Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines was a first-person action roleplaying game that came out in 2004 in the heyday of the FPS RPG boom, when titles like Deus Ex and The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind were flying off the shelves. The franchise went dormant for a while, but it has risen from the grave -- but personally, I wish it were still buried.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, from developer The Chinese Room, brings back the FPS RPG, but it misses on so many marks. It offers players little beyond the experience of playing a hip vampire in a near-future downtown Seattle. I had played only a short burst of the original game, which offered more of a storyline, customization, and sense of badassery than all my time with its successor.
In Bloodlines 2, players take the role of Phyre, an elder vampire known as the Nomad, awakened from a century-long slumber by Fabien, a vampire detective. In what feels like a clear copy of Cyberpunk 2077, Phyre tears apart Fabien's body, and the detective's spirit is now embedded in Phyre's mind. The two must solve who put the mark on Phyre's hand and the conspiracy involving a vampire serial killer from a century ago.
The premise sounds interesting until you realize how the RPG and detective elements are pretty inconsequential. The "roleplaying" and "crime-solving" parts that should form the core of the gameplay barely exist.
Even for a vampire game, this sucks
Probably the only positive aspect of the game is the titular Masquerade mechanic. Vampire: The Masquerade, which started as a tabletop RPG in the early '90s, focuses on vampires hiding from humans in a world much like ours, following rules known as the Masquerade.
Bloodlines 2 incorporates this like GTA's wanted system. If you're in public, double jumping, using powers or biting someone makes the meter rise from green to red. You can hide or climb away from humans to reduce it. Max it out, and vampire enforcers charged with upholding the Masquerade will stake you without any notice. This system works well with Phyre, trying to blend in with humans, and it does help with the idea of trying to live a life in the modern world as a vampire.
The rest of the game is kind of sparse. There's no leveling system or stats. XP only unlocks abilities tied to your clan of choice: Brujah, Tremere, Banu Haqim, Ventrue and Toreador, all catered to different playstyles. If you want to punch people at superfast speed, you'd go with the aggressive Brujah clan or be able to stay stealthy with the Banu Haqim. As an elder vampire, Phyre can actually learn the other clan's abilities as well, but that's the extent of the roleplaying options available, as Phyre is going to be as powerful regardless of which clan you're in.
Despite a slew of abilities, combat is pretty dull. You can hypnotize, freeze time, or make blood boil, but otherwise you're limited to punches and kicks. Phyre has telekinesis to throw knives or shoot guns, but never equips weapons. Dodge and parry are available, and with enough practice, enemies can be dealt with pretty easily. All in all, the combat is so limiting and offers fewer options than its predecessor, which came out more than 20 years ago.
Phyre can do some damage with his claws. Paradox Interactive
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