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It bites. In a good way...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 222 / 241
Date: October 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

Far Better Than the Reviews You've Heard

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 61 / 66
Date: December 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

No one disputes that the graphics are top-notch and it is wonderful to see the Source engine used in an RPG. But, more importantly---I have not experienced the bugs enumerated in the GameSpot.com review or suffered any of the major complaints voiced in game forum boards.

Not only does Vampire: Bloodlines run smoothly, it runs with less bugs and glitches than most games I have bought this year. But, as with any game, it is not without flaws. For example, items in your inventory often do not match their description. If there is a driver's license with Name A, it will be described with Name B, or if there is a picture in your inventory described as having a message written on the back, it will ostensibly remain blank. These are minor flaws in detail, but there are many of them related to your inventory and it shows an inattention to detail and a general lack of polish.

Building experience in most RolePlayingGames almost consists solely of fighting, but there is little to no reward for it in VM:B. The game rewards you for completing objectives--now if an objective is to kill somone, then you will be rewarded for killing them and not for the actual fight. It seems unusual that there is no XP gain from fighting all the enemies in an area. But, it is because of this feature that you learn to focus on the Masquerade and stealth, rather than indeterminate violence.

Much as been said about the long-range weapon system and most of it negative. What Gamespot.com and other review sites either never considered or ignored, is that this is a RPG and not a FirstPerson-Shooter. Your long-range weapon skill develops as your character improves their traits. This is far more realistic and in tune with role-playing. If you could run through the board riddling all the enemies with bullets as in Doom 3 or Half-Life 2, you would never allocate points to combat skills. Besides, anyone who has ever fired a handgun in real-life knows how terrible inaccurate you are initially.

The game is well scripted, the dialogue is mature and suprisingly not as cliched as most, and has excellent voice-work. There are several memorable characters. Although more cinematic, the mission system is similar to ES3: Morrowind's. Different NPC's will give you objectives and often these will conflict or possibly even negate your ability to complete another quest. This is a positive quality because it allows less linear gameplay.

Overall, the game is a worthwhile buy and unique role-playing game. I only hope that it works as well on other computers as it has on mine. If not, check for a patch and then buy it.

THUMBS UP! Great story and nice RPG in a real cool setting.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 47 / 49
Date: November 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

From Niche Market to Broad Appeal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 30 / 38
Date: September 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Like Nihilistic's Vampire the Masquerade - Redemption from four years ago, this game from Troika is loosely based on the p&p Vampire game. From the well-orchestrated previews and interviews, however, it's obviously a much slicker operation. And for fans of vampire lore, much deeper. Players will, this time, be able to choose their character from a number of the clans (including Malkavians!), and this choice will affect dialogue options and game play. The other interesting features are a decision to award xp not on the basis of killing enemies, but completing quests, so those who wish to play stealthy or peaceful (!) characters are not forced to blast everything in sight to go up levels. Plus, the unbalanced skills (feral claws and prison of ice) in the previous game have been reviewed and corrected. Expect witty storyline, and visuals that reach out to a base of players that is much wider than fans of vampire literature. It looks set to be outstanding: so bite me!

need max system to play, but great concept

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

Not Bad, But Not The Best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 27
Date: November 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The good part of this game is you want to do the side shows and journeys.

I have an NVidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and a 3.2 Gig Athlon and its slow as crapola. Load times sometimes over 2 minutes. Lots of Hiccupping. But, hey, that just could be my box. Not yours.

But heres what isn't so good:
1) Sound clips run into each other
2) People pop in and out of some scenes
3) There are few objects to interact with (Wish it was more like Morrowind)
4) Few people, no moving cars, streets empty, seems like a "dead" world?
5) Weapons are less effective than your hands. What? I find spells to be better, but you run out of blood too fast, and still have to use hand-to-hand.
6) Combat sucks.
7) I expected more of vampires. Morrowind is a pretty cool example of what is lacking here. Bloodlines has no sunrise to worry about. Bullets hurt you? Come on. I don't feel like a vampire. I feel like a deranged person sucking on peoples necks, cause a gun acts like a rubber band.

Point is, for 20 bucks it would have been worth it. At 50 bucks, its a rip off.

Honest Review from someone who's played it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: November 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First off, I pre-ordered this, LOOK AT THE DATES OF THE REVIEWERS. Interesting how many "rave" reviews are posted prior to this game being shipped.

Here's the interesting reality, this game is both great, and it stinks.

The game is a fantastic RPG. The plot is well developed, the quests are interesting with a few twists, there are some minor complaints...but none too major. There are not too many time sinks, but actual entertaining quests and puzzles.

However, the game released with numerous bugs. My system well exceeds that which is required...and I've had problems. In fairness there are people who have insisted they've had "no problems" with the game. Funnily enough one person ranted they had NO PROBLEMS no crashing...and then went on to detail 'except for that one time...' 0_o

My personal opinion? Everyone has had problems with this game. However, the extent of those problems seems to be a crap shoot. Certainly if your PC isn't up to par, you'll have difficulties...but many people who did have system specs which far exceeded had fatal bugs that caused crashing so they couldn't complete the game (there have been workarounds posted though).

My honest advice? This game IS worth buying...when it's patched. It's an RPG that is the only one I've seen that could be on par with KOTOR. The dynamics of the world it's set in, is extremely interesting.

The game is extremely 'adult oriented', and they've seemed to go out of their way to do so. Profanity, adult situations, interesting outfits, blah blah blah. I think some of it is meant to be a little shocking, but I didn't find anything offensive personally. But I thought I'd mention that because where KOTOR could be played by younger kids, this game is far more adult.

I gave this game a 5 rating for fun, that's ignoring the bugs and glitches. The bugs and glitches earned it a 1 star. Once that's resolved with patching, that obviously would increase.

Again, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes a really well done RPG, or anyone who likes VTM...once patching resolves the numerous problems. Until then, buyer beware.

Does Character Count?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: December 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I should note that I have not finished the game as yet, but I have spent several hours on it.

One thing I do like about the game is that you get to decide which clan your vampire will belong to (if you can't decide, you can answer a series of questions to find your rightful clan), your character's sex and name. However, other than providing you with particular talents, it don't seem to make too much difference in how you interact with other characters. At least at first. You may belong to a clan that likes to beat people over the head with a tire iron first and ask questions later, but you'll (usually) fair better with cooperation than brute force.

The characters you meet range from the bizarre to well, more bizarre, but I haven't found them as engrossing as in the first game, Vampire Masquerade: Redemption. Like in most role-playing games, you spend most of your time on various missions to accomplish a smaller goal in order to succeed at the larger task on your list.

In Redemption, you were a knight who's overall goal was to rescue your true love. However, in Bloodlines, one seems to be wandering from one task to the next, trying to stay alive, gain skills and not break any sacred vampire rules, without knowledge of an ultimate end goal. You can do some neat things like pick locks and hack computers (more or less, depending on your skills). The music on some of the menus, like the character log, can be annoying, but overall the music during game play is good. Sometimes it is hard to understand what a character said, so I suggest turning on captions. Graphics are good, although after playing Doom 3, it's hard to get excited about any other game's graphics. One thing that's interesting is being able to turn on a TV or radio to catch the news report (or really dumb commercial! ;-) or other information. You can also pick up cans or other objects to throw--usually to distract someone away from his post when you're sneaking around. Atmosphere is well done. One trip into a haunted hotel almost made me jump out of my skin! (Hey wait a minute--I'm supposed to be a vampire!)

You can talk to other characters, but only in a limited way...choosing from various responses which can either be more or less or not at all successful depending on your choice. There is a short tutorial--but if you already know about role playing character sheets, how to sneak in the shadows and other general gaming moves, then you'll probably be bored as your vampire trainer gives you very little in way of background. He shows up after the opening cut scene (long) when you're basically kicked out into the alley. You're approached by a biker looking type vampire. If you agree to let him help you, that starts the tutorial.

If you enjoy the vampire/monster genre, then this is probably the game for you. If you liked TV shows like "Angel" the gritty urban setting is appealing. I would recommend, however for the price to come down from $50 (I should add I RARELY think a PC game is worth $50). And maybe for patch to correct the minor bugs in the game. Try the earlier game, Redemption, if you haven't yet--it's still available.

Bug bites but one happy vampire.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: November 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Before I start my review on Bloodlines I have to start with a confession. . . I disliked the game before I took it out of the box, and purchased it in the hopes that I could tell all of my friends how horrible it was. I think I love it when I'm wrong.
The main reasons for loving this game (also titled why I recommend it to my friends)
1. It will make you want to replay it, not just once but as two or three different clan types.
2. There are a few sections of the game where you will feel chills rolling up your spine, or feel your heart race as you try to get by unnoticed for the tenth time.
3. Real humor, regardless of your taste you will laugh at this game.
4. If it wasn't for the little fact that your playing a vampire the majority of the situations, buildings, prices, and people are pretty realistic.
5. Haven't you always wanted to bite someone on the neck at a nightclub?

Now I've given this a fun rating of 5 stars but an overall of four for a few simple reasons.
1. Some of the cutscene animations are blocky at best, and the voices are often times out of sinc with the bodies. Not to mention the characters themselves don't walk like they are or where human.
2. You have little control over what your character looks like, it would be nice if they had of crammed in a few choices for how your character looked. i.e. hair color, skin color, tattoo's etc... Who wouldn't want a malkav with lime green hair wearing a pair of pants made out of old teddy bears?
3. There are a ton of bugs that go from annoying (doors just not opening the way they should), to anger inducing (crashs when you try to load a game in progress that is different from the one you are playing), to toss the computer outside and step on it (camera flipping around to stare at a blank wall while heads with feet are eating you).
4. A person with a seduction skill of 9 would not say "Give mama some sugar". Some of the dialog strings where weak to say the least and at times there just wasn't enough of a choice to give the character the edge I wanted.

All in all this is an adult oriented KOTOR, if you enjoyed that game and happen to have a thing for vampires check this one out. Make sure your computer has some life to it and I promise you that you will not be sorry. It's something that should be on all of your vampies yule lists.

A World-Class RPG... just patch it first.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: January 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

There's really only one thing wrong with this game... and that's its publisher: Activision. For those who may not know, Activision apparently pressured the development team at Troika Games to hurry Bloodlines out the door before it was completely finished, back in 2004. There are many fine games that have been victimized by this "release it now and patch it later" practice and Bloodlines is one of the unfortunate casualties. Or at least, it could have been.

As a result, the game is extremely buggy out-of-the-box. Some of those bugs are actually game-breaking, but fear not... we can fix it. Thanks to the official patch to the game, plus the numerous "unofficial" (player-made) patches that one can find on the web, Bloodlines can be cleaned up and adjusted -- the way the developers had always intended for it to be.

Once you've accomplished the above, you'll end up with what can best be described as a no-holds-barred, world-class RPG for adults. There are so many wonderful and intriguing storylines in this game, that it would take several pages to cover them all. Suffice it to say that you will be transported into an underworld that is steeped in ghastly horror, thought-provoking depth and more than a little black humor. Bloodlines is not a casual game for kids... it's a mature experience for those who can appreciate the grittier side of life, death and un-death.

Bloodline's voice acting is quite possibly the finest that I've ever heard in any PC game that I've played. The actors clearly immersed themselves into their roles and this aspect of the game serves to strongly reinforce its already convincing nature. There's some profanity and sexual references here and there, but none of it is gratuitous and actually, the game would be weaker without the strong dose of reality that such dialogue injects. By the time you been playing Bloodlines for a few hours, you just might find yourself wondering if vampires could... maybe... actually... be real.

There are a few downsides to this game, all of which are technical in nature. For one, the combat system is a bit clunky at times and firearms seem to be nearly worthless to your character. Most of the fights seem to come down to how fast you can click the mouse and beat your enemies to a pulp. These is really a minor problem, however, especially if you remain aware of the fact that in *this* game, you're a vampire and your undead powers allow you to settle disputes in other ways -- besides simply blowing someone's head off. There are also some minor glitches within the ways that some objects behave in Bloodlines, but those glitches can usually be fixed by quickly saving and then reloading the game, on the spot. Both functions are conveniently hot-keyed, so this is not as annoying as it otherwise could have been.

Overall, I gave Bloodlines five stars, because its value as a bona-fide "RPG noir" totally outweighs any technical aspects of the game. The graphics are excellent (thanks in part to Valve's famous Source engine), the characters are both quirky and ominous at the same time and the storyline is second-to-none. If you're in the mood for an oddball RPG that will keep you immersed for hours on end, then Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines is definitely a game for you.

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