So, vampires.
You may or may not know this about me, but I love vampires. Always have, ever since I was a kid. Don't ask me why, 'cuz I don't know if I could give you a solid reason. This love of bloodsucking humanoids has led me to some dark places, such as Anne Rice's erotic vampire novels. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't a fan of Bram Stoker's Dracula either, though I could see why others liked it (lots of really cool ideas). The Historian I read mostly to see what book was worth a $2 million advance, and while it wasn't bad, it certainly didn't live up to expectations.
Wow, tangent.
Anyway, it should be no surprise that I was a fan of White Wolf's Vampire: the Masquerade. Well, I should be more explicit: I was a big fan of the fluff of the game. The few games of V:tM that I actually played were rather...eh. This is due to a variety of reasons, namely that I was never involved in a campaign that lasted longer than one or two sessions, and those sessions typically devolved into "lol look @ mai kool vampyr powerz!!1!"
This love of vampires and role-playing led me to pick up Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines last week. Bloodlines is an RPG based on V:tM, and it is really, really good.
Let's break it down, shall we?
The Bad
First and foremost, this game is buggy. It runs off of an early version of the Source engine. How early? Well, Source was developed primarily for Half-Life 2, and Bloodlines came out first. That early. As such, there are problems. Sound issues, game freezes, strange physics problems...shit like that. It can lead to teeth-gnashing frustration at times, like when you open a door to change zones and get stuck in between. Grrr. Save often, folks!
Also, the combat in the game could have used a little work. And by little, I mean a lot. Every weapon has the same three hit combo, but every enemy interrupts you after the second attack. Some of the high end vampire Disciplines simply win. Firearms are excercises in frustration, and fluctuate between being completely useless (any machine gun) or too cool for school (shotguns, high-end handguns).
The Good
The dialogue. Oh man, the dialogue is top knotch. And the whole thing is voice acted, and well. There are several memorable NPCs.
Character creations allows you to choose from several Camarilla clans (Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian (yeah, that's right!), Toreador, Tremere, Ventrue). I would recommend holding off on playing Malkavian for your second playthrough, for...various reasons. Though this screenshot might make them hard to resist:
The plot is pretty damn awesome as well. I hear there's five endings. I believe I've seen two. They made me laugh out loud, not because they were campy or stupid, but because of the "oh snap!" factor involved in each. The game handles mature subjects in a mature fashion, and many "quests" can be finished in a variety of different ways. You can choose to back one of three different political factions, or give them all the finger and lay waste to L.A.
Basically, the game rocks. This is probably the best RPG I've ever played, warts and all. I've already beat it once with a Gangrel (word to the wise: don't bother with Protean), and am now dancing my way along as a Malkavian, and it's just as fun (if not moreso). Few games hold that kind of replay value for me.
I give it a 5 of 5, for awesome vampire action.
You may or may not know this about me, but I love vampires. Always have, ever since I was a kid. Don't ask me why, 'cuz I don't know if I could give you a solid reason. This love of bloodsucking humanoids has led me to some dark places, such as Anne Rice's erotic vampire novels. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't a fan of Bram Stoker's Dracula either, though I could see why others liked it (lots of really cool ideas). The Historian I read mostly to see what book was worth a $2 million advance, and while it wasn't bad, it certainly didn't live up to expectations.
Wow, tangent.
Anyway, it should be no surprise that I was a fan of White Wolf's Vampire: the Masquerade. Well, I should be more explicit: I was a big fan of the fluff of the game. The few games of V:tM that I actually played were rather...eh. This is due to a variety of reasons, namely that I was never involved in a campaign that lasted longer than one or two sessions, and those sessions typically devolved into "lol look @ mai kool vampyr powerz!!1!"
This love of vampires and role-playing led me to pick up Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines last week. Bloodlines is an RPG based on V:tM, and it is really, really good.
Let's break it down, shall we?
The Bad
First and foremost, this game is buggy. It runs off of an early version of the Source engine. How early? Well, Source was developed primarily for Half-Life 2, and Bloodlines came out first. That early. As such, there are problems. Sound issues, game freezes, strange physics problems...shit like that. It can lead to teeth-gnashing frustration at times, like when you open a door to change zones and get stuck in between. Grrr. Save often, folks!
Also, the combat in the game could have used a little work. And by little, I mean a lot. Every weapon has the same three hit combo, but every enemy interrupts you after the second attack. Some of the high end vampire Disciplines simply win. Firearms are excercises in frustration, and fluctuate between being completely useless (any machine gun) or too cool for school (shotguns, high-end handguns).
The Good
The dialogue. Oh man, the dialogue is top knotch. And the whole thing is voice acted, and well. There are several memorable NPCs.
Character creations allows you to choose from several Camarilla clans (Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian (yeah, that's right!), Toreador, Tremere, Ventrue). I would recommend holding off on playing Malkavian for your second playthrough, for...various reasons. Though this screenshot might make them hard to resist:
The plot is pretty damn awesome as well. I hear there's five endings. I believe I've seen two. They made me laugh out loud, not because they were campy or stupid, but because of the "oh snap!" factor involved in each. The game handles mature subjects in a mature fashion, and many "quests" can be finished in a variety of different ways. You can choose to back one of three different political factions, or give them all the finger and lay waste to L.A.
Basically, the game rocks. This is probably the best RPG I've ever played, warts and all. I've already beat it once with a Gangrel (word to the wise: don't bother with Protean), and am now dancing my way along as a Malkavian, and it's just as fun (if not moreso). Few games hold that kind of replay value for me.
I give it a 5 of 5, for awesome vampire action.
6 comments:
You and these old reviews. I don't understand.
Available endings are based on the way you play and treat certain people.
1: La Croix Ending - Yes, you can side with him. You kill Ming Xiao and open sarcophagus with LaCroix.
2: Ming Xiao Ending - You side with Kuei-jin, you don't open the sarcophagus, but La Croix dies by Kuei-jin.
3: Anarch Ending - Side yourself with Nines and his crew, killing both Ming Xiao and La Croix (choose whether to open the sarcophagus yourself or just give La Croix the key and walk away.)
4: Camarilla Ending: Side yourself with Maximillian Strauss, you don't open the sarcophagus, La Croix dies by Camarilla and sarcophagus is put away, so nobody would open it.
5: No alliance: You choose whether to open the sarcophagus or leave the key and walk away.
That is as far as I know. o.o
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