Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

By far one of my favorite action-RPG's. Troika and Activision team up for a second dose of the World of Darkness in VtM: Bloodlines. The gameplay is primarily first person but incorporates 3rd person elements as well. The third person is useful for melee combat situations, whereas an SMG toting vampire would benefit from first person mode. Despite sounding strange, it works wonderfully. Character development is well executed, improve the basics such as strength or perception. Delve points into firearms, seduction, or computer hacking. Finally invest points in your clan's unique vampire powers. There are sufficient XP and side-quests to make for a worthwhile experience each playthrough. The story and characters are all well fleshed out and voiced dialog is well done. If you haven't played it yet but enjoy games like Deus Ex, System Shock 2, or Borderlands; it's right up your alley and you owe it to yourself to play it.

It wasn't until Fallout 3 that a studio finally developed a game world and story that was as immersive as Bloodlines's. The NPCs are amazingly written with terrific voice-acting. and most of the quests (even the side quests) tell an interesting story. There will be moments where you'll like an apex predator stalking through the darkness; there will be moments of terror when you discover that you're a lot further down on the paranormal food chain that you'd originally believed.

I absolutely love this game. I originally played this game when it first came out. I was super excited because I enjoyed the Original Vampire The Masquerade Video game and had high hopes for this one. It delivered and in fact was better than first. It was one of the first FPS RPGs I ever played, even though it was the first one made. The story was fantastic, with lots of twists and turns. The game play was easy to get use to if you played any other FPS games and I had played a lot. The graphics for it's time were great and now still look good. They held up well but won't compare to the current generation of games like The Witcher 3 or Fallout 4. Perhaps one day they will remaster it. The load times were LOOONG. That was my biggest complaint with the game. Other than that there wasn't much else I didn't like. The game took place in a modern setting which was fun, you got to run around with vampires, use guns and what not. The game is a dark setting and Mature rated. It is a lot like a dark more gothic version of Underworld or Blade. There have been some other good Vampire themed games like Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain, Bloodrayne, and many more, but this was still the best one. It really gave you that feel of being in a world full of vampires and trying to survive. It is based on a Pen and Paper RPG. I have always wanted to play the Pen and Paper rpg but never have. I have played others so I can safely say that this is one of the few RPG video games that gave me the same feeling that I get when I play a pen and paper one. I can't really explain why, but even more so than the recent fallout games, perhaps the only one that comes close is The Witcher series. The character in this game really felt like it was me playing (like in an RPG) a character I built and could do what I wanted with him. Even though it isn't open world. The dialog options and side quests and character interactions all were with how I would want to play a character. I highly recommend this game!

Despite I don't really like vampire themes (damn you Twilight), I must say I really fell in love with VtM Bloodlines. Why? It artfully blends interesting setting (yeah, Masquerade is awesome after all my vampire doubts), RPG elements, amazing story, noir atmosphere, freedom of choice and sprinkles some not really polished action on top of it. The game is full of well thought out and executed characters whose facial animations are still better than lot of today's games, interesting plot parts that take place in various environments, and atmosphere so thick, you can feel it in your bones. Playing with different character may change the pace and play through quite a lot, so it's huge plus too. And the music, it's really nailing it! Sure there are negatives. The game was a buggy mess when it was rushed out, but it is mostly solved now with unofficial patches (included in GOG). Combat is very unbalanced. And some parts are still awful and should be deleted - yes, I mean sewers (not sure, but I *think* one of the latest patches disables/shortens them). Despite those negatives, the game still works as an amazing noir experience that every RPG lover should play. As a Malkavian.

It is, in my eyes, the best first person RPG to this day! That makes me quiet sad sometimes. And also lets me play it again and again everytime i read about it anywhere. I lost count how many times i played it. And i owned the retail version at release. Still loved it back then. Despite the bugs.