The game revolves around a crusader, named Christoff who falls in love with Sister Anezka, after being wounded in battle and being nursed back to life: Classic Florence Nightingale. The feelings are mutual, naturally. He is turned by the Brujah, one of many vampire factions within this universe setting. It’s the bickering, plotting, scheming and politics that set the events in motion that make for the plot in this game. The game takes you several locations in 2 major era’s, the Crusades and the present (1999) I love this game. I played it when it first was released in 2000Now, a TV series, another videogame and a couple of books later….But I could never finish the game. A bug made the game crash in New York. And that was the end of it. Then, now, Christoff in the game, thanks to GOG I get a second change. I played it, no crashes this time. And I finished the game. I must admit, after replaying the game, I noticed some flaws, it wasn’t as near-perfect as I remember. Some flaws may be attributed to games becoming “better” over the years, others shouldn’t have been in the game to begin with. At the time I would have given it a 9/10 or maybe a 10/10. Now, a 7/10 maybe 7.5/10 (I can't give have a star on GOG) The graphics are very good, considering the time, nailing the atmosphere perfectly. But the music is generic, except the Tower Of London levels: here the music is spot on eerie. The voice acting is OK, sometimes good, but the dialog can be a bit corny. The sound effects are good. And the plot is not too bad, but a bit straightforward. Things, which might not have bothered anyone in 2000, but 17 years later, new standards have been set...Just remember, there was a time that all you needed for as excuse for a game, was for a big monster turtle to kidnap a princess. The gameplay is hack and slash, or point, click and hack. But it’s fun and the RPG elements give you tonnes of stats the tweak and to improve. Overall, it’s a good solid 24 hours of fun, minimum. The difficulty can be challenging, but it’s easy to get “into” the game. Everything plays intuitive. No steep learning curves. After playing this game, again, I realise, that this is a very linear game. There are no side quests. Bummer. Another thing that was mildly disappointing, in hindsight, is that we only get to visit two eras, although this would not have suited the plot. Maybe by playing one of the other characters, but again, may not have been best suited for the plot. Not necessary, I know. But…nice to have had. Another nice to have: there is also no fast-travel. A thing we have been spoiled with on numerous occasions. Luckily the levels are relatively short: each quest is divided in 4 levels: 3 Levels of puzzles (finding a key or a lever) and fighting and a boss level. Each of the 4 levels are well designed, but not overly complex and relatively short, so remembering the route and back tracking or returning is never a chore. I also found the ranged weapons underwhelming. This is very prevalent in the later missions, where guns are available. They do the same damage as the melee weapons, but the melee weapons seem fare more effective. To me the most serious flaws concern the IA: it’s not exceptional but the two things that stick out like a sore thumb are: 1. Sometimes enemies don’t respond to your presence. You are kicking an enemy’s arse, while shouting “to the abyss with thee” with sword-clatter and the the screams of the dying, and his colleague (in the same room!) doesn’t respond until he sees(!) you. 2. You and your party members can get stuck behind and object and the IA hasn’t got a clue how to walk past that object. The nice to haves I can live with, the latter two shouldn’t have been there to begin with. Overall a highly enjoyable game that I would recommend everybody that loves RPG’s or games supernatural or urban fantasy themes.
