Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Review

Then there are the sound bugs; one bug that I found particularly annoying was the lagging sound of footsteps. Bloodlines is a scary game, people. Besides some fantastic voice acting, it also features some genuinely creepy indoor locations and ambient sounds. Often times this game would scare the shit out of me. The only problem is that when I walk and suddenly decide to stop, the sound of my footsteps would lag for about 2-3 seconds, making it sound like I was being followed by someone. Yes, this is very annoying, and it will often times piss you off (I can attest to this. The number of times I've walked back in forth trying to find out if I was being followed, and I never was, was maddening. Eventually I got over it, but it does scare the hell out of you at first -Ed.).

Hi, I was the president of my class before they turned me into a vampire.

Hey, don't touch my rig, man! I'm an AWP whore and damn proud of it!

Another problem I've had with the technical side of things was with the AI. The AI is very rudimentary and frequently quite bad. The enemies will get stuck on stuff in the environment and exhibit supernatural environmental awareness even though they are mere uniformed cops or security guards (or street hookers). Programming-wise this game feels very unpolished to say the least, so if you're the type of gamer that's looking for whiz-bang graphics to impress him while he plays, 'Vampire' might not be the right game for you. The redeeming factor for both 'Vampire' and the Source engine in this game are the superb facial animations, which coupled with the expressive voice acting, make to story gripping and immersive... oh yeah, and the bouncing boobies.

I can understand why Troika wanted to license this particular engine for Bloodlines, but it's obvious that they still have a lot to learn about utilizing its full potential (which was so evident in Half-Life 2). After a couple of patches, the game will feel a lot more polished, so let's hope both Activision and Troika make sure this happens.

'Vampire' is a game not to be taken lightly. Although the sequel is masqueraded as being this Source-engined eye-candy experience, it is really all about the depth of gameplay (the RPG elements and the non-linear quests) and the thrilling, moving and spirited narrative. You must remember where Troika is coming from, folks, so you need to approach this title with the right frame of mind. Personally, I've relished in some of the quests, and in the subtle innuendos scattered all across the scenery. I applaud and congratulate the writers and wholeheartedly recommend this title to those of you who can look past its many technical drawbacks to see the game for what it truly is - probably one of the most mature titles (in EVERY sense of the word) I've played in a long, long... long time.

Closing Comments by Jackson "Smapdey" Johns: I agree with everything that 2Lions said, although I played through as a Ventrue and it's a bit different. Playing as vampire nobility, having a chance of vomiting if I drink the blood of the homeless or prostitutes. Everyone treated me like pure gold, and there was never a time where I couldn't get what I wanted, just by virtue of being a really high class Vampire. All of the clans are different, with different abilities, appearance, and treatment, this provides a lot of replay value. I'm going to play through again to see what it is like to be of a different clan.