you never know what is going to happen next (although if you have a really good memory and is really observative, or simply playing the game a second time you'll notice the dozens of little cryptic or non-obvious hints that are found through out the game).

For someone who is familiar with Vampire the Masquerade, or even if you've just viewed the TV series Kindred: the Embraced, this is all familiar territory (even if Bloodlines is more varied in it's characters than Kindred: the Embraced).
To a PC gamer who isn't familiar with any of the Vampire the Masquerade material, the feeling is pretty much like Deus Ex, just replacing conspiracies of Shadow goverments, aliens and viral plagues with their occult counter parts (mysterious societies, the apocalypse, ancient prophecies, portents etc).

Now, ontop of this story we have decent gameplay.
The perspective is either First Person Shooter or Third Person (as seen in many 3D console games).
Close combat might feel clunky at first (before you get to know the tricks) and the choice of weapons sometimes feels unintuitive.
That however will go away as soon as you get familiar with the system, and for example realize that bladed weapons (that you first avoided because they seemingly did less damage than your fists) are more effective against vampires and other foes (like zombies). While this is a rulemechanic it feels natural once you've immersed yourself. After all, if the myths of zombies, demons and vampires have something in common it's that they can take alot of beating, and can only really be taken care of by being decapitated/dismembered/chopped into bits.

Ranged combat is a bit more clunky.
Rifles and automatic weapons will never really feel all that natural in your hands, and the bread and butter of ranged combat will take place with the various handguns and shotguns that can be bought, negotiated for or found in various places.
This could be a failure by Troika... Or it could simply be a way to encourage you to go hand to hand with the various beasts (after all, you are a vampire, lets not have that super-human strenght go to waste). Don't forget ranged weaponry completely though, since while your character is good at close combat, the enemy bosses (and some other creatures) are even better.

Mow you, as the reader of this review, is probably thinking.
"So the story is supposed to be superb, the sound is excellent and this guy is really into the game, why isn't it a 5 out of 5).

Well, first of all, Bloodlines isn't Bug free.
Infact Troikas failure to master Valve's Source graphics and physics engine will continue to be an annoyance through out the game with annoying oddly out of sync cutscenes, poor scripting (I can't retell the most obvious examples since that would be a massive story spoiler), graphics below what could have been achieved, sometimes bugs that you'll have to enter console commands to get through (although all needed information is available at Activision online technical support) and last but definitly not least, horribly non-optimized graphics resulting in graphical stuttering(luckily never at critical moments, at least not for me).
So if you're incredibly annoyed with those kind of things Bloodlines is not your game. However some good patching should fix those problems (so you might want to wait for the patch).
A good patch would definitly improve my 4 out of 5 star Fun rating to 5 out of 5.

Second thing that detracts from the perfect score is that the story and enviroment of Bloodlines isn't for everyone.
Concerned parents should be aware that Bloodlines IS NOT CHILD FRIENDLY and quite filled with content that is not aligned with christian (or almost any other religion for that matter) morals.

This isn't Disney or The Sims. This is a game that takes place in the shadiest parts of an occult version of Los Angeles (which is even shadier and more violent than the real one). There is sleaze, nudity, violence, seduction as means of power/profit, swearing, murders, lies, mature and harsh language, alot of occult concent and quite a few other things unsuitable for young kids.
The sheer level of Gore and blood is a case unto itself. There is ALOT of it. As you're playing a vampire drinking blood is an integral mechanic of the game. Also when you kill your often very human (or human looking) enemies blood by shooting them or beating them into a pulp there will be blood spilt and landing on the floors, the walls and the roofs. Also some of the more nightmarish areas of the game will feature blood sprayed pretty much everywhere.

But of course, unless your kids have been very sheltered (or raised in a quiet part of the world) they've probably been exposed to all of this before they were 15 (from the TV, newspapers, books etc etc) and have a firm grasp of what is fact and what is fiction. At least I remember that I had when I was that age (and that being raised in an upper-middle class genuine Mother, Father and Kids family with conservative normal and wholesome family values).
While you might take a while consider if this game is right for your teenager it's definitly NOTHING for your 9-year-old (the content, visual and otherwise, is simply too mature).
To Troikas defense, the violence never seems unmotivated or out of place and the game penalizes killing innocents as well as thuggism (and often encourages players to take the non-violent path when that is possible), so this isn't like games by for example Rockstar Games (where meaningless violence is infact encouraged). It's simply a depiction of a harsh brutal world of darkness populated by equally unsavory characters.
The only really unmotivated dive into the lake of sin is if you play the game as a female character, which will mean alot of hints towards lesbianism, mainly since the story changes between playing a male or a female does not extend to providing potential male seduction victims.

Summary
Excellent Story and realization of White Wolfs World of Darkness.
Excellent Sound, Music and Voiceovers.
Good graphics (But below the potential of Valves Source Engine).
Good Gameplay with the possible exception of combat with ranged weapons (especially automatics and rifles).
Very mature content with events of of sleaze, nudity, harsh and mature language and amoral behavior (seduction for profit and power, murder, lying etc etc) as well as high levels of blood, gore and occult concent.
Quite alot of Bugs and graphical glitches.

Excellent game with a few rough edges

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hey, this has got to be one of the best RPG's (maybe the best) to come out recently. Excellent atmosphere and well conceived characters -- especially your vampire avatar (you're given everything you need to build a unique, interesting and powerful character). The NPC's and exteriors of various sections of LA are beautifully done. And what could be hotter than to have your own human female "blood doll" living in your "haven", ready to give money, gifts and her blood anytime you need it (this is the closest thing to sex I've seen in a video game -- humans go into a state of ecstasy when vampires take their blood). You can also pick up girls at nightclubs (or prostitutes on the street) and do the same thing. And if your "seduction" feat is high enough you can have an incredibly erotic friendship (hot dialog, valuable photo+poster, email poems and love letters) with a beautiful stripper/kindred (Velvet "VV" Velour) in Hollywood.

The combat is great (and realistic -- you've got to learn how to shoot a gun with some XP's, lessons from NPC's or even reading books before you can really hit anything -- just like in "real life"). Same thing with melee combat -- you need to build up some strength, moves and skill (and acquire decent weapons) to do much damage. And then, above all, there are your vampiric "powers" or disciplines (different for each clan or "bloodline"). I chose to be a member of the Tremere clan. My Thaumaturgy ("blood magic") discipline is a force to behold. I especially like the way XP's are used in Bloodlines. You don't "level up"; rather, you use your earned XP's to increase individual skills of your choosing. I think this allows for much greater character customization than the D&D type RPG's.

The quests are usually very involving/interesting -- with some very challenging boss fights against quite unique characters. Bloodlines is a very good game, and, with this in mind, it's truly a shame that a better developer or, perhaps more talented programmers didn't handle it. There are some annoying bugs and some parts simply have a rough, unfinished quality to them. (A minor example: There's an important scene in Santa Monica where two wacked out Malkavian "sisters" in the same body -- a split personality -- argue about killing each other, but the sound keeps stuttering. Very annoying -- especially when your handling this unusual situation just right gives you the most XP's). Other times people arbitrarily wink out and wink back in during cut scenes (or there are other distracting problems). No excuse for this.

The game has generally run quite well on my computer with no crashes or serious problems. This is largely due to an official patch (Version 1.2) which seems to fix most major problems. It's widely available for download (about 15MB); make sure you install it. Scenes load pretty often, but it doesn't take long, and I hardly notice it anymore. And just consider the incredible replay value of this game: There are males and females of several different vampire clans ("bloodlines") -- all with different characteristics and powers. Additionally, I understand there are 4-5 completely different endings (your access to each ending -- or all of them -- depends upon how you played the game). This can keep you busy for a while, so if you want an interesting, involving, truly different ADULT game experience, try Vampire: Bloodlines. It really does rock.

(I've heard that many people are upset about dialog spelling mistakes. I've had no problem with this, probably because I don't have the NPC's portion of the dialog appear on screen -- only my response choices. My hearing's okay, so why do I need to see the text? This also gives most first-person RPG's a more "cinematic" quality -- as recommended by Bioware re KOTOR.) I guess I should add that this is not a game for people who freak easily when everything's not exactly perfect or who are hyper-critical or detail oriented. To me, the overall game experience is what counts, and this one is well worth overlooking a few bugs or working around them -- if it becomes necessary. I was SO into this game, I was truly sorry when it ended (replays are great but never quite as good as the first play-through).

the might of the vampire

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

fantastic game set in the vampire/human world worth the money and do pay attention to the system requirements to run the game.
i havent had any of the problems other people are complaining about no bugs or glitches on my end.
now to the game great story line as well as interactive features as far as objects and npcs you interact with.
i think my biggest complaint and it is with the entire gaming industry now mind you i am a hardcore gamer i would love to see more tittles like this but with more open end play,more npcs,side quest as well as main quest,make it more real with the issue of well for example if this was real you can do mature themes well you get the picture.
one thing i look for in a game is the replayability and this has it.
great great i mean great graphics,gameplay,music,npcs now to the con i feel the developer couldve made it more smooth and more appealing as far as mature themes and made it alot bigger world to roam and like in other games the ability to set up shop etc.
but overall i was pleased with the game you play a vampire doing quests after quests im not going to reveal to much of the story line sorry dont beleive in spoilers.
if your into the vampires then this game is for you there are alot of things you can do and the game does a nice job bringing you into the world of the vampire.
this version i alot better than redemption in my opinion i do want to state once again pay attention to the system requirements.
i highly reccomend this game to everyone well worth the tiem and money.
shut off the lights draw the curtains turn up the sound and prepare to have fun and do keep your fangs clean.

Still one of the best games ever made.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Sure it's got a few glitches here and there. But it was still good enough for me to play through seven times, breaking the previous record (five) set by Max Payne. No game before or since has done as good a job of immersing you in another world as Bloodlines does. This is what every other RPG should be aspiring to. (Just make sure to pick up all the patches.)

Could have been a classic...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: June 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game could have been great. When I started playing it, I thought this would be one of the few games with true replay value, since the characters are so different and intriguing in their own way.

Unfortunately, the game is so buggy that it is hardly playable, and that is with the latest patches applied! I have several quests I am not able to complete due to bugs. Some of them, the game will simply not recognize as completed, and others crash the game at the end of the quest. Argh!

I understand that it is a lot of work to make role playing games, and I also understand that the logical web can be quite complex. But at the end of the day, this comes down to a good development and QA process. No rocket science here. It's simply a matter of getting the logic straight. A task developers of business applications master in much more complex scenarios every day.

Unfortunately, Troika has gone out of business since they made this game. Too bad too, because overall, they were a good company. However, this game I do not quite understand. Apparently they had to wait before they could release this game since it was based on Valve's Source engine and therefore, this game could not be released before Half Life 2. Well, if that is true, then why didn't they have time to iron out all the bugs? Or use the source engine a bit better? Graphics are good but not great, and as you move around in the world, you get a lot of flicker and the camera often keeps jumping back and forth like crazy. To a point that it's nauseating. If this was Troika's last attempt to keep the company going, then I have to say I am sorry, but this was not even close! No wonder they didn't have more people buy this disappointment.

Don't get me wrong. I had fun with this game. When it works, it is pretty cool. But at the state this is in, I can only recommend it to hardcore Vampires fans.

Obsolescent's Ugly Mug

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game very hyped up about it. I'm a fan of both Half-Life and White Wolf's paper and pencil Vampire game. My computer was, what I thought, pretty fly. This changed when I tried to install the game. It crashed my computer 6 times and killed my internet connection twice. (I'm the persistant type.) Finally I got the game to go pass the splash screens onto the main menu. I tried to play it then. It works, barely. The moral of the story is this - If you don't exceed the hardware requiements by a nice margin, don't buy this game. The minimums don't cut it. The graphics are full of holes, the load times take forever, the video and sound are out of sync, and the game will sometimes freeze for no apparent reason, only to resume in a couple of minutes. I've taken to reading a book while I play, so that I can wait out the lag.
On a positive note, it seems to be a great story, the haunted house I just finished creeped me out. I enjoy the people in the game. The sisters who run the club are my favorites for now. The one or two EX point per quest kind of irk me, they are still fun to do.

=)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I still play this game and I bought it when it first came out. It's fun but it "can" have glitches, mine were all audio related on my old old computer(when I first got the game) but I got a new system so they aren't a problem anymore. This game is fun to play so just buy it already. It was much better than the first installment of this series and I am also awaiting another title to come out. If you like vampires and rpg games then give this a chance. v-v

Novel and Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Vampire: Bloodlines wasn't perfect when it was first released, but recent patches have corrected the minor glitches that marred it on release. You are not given much ability to customize the look of your vampire, which is a drawback, but you are given a selection of different types of characters to play. The insane Malkavians will make a different play experience than the repulsive Nosferatu, whom must stick to the sewers because they are so monster-like.
The game itself is beautifully done, with faces coming to life as they talk. Graphically, the game really shines, though there are some glitches. The game has insane attention to detail, from humorous magazine covers to disturbing collections of human parts, you are immersed in multiple levels of detail.
The story will keep you playing. Some of the quests are simply amazing. The haunted house mission gives you a taste at how flexible the game really is as you discover a sub-story about how a hotel became haunted. And in the process you jump out of your seat multiple times.
The combat is relatively simple, especially if you choose to be a melee fighter. One drawback is that melee combat forces you into third person mode, which lacks the polish of 1st person mode. But ranged combat is particularly fun, as enemies hide behind crates and duke it out with you in a genuine firefight. It is a delightful mix of first person shooter and RPG!
This game is fun, with quests that will scare you and keep you interested, great graphics, and generally innovative combat.

Great RPG, not an FPS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: December 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

WARNING! "Vampire: The Masqerade - Bloodlines" is not a first person shooter. It is, however, a great RPG, filled with terrific script, intriguing story, a sense of mystery, unprecedented character interactions, dazzling style, lots of colorful personalities, and a cool role-playing system. It doesn't live up to being the spiritual successor to Deus Ex, but it is still better than any other PC RPG so far this year.

To start with, this game is beautiful to look at. Is it as astounding as Half-Life 2? No, but that's not exactly saying anything. A regular Corvette isn't as great as a Calloway Corvette, but that doesn't mean that the regular 'Vette isn't great. The game features a huge variety of highly detailed and beautiful environments that show the glamour and sleaze of LA. Goth night clubs line the streets next to convenience stores and porn shops. The streets are lit up with neon while the bums and prostitutes stand around flaming barrels.

The best part about the look of the game is the NPC's. Characters show realistic facial expressions that change based upon what dialog options you select. Dialog in this game becomes the best part, largely because of the realism that these characters show. The games numerous NPC's don't suffer from the "attack of the clones" problem, except for the bums and prostitutes. This is a highly underappreciated quality for this game. Some graphical weaknesses are the walking, running, and fighting animations for the game's various characters. Some animations are done poorly. Some of the NPC's in combat seem like they only have a few frames of animation. This game could have really used some motion capturing.

The voice-acting for the game's huge script is excellent. The writing, itself, is excellent, and hearing it delivered by the game's interesting characters is a real treat. The firearms also sound great. The licensed music is very good too, and so is the moody ambient music that plays in the game's various areas. Unfortunately, the audio does have some problems. One of them is the low variety of ambient and licensed music, which ends up looping quite a bit. The audio also has some hiccup glitches from time to time, and enemies in combat only have one or two barks, which aren't very convincing. Every set of enemies uses the same sound bites - this sticks out like a sore thumb as a cheap shortcut. There is also a nagging glitch in the audio that causes your footsteps to be heard a full second after you stop walking.

"Vampires" has a somewhat simple but very unique and flexible role-playing system. There are seven clans to choose from, each of which has their own unique traits. You start off working for the LA Prince of the Camarilla, a strict society whose rules revolve around preserving The Masquerade -- the process by which Vampires keep themselves a secret from humanity. Your character has a bunch of attributes for fighting, infiltration, stealth, and persuasion or seduction. He/she also has three disciplines, which are supernatural powers that can be used for a short period of time. There are no levels in the game. You receive points to assign each time that you complete a quest.

The true highlight of the game is solving the game's various quests while exploring all of the environments and interacting with all of the characters. "Vampire" has a cast of colorful characters that easily rivals any RPG ever made. Or any game, for that matter. Dialog is even better than "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic", and that's saying a lot. The dialog is often influenced by your conversation skills. Special lines of dialog only show up if your skills in intimidation, persuasion, or seduction are high enough. The game forces you to make some pretty tough choices and live with their consequences, so you had better watch what you say and do. The quests have you doing some pretty interesting stuff, like shutting up a blabbermouth who is breaking the Masquerade, infiltrating a museum, and investigating the origin of a bizarre snuff film. This game earns its "M" rating, and is not for the faint of heart.

Combat is clunky and not very deep, but it's still fun. The game does a good job of mixing your role-playing stats with your twitch gamer abilities. Combat generally involves using one or more special abilities while furiously clicking the mouse during melee, or doing your best to move and shoot your guns. You also can feed on enemies during combat, which you will often need to restore your health and blood level. Firearms are somewhat underpowered damage-wise, but using them keeps you safe if you're not very tough. This imbalance isn't as bad as you find in lots of 3D RPG's, which always seem to favor melee combat. Combat usually isn't the strength of these types of games, and "Vampires" is no exception.

The worst part about this game though, is the tiny areas and annoying amount of loading screens. "Bloodlines" has literally dozens of tiny maps. Some maps are only one room. Yes, one room. This means that you are constantly looking at loading screens throughout the game. This game would have benefited from a better layout of the maps. The video also seems under optimized, as there are occasional frame rate slowdowns in the streets and during combat. Thankfully, I did not encounter any of the famous big bugs that have hit other people playing this game.

The game lasts about 30-50 hours, and after you are done playing, you can choose a different clan and get an entirely different experience. This is especially true if you are a Malkavian, since this clan gets an entirely unique set of dialog. Any game that gives you this much content in the box deserves praise.

Despite its many rough edges, "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" is a resounding success as an RPG, and it is Troika's best game to date. If you are looking for another first person shooter, then you'll be disappointed. If you are looking for a role-playing game with great dialog and tons of colorful characters, then you need look no further than here.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions