Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

This game is absolutely fantastic. A showcase of the design that could've been is that in one of the first few quests, you are tasked to steal a donation box, where you can protest to not do so, and told that it was going to the rich anyways. Stealing it without protesting leads to a loss in humanity (sort of like a score of morality). But if you do protest and get told the truth about the box, you do not lose humanity. Unfortunately, the later parts of the game are not nearly as well designed and it becomes a dungeon crawler. However all the quests, characters and the early levels are all fantastic and i can't say there's a single character or line of dialog that is poorly written. Here's a little story: I bought this game in my "welcome to GOG" deal, and this game was one of the many on the pile of games i bought. I ignored it for months but eventually i ran out of games on steam to play and decided to check GOG. I sorted them by player reviews and this was the top choice (after Deus Ex which my pc was incompatible with at the time because that pc was garbage.) The first time i played it i skipped the tutorial completely and went around on the street and accidentally right clicked, which alerted police and I died pretty quick. I decided after that to actually role play and design my character based on how i wanted my character to be. I made him a persuasive artist that uses vampiric powers to slow down (their perception of) time and shoot people. Little did i know this is the most overpowered build in the entire game.

Данная игра из раздела товаров, прошедших проверку временем. Всё знают, что при выходе она была сырой, но, к счастью, игра не канула в лету, а вновь воспряла с помощью стараний игроков. Нынешние версии подразумевают полное (почти) отсутствие каких-то крупных багов, но не исключает возможности появления более мелких. Лично я не встречал каких-то критических ошибок или вылетов. Сама игра же прославилась продвинутой RPG-системой и просто наикрутейшей атмосферой. Наличие 7-ми различных кланов и уже упомянутой ролевой системы подразумевает высокий уровень реиграбельности. Можно быть добрым паинькой, решительным среднячком или дерзким малым - игра допускает все варианты. Подобной разнообразностью славятся квесты: и сюжетные, и дополнительные. Можно убивать всех на своём пути или незаметно прокрадываться, избегая лишнего шума; можно с кем-либо договориться или просто откупиться, если навыков убеждения/соблазнения/устрашения не хватает. Игра поощряет различное прохождение одного и того же задания. Большинство персонажей игры запоминаются, независимо от того, основные они или второстепенные - все довольно классные и, в целом, харизматичные. Кого-то смущает графическая составляющая игры, но, скажем так, не самая качественная анимация не сможет испортить впечатления об этой хорошей игре. Тем более, чего вы ждали от игры 2004 года? Из-за проблем с установкой русской локализации пришлось устанавливать новую версию игры, включающую в себя ту самую локализацию, из-за чего запускать игру приходиться в новом ярлыке без учёта времени, проведённой в игре. Зато установка новой версии включает в себя некоторые нововведения и часть удаленного контента, так что проблема с русификатором обернулась больше положительной стороной, чем отрицательной. В целом, игра потрясная и затягивающая, собственно, соответствует названию обзора.

VtM:B is barely finished. The graphics are uneven, the mechanics are unrefined, and it's full of bugs even when patched. It's also one of the best RPGs you'll ever play. The game is great at making you go through everything you would expect from a blood-sucker trying to hide from the human world: you will drain people's blood, get involved in vampire politics, fight thugs, cops and monsters alike, and explore haunted houses! A great emphasis is put on atmosphere, with most places exhaling a new flavor of spookiness or gloom. Besides the awesome game world, based off a famous pen and paper RPG, what truly shines here is the overall writing. Every single character you meet feels like a living person, and interacting with them feels great, courtesy of awesome dialog: the voice acting is fabulous and facial animations are rock-solid! The main plot and sidequests are equally complex and full of twists and subtleties. The game is full of alternate paths, often letting you choose how to approach the situations you're confronted to. Violence is almost always an option, but negotiating or sneaking up can just as well get the job done. The skills you can choose tend however to vary widely in usefulness, with some totally outclassing others or proving almost indispensable - like hacking. The combat is janky as hell, but satisfying, whether you use melee weapons or firearms - guns suck at first, but make the last levels easier! Some magic powers totally rule, allowing you to transform, summon animals, and use bullet-time! The main flaw, for me, is that the game starts losing steam in its last fourth: from your arrival in Chinatown, there's less annex content, environments get blander, and a greater emphasis is put on combat instead of alternate solutions. It is still fun, but it's clear that the developers were running out of time and resources at this point. Still, despite its lack of polish, VtM:B is an awesome experience where each playthrough is different from the last!

I played this game for the first time a week and a half ago. So many of the characters and locations are going to stick with me in ways most games nowadays could only dream of. It's equal parts grimy, unsettling, seductive, and pulse-pounding, and it switches between all of these gears masterfully. The way your character grows from a childe crashing in a shitty apartment above a pawn shop to one of the most powerful vampires in L.A. is entirely seamless and so, so satisfying. An all-time great RPG.

One of the best action RPG I've ever played and defiently best World of Darkness PC game adaptation. I mean I enjoyed some visual novels and some Choice of Games creation but we need something more mpvie-like, some more action and we have it here. So many skills and abilities, 7 unique clans to choose from (which will affect gameplay), immersive plot and very strong atmosphere. I fell in love with this game from the firt sight and I like return to it again and again. Eventhough it's kinda sad we can't choose backstories, take Library Quest or use BloodHeal discipline in GOG version.