Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

"Good, dirty, fun."

Vampire: The Masquerade is one of White Wolf's tabletop RPGs. With its emphasis on character development over skills, loot, or combat, one would think that it would transfer poorly to the computer medium. Fortunately for RPG fans everywhere, this is not the case.

STORY - 9/10

The best thing about the story of Bloodlines is its multi-layered nature. Following the main plot thread is simple enough, but it opens up countless subquests and new details to explore as you interact with members of different vampire factions. Knowledge of the setting as covered in the tabletop would be nice, but it's not required. Your character is as clueless about the World of Darkness as a newbie to the franchise.

As an illegally created fledgling vampire, your character is in a heap of trouble until the Anarch leader embarrasses the Prince of the city into letting you live. In return, however, you have to do Prince Lacroix a few favors. His obsession with a mysterious relic known as the Ankaran Sarcophagus leads you into the underworld of Los Angeles and deep into the tangled web of Kindred politics.

Best of all, the storyline is not set-in-stone. When the dust settles, you can choose to stand with any of the various factions--or none of them. While certain missions must be completed for the storyline to progress, the dialogue options allow you to do so grudgingly or as a loyal servant.

The NPCs are varied and well-portrayed. Prince Lacroix is a self-serving autocrat; Nines Rodriguez a freedom-fighting rebel; the list goes on with personalities running the gamut.

Finally, certain aspects of the story change depending on which of six clans you have chosen to play as. The changes can be as little as differences in dialogue, but also as large as haven locations and mission requirements. This adds substantially to the replay value of the game.

SETTING - 10/10

The game takes place in four main locations and a few smaller areas. The four major boroughs are downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Chinatown. Each neighborhood has its own particular atmosphere and appeal, from the types of snacks wandering around to the architectural design and street layout.

The Downtown area is the decrepit underside of the polished business world; goth clubs and crack houses lurk amidst the high rises, and prostitutes and bums mingle with high society on the streets.

Santa Monica combines the low-class streets with a little bit of pier. The slum that remains when the sun sets on tourism is gritty and realistic.

Hollywood is the perfect plastic paradise. Neon lights create an artificial daylight in this artificial town.

Chinatown, the last area to be found, is like another world all together, which goes perfectly with your first encounter with the Kindred of the East. Cheap tourist traps and Eastern mysticism mingle to create a unique atmosphere.

Each neighborhood is also home to several interior areas, each with well-considered design and dark atmosphere. You can visit several clubs, a pawn shop, an adult bookstore, a fancy hotel...the list goes on. Furthermore, each location is important in some way to the story, even if only the setting for a single quest.

Just as the "World of Darkness" is the cornerstone on which Vampire: The Masquerade is built, the setting of Bloodlines will create the perfect mood for the game.

GAMEPLAY - 9/10

First of all, the combat system is only the beginning of what might be termed "gameplay" in a game this broad. That being said, the combat is highly entertaining.

A wide variety of weapons--everything from a knife to a severed arm to a machine gun--are available to the player at various points during the game. While all of the weapons are broken down into two categories (melee and firearms) and, within the categories, operate in the same way, it's still satisfying to whale relentlessly on a horde of zombies. The auto-aim feature is good enough that 3rd person combat is possible, and your character's automatic movements on follow-through attacks keeps the action fluid but still easily controlled.

Discipline use has been streamlined based on blood usage. Combat disciplines are easy to select and use as well as being well-balanced. Social disciplines allow new dialogue options, allowing combat to be bypassed in many cases. Each clan has the potential to use three different disciplines, so different characters will use different strategies.

Other skills can also be leveled up and used to solve puzzles and interact with NPCs. Seduction can convert conversation partners into willing snacks; hacking can be used to find new information stored on computers; and lock-picking can gain you access to new areas. Most of the skills are highly useful, and the method of acruing experience points which can then be spent to raise specific skills or attributes lets you customize your character painlessly.

My favourite part of the gameplay is NPC interaction. Instead of completely pre-written conversations, you are presented with several options which usually run the gamut for possible responses. You can sweet-talk or intimidate, be cooperative or difficult, display arrogance or humility...it's all up to you! Furthermore, the dialogue choices usually sound like real conversation. They're clever and detailed, and the NPCs actually respond differently based on what you say to them!

MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS - 10/10

The voice acting in this game is absolutely terrific. This is what you expect in movies, not video games! The different characters are expertly portrayed.

Sound effects are pretty good, too. You have your sickening thud of flesh hitting the ground, disgusting squelches as monsters explode, quiet sprays of ash as vampires bite the dust... Everything you need to carry the atmosphere.

Finally, the music in this game is everything it should be. Most settings have a general ambiance rather than real music--just enough background to set the mood. Some of the indoor locations have vocal tracks from bands like Chiasm and Darling Violetta. Most of these songs were written specifically for the game, and, as such, reflect the dark themes of a vampire game in the lyrics. Overall, the music has an urban punk/techo/goth feel to it, and, even though that's not my style, I enjoyed it a lot.

GRAPHICS/ART - 9/10

The settings are drawn and illustrated beautifully, with just the right amount of dinginess and debris to paint the world a shade darker. While many of the NPCs suffer from "RPG town syndrome" in that many versions of the same person are walking around, they serve their purpose of giving the world a less empty feel. The important NPCs are very individually drawn, and many of them are eerily attractive. All of them are easily distinguishable.

DIFFICULTY - not scored

Once I got the hang of the controls, I felt like this game offered me a pretty good level of challenge. I felt like I had to pay attention to most of the fights, and some of them even needed to be repeated. Maybe it's just me, though, but the end of the game seemed incredibly difficult, and I had to cheat to complete it. Oh well. I guess that's another good thing--console mode exists!

FINAL SCORE - 9/10

I picked this up a few months ago for about $30, and it was worth every penny. If you can find this, buy it! You won't be disappointed!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06