Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

The quintissential LA simulator, and also a great vampire game. Throws you back to the days of 2004 and the classic World of Darkness. Delightfully janky models and animations, subopar gunplay, but an absolute masterclass in roleplaying.

Who is to say that action games cannot be RPGs? Here we have a first and third person action game with tabletop origins, and the only video game one can claim has outright more role-playing than it is Fallout 2. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Troika's final game and the first ever Source game, is one of the best games ever made. It is a matured RPG with fully voiced characters barring the protagonist. Many clans (races) to choose from and a faithful, in-depth representation of VTM's stat system, more comprehensive than most of today's isometric 2.5D RPGs. And a ton more role-playing and better writing quality as well. Taking some inspiration from the great Deus Ex, Bloodlines is a hub-based game ripe with character interaction, often putting the player in difficult situations with no clear answers or ways to win. You are a puppet within a grand scheme. Everyone you can converse with is actually a character, not a quest giving bot or plot device, something VERY rare not only to video gaming but TV and film too. Characters with a distinct appearance, one of a kind facial animations that stack up to today's technology (better than crap like Fallout 4's), unique behavior and mannerisms, and often some kind of agenda. They never act out of character, and they are perfectly voiced. I had no prior interest in vampires, but this game made me a fan. There is an unbelievable amount of role-playing. In fact, the entire game is re-written for two specific clan choices; Nosferatu and Malkavian. Do not play Malkavian first. Most will tell you not to play Nosferatu first either, but I did and it's fine. Yes, you have to sneak around in the sewers more, and quests can get more confusing when people are afraid to talk to you, but it's all understandable. Whereas Malkavian... understandable? No. GOG's version of the game comes with the latest unofficial patch, so it is good to go out of the box. Glitches and bugs still exist, but they aren't game breaking anymore.

I bought...or rather my parents bought me this game right after the release in 2004 (I was fourthteen that time). Then I was very exicted about this game, especially when I read a rewiev in one of the most popular polish video games magazine. I remember that the game was rather expensinve for polish standards...I have remember this day exactly even today. Seriously! What I want to write right here might be "a little bit" stranbe but - I finished this game three days ago - during the #stayathome action. And my speculations that it might one of the best game ever have come true! I can't count how many times I tried to start this game again and again. I played it a lot, but I have never finished it. And I can't say exactly why. I have never thought about it as bad game, I was never even been discouraged by a lot of bugs. It simple happened. But I was always noticing the advantages of this game which constantly were pushing me to keep trying to play it. And couple of days ago I decided that "I will complete this game, now or never!". And this was my best experience in my gamer's life. I love every aspect of this game (atmosphere, characters, voice acting. story), maybe except for the combat mechanic. But my most beloved thing is that this the game is so much rooted in reality like no game before and after. Playing VtM:B you can feel that you are in the real world that you know and experience in every day life. You are also willing to believe that the vampires can live in your world following to the thesis that world might be not what it seems. I have 30 years old and this is the best game I've ever played. It was took me 16 years to make it realize. Don't make this mistake, buy it, play it and finihed it.

Install the unofficial patch. Interesting game with a bit to do. What I Like: Multiple ways to complete missions great atmosphere What I dislike: combat is a clunky Rating: 7/10

Use the unofficial patch please - and enjoy.