Remains of the Day: Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines

mParadox

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I do believe its one of those I want a remake of. Badly.


Set in the modern Los Angeles. Vampire Bloodlines is a dark and gritty take on the world of the undead. If you have played Deus Ex, you'll love this to death.

[img_inline width=300 height=225 Caption="Ah the lovely lovely humour." align=left]http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542903423106535650/58DEAF27A2AD0DB6B8C5C8211EAEBE60A87E7C55/[/img_inline]

Ah the story. Fittingly as an RPG, it of course makes sense that the story would be the best part of the entire game. The game tells the beginnings of a feldgeling(newly turned vampire) and his/hers rise to power through alliances and rivalries. You are "sired"(turned) into a vampire through some sexy time with a vampire. The 'Prince' of LA, Sebastian La Croix, is less than pleased with the situation and has the "sire" killed but, spares you. Soon, you'll find yourself running errands for him to earn your place in the Vampire world. However, the game wouldn't be complete without the interesting cast of characters and amazing scripted sequences which take place in the game.

Nicely crafted with amazing characters and superb locations. The game will take you to Santa Monica, Hollywood, Chinatown and Downtown; all hubs lovingly crafted and interesting NPCs in each of them. The characters ranging from La Croix, the obnoxious and arrogant vampire to Jack, your 'guide' in the game, all the voice acting is well-done and adds to the charm of the game.

The game is certainly deserved of its mature rating. Its refreshing take is admirable if not down-right brilliant. Over the course of the entire game, I fought a giant bat, a serial killer and wandered in a mental hospital of a mansion. Also worthy of note is that I killed a vampire hunter... for a stripper.

[img_inline Caption="This house was scary! D:" align=right width=300 height=225]http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542903423047742253/748D4ED0B9D84852596461315EE687A8E6403580/[/img_inline]

The story varies a little depending on which Clan(type of vampire) you choose. I personally went with Toreador, the smooth talking and seductive types and on my second play-through, I chose to play Malkavian[footnote]Though it was because I was told they were the most interesting and entertaining clan. They weren't kidding. :3[/footnote], the psychotic vampire Clan whose members have lost all traces of sanity. The game adapts to your choice of Clan and thus the dialogue is also changed to suit your characters mindset. And while this may seem like a minor and purely cosmetic difference at first, it will help you gain access to places not seen before. As a Toreador, you can talk you way into restricted areas and while as Malkavian, you can see secret pathways which can be utilized to their fullest potential.

A personal recommendation though, do not play through as Malkavian during your initial playthrough. It makes making sense of the story close to impossible and the dialogue options are tough to translate into sane talk.

The gameplay mechanics are quite flexible and cater to a variety of tastes. There are several Clans to choose from. You have from the snobby, elitist Ventrue to the misshapen and despised, Nosferatu. Each clan has special abilities known as Disciplines. Disciplines work on the same principal as magic spells. Allowing you to perform supernatural feats such as running faster than an average human or summoning animals to do the Vampires bidding. Unlike magic spells, your Disciplines don't use a mana pool. Indeed, they use a blood pool instead. Your blood pool. So apart from the standard health bar there's also a blood bar. Which will deplete over time if you don't drink blood from time to time[footnote]Or frequently if you apply the Clan Quest Mod [http://www.moddb.com/mods/vtmb-clan-quest-mod/downloads/clan-quest-mod-21]. This mods adds a few improvements to the game, making the game even more unique and hard.[/footnote]. If you don't, you'll get closer to the Beast. The Beast is the inner vampire. A beast which makes no distinction between friend and foe and will kill for blood. Literally. So it's also wise to invent XP into Humanity. Thus keeping your chances high of not becoming a Beast of the night. Lest you violate the Masquerade.

[img_inline Caption="I'll bite. Looks like a Half Life reference." align=left width=300 height=225]http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542903423047730647/F22ABECF5A6D39886DE1964695AC352B7D9B790A/[/img_inline]

The Masquerade is a set of rules which every vampire must follow. This adds a twist in the tale. You must remain as human amongst civilians, however you are allowed to use your Disciplines in a combat area. If you desire blood, do not drink in front of civilians. You can also hire hookers, take them to a dark place and suck their blood. However, do not suck civilians(hookers or otherwise) dry. This will kill them and will result in loss of Humanity. Yet another way to get closer to the Beast, too much of a good thing is bad for you too.

Like any RPG of the modern era, you earn Experience Points by completing tasks and it is completely upto you on how you choose to complete. As you progress, you'll unlock side quests which are at times impossible to complete because of wrong choices in stats. And there are a few puzzles which will prove more than frustrating if your character doesn't have the sufficient skills for the job. Probably the most frustrating puzzle sequence would be when I had to wander in the sewers of LA. Not only I had to deal with the same type of enemy with every corner I turned. This level needlessly drags on and on.

[img_inline width=300 height=225 Caption="Thankfully. If you're smart, you can talk your way outta this one." align=right]http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/vampire-bloodlines/ss-005.jpg[/img_inline]

As I mentioned, the game shows off some amazing scripted sequences. None more so than in a level in which you have to investigate a haunted hotel. This level is incredibly tense despite the fact that there's little to no chance of dying. I don't recall to have used the quick-save button as much as I did in this particular level. As to the auto-save function, well it isn't as generous. If you die further in a level, do not despair if you find yourself at the beginning. It is notably annoying if you're at a boss fight and you die. Didn't quick save before the fight? Too bad! Back to the start of the level you go! Yeah, it gets really frustrating.

[img_inline width=200 height=300 Caption="This guy is so awesome. So much win." align=left]http://img.search.com/thumb/e/e3/Vampire-bloodlines-vampirepose.jpg/240px-Vampire-bloodlines-vampirepose.jpg[/img_inline]

Some missions are more restricting than others however. There are a few missions which will specifically ask of you to be stealthy and not kill anyone at all. Admittedly a hard task for anyone who chose to invest their XP in Social or Strength but its certainly doable. And it applies the other way around if you've invested your XP to Stealth and there are quite a few enemies around. The game does lose a bit of its charm when it abandons the scripted sequences and layouts for a more direct approach. To put into perspective, its like someone brought you cake daily but then started bringing cupcakes. The game then later leans on mindless and ,at times, frustrating combat. The Doom-style adoption with the long maze like levels along with horde of enemies in the way to kill, it certainly loses a great deal of charm it built during the first few hours. It's not to it's bad, it's just that the sudden transition from a strategy game to a straight up shooter games seems odd at time and indeed leads to frustrating moments.

Speaking of frustration, the game is riddled with bugs. Very annoying game breaking bugs. Or so I hear since I never faced them. Here's another point I would like to highlight: The community. I was very surprised that there was a very dedicated fan base with 'unofficial' patches being released to fully rid of the game of its bugs. I highly recommend downloading either of the patches in order to enjoy the game without the needless frustration coupled with the vanilla version of the game. [footnote]Currently, there are two patches available. The 'Unofficial' Patch [http://www.patches-scrolls.de/vampire_bloodlines.php] and the True Patch(link is NSFW) [http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php/topic,58041.msg81562.html#msg81562]. Both of 'em do an amazing job at fixing the problems of the game and even improving on it.[/footnote]

Of course, what do you do when you're not killing people and sucking blood? You can go to clubs and dance! All the easier to seduce and suck blood of innocent people. Or you can go to shops and buy weapons all the more for making killing people a bit easier. You can also buy bloodpacks to make living a bit easier. In case there is not viable food source around, you can use blood packs to regain a bit of your health and Blood.

[img_inline Caption="Just dance!" width=300 height=250 align=right]http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/567/567009/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-20041117033437102_640w.jpg[/img_inline]

I do have a bone to pick with the graphics. In the trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL90iPahGko] it makes a point of it that is built on the now-extremely popular Source Engine of Valve. What they don't tell you is that this game was the first game to make use of the engine. Even before Half Life 2 was completed. What's the problem? The many graphical marvels evident in Half Life 2, such as the facial animations, are not visible in Bloodlines. Since it uses an earlier build of the Source Engine, the animations are wonky. The walking style of the male is disturbingly feminine and only the mouth and eyes are animated, giving a stiff look. Even the physics of Half Life 2 were not successfully replicated, with your character having the tendency to slide forward when stopped. It is known that the game was supposedly finished six months before Half Life 2 but was stalled for release due to contract limitations. No game is bug-free, however, a game supposedly done should not have as many problems as this game does.

Another notable area in which this game excels in is the sound. The music and sound effects provide the perfect ambience. The haunted hotel level I mentioned earlier? It had one of the best atmospheres I had ever witnessed in a horror game.

Conclusion: So what is this? This is a dark, witty, gritty take on the Vampire World. The story is superb, the voice acting marvellous and the game itself? Spooky and a very enjoyable experience overall. I recommend downloading one of the patches linked below before playing it though. Saves you a whole lot of grief. Trust me. APPROVED.


[sub]Firstly, comment! And feel free to critique. :3
Secondly, if you have any suggestion on what game/anime/movie I should review next, you can post your suggestions and I'll try my ever best to entertain the requests.
Thirdly, if you would like to look up an old review, visit the Remains of the Day Group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Remains-of-the-Day] for the review index, likewise if you would like to remain up-to-date on the reviews posted, join it![/sub]
 

JesterRaiin

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Haven't seen that game in a while.
Decent story, good atmosphere, some very nice "spices" for WoD fan (Smiling Jack, har, har, har).

Some things worth mentioning :
- it isn't stressed enough : immediately apply unofficial patch, do not try to play without one
- pick a female - females are better in seducing "bloodbags" of BOTH sexes
- playing as a Ventrue feels almost like a cheating
- it pays to be a good vampire :)
 

Ruwrak

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Bloodlines.

Oh yeah. It is on my shelf right next to Morrowind & Deus Ex
 

mParadox

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JesterRaiin said:
Some things worth mentioning :
- it isn't stressed enough : immediately apply unofficial patch, do not try to play without one
- pick a female - females are better in seducing "bloodbags" of BOTH sexes
- playing as a Ventrue feels almost like a cheating
- it pays to be a good vampire :)
- Stressed.
- Depends on your own choice. Up your Seduction stat. There's no particular rule saying that. Depends on the preference of the player.
- Nope. Again, depends if you chose the right stats.
- I'll give you that one. But since its an RPG, its honestly upto the player how he/she should approach the world.
 

Robot-Jesus

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I sign up just to take the Dr.Who villain quiz and I see this thread, it must be destiny.

fantasy set in the, more or less, real world manages to avoid a lot of the exposition of pure fantasy settings. In pure fantasy I need to read pages to know the background to the city of mannenburg; in bloodlines I already know what Hollywood is, so just quickly explane vampires and I'm good to go.


One big flaw with this game is the replayability; it has it, but the first quest chain is long and linear. It doesn't really even feel like the game you want to play until you get to downtown and have more freedom to look around. you could use console commands to speed things up, but personally once I start cheating I tend not to stop.
 

JesterRaiin

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mParadox said:
JesterRaiin said:
Some things worth mentioning :
- it isn't stressed enough : immediately apply unofficial patch, do not try to play without one
- pick a female - females are better in seducing "bloodbags" of BOTH sexes
- playing as a Ventrue feels almost like a cheating
- it pays to be a good vampire :)
- Stressed.
- Depends on your own choice. Up your Seduction stat. There's no particular rule saying that. Depends on the preference of the player.
- Nope. Again, depends if you chose the right stats.
- I'll give you that one. But since its an RPG, its honestly upto the player how he/she should approach the world.
- That's not enough. Vanilla V:BL can corrupt saves or present players with unsolvable quests.
- Probably. I've beat the game a few times with both male and female characters with exactly identical clans/disciplines/stats. With female i had not one botched "hunt", as opposed to male
- Nope. Only Ventrue (and Malkavian to some extent) have additional dialog options linked to disciplines. Ventrue CAN use Domination in dialogs - with a few dots here and there that's practically overkill.
- ;)

BTW : good job with review - forgot to mention that.
 

Jedamethis

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Thank you muchly man. I must go check this out at once!

...And by at once, I mean sometime in the future when I have money. ._.
 

mParadox

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JesterRaiin said:
- Not enough. Vanilla V:BL can corrupt saves or present players with unsolvable quests.
- Probably. I've beat the game a few times with both male and female characters with exactly identical clans/disciplines/stats. With female i had not one botched "hunt", as opposed to male
- Nope. Only Ventrue (and Malkavian to smoe extent) have additional dialog options linked to disciplines. Ventrue CAN use Domination in dialogs - with a few dots here and there that's practically overkill.
- ;)

BTW : good job with review - forgot to mention that.
- >.> True.
- Pfft. I was kinda sad that the female Malks had those fetish outfits. Their dialogues are so cute. :p
- <.< Damn. Right again. No wonder La Croix is so pompous. D:
- o. O

Thanks. :p
 

Best of the 3

10001110101
Oct 9, 2010
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Ah yes, I played this game not too long ago, something kept me from not liking it as much as I should have.

It's a solid game, what works that is. I like how it's a very dark vampire game, not too man good ones out there. The gameplay was fun and the story I got through was very well done. Only one small problem. Even with the patches, the game would always bug up on me. I played it 3 different times, all 3 bugged up at different points in the game. Be it just crashing and losing all data, refusing to move. there was quite a few. That couples with the graphics kinda put me off enjoying the game as much as I would have liked. (I know of the argument, graphics don't make a game, I canll bull on that. If a game looks like it fell from something's arse I tend to avoid it)

Overall it's good. If it works for you then it's most likely great. Oh, that mission going through that mansion scared the shit out of me btw XD
 

Vortigar

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Awesome game, if you can get it to work on your current system. It's getting to that age where newer hardware is not always supported.

Yeah, unofficial patches required. Game can get permanently stuck in several places. Been there, done that. The most notable one is after the Society of Leopold mission.

Malkavian is the funniest way to play the game, though be prepared to not always understand your dialog options.

Nosferatu also has its charms because it introduces new gameplay elements.
JesterRaiin said:
-snippity-
Besides Ventrue I'd say Tremere also feels like cheating. Their disciplines make combat a cakewalk (plus they get a pair of unique items which are really handy).

And Tremere get the coolest coats of course.
 

Best of the 3

10001110101
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JesterRaiin said:
Best of the 3 said:
Even with the patches, the game would always bug up on me.
Have you tried unofficial patches and fixes ?

Best of the 3 said:
Oh, that mission going through that mansion scared the shit out of me btw XD
You're not alone. That kitchen... That... Kitchen...

mParadox said:
JesterRaiin said:
-
Thanks. :p
Keep up the good work ! :)
Yup, that's what I meant when I said patches but probably should have said the unofficial ones. Sorry about that xP

I mainly remember running around the basement / underground (I think (unless that was the kitchen) where that girl would keep running in front of you and shit would fall over. My favourite horror, when you're scared shitless but there's nothing there.
 

Aulleas123

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Agreed on most points, although I didn't really find it repetitive and simplistic as it went on, maybe I just had a different experience or maybe I'm just a simpleton (I hope the former is true). But yes, this game is a must-play for any fans of RPGs or Vampires/Horror. Yes, it could use a remake but if it takes a few years to do then I wouldn't be irritated, it has aged fairly well despite the graphics problems.
 

Thaluikhain

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This game is made of win...until the bit where the bugs kick in. Despite various patches, still can't go to next level after defeating the claw brothers at the sarcophagus. There's a few things that really feel rushed as well, which is a shame. The Malkavian crazy dialogue is inconsistent, sometimes you talk like English just isn't your first language, sometimes you have great random lines and sometimes it's just flat out bad.

I didn't like the sewer levels at first, until I found there were two doors at different that take you back to the "normal" LA sewers, from which you can later finish the sewer bit. Also helped to find the "full auto" setting on the SPAS.

Replay...not sure. In many cases there are different ways of doing things, but only one of them I wanted to do anyway, and I did it the first time round. Alot of the disciplines are very samey, or just not interesting. Nosferatu have a whole new element added, only it's less fun than normal. I'd definitely recommend Malkavian after you'd played as a few of the others. Lots of fun knowing the NPCs have gotten a dramatic speech ready, only for you to ruin it with craziness. And some great, totally unexpected stuff as well...expecting to continue with wacky humour, only for it to jump to creepy or tragic is quite jarring.

JesterRaiin said:
- pick a female - females are better in seducing "bloodbags" of BOTH sexes
Argh...stupid heteronormative vampires. If you're male, you can seduce females. If you're female, you can seduce the same females the males can, plus a bunch of men.

Also, Nosferatu, IMHO, should be allowed to use seduction sometimes. On other nosferatu, for example. The very first time you'll probably use seduction is on a female vampire that has been having it of with a nosferatu as a major plot point anyway.

...

In general, though: Get this game.
 

JesterRaiin

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Best of the 3 said:
Yup, that's what I meant when I said patches but probably should have said the unofficial ones. Sorry about that xP
Interesting. Sometimes obvious actions are last to check so i'll bite : proper application of unofficial V:BL patches leaves only a few unresolved issues. Most of them are graphic/sound-related and rest belong to OS compatibility sector. Those latter usually prevent people from running game at all so i guess that's not your case.

If you're willing to give V:BL one more chance, maybe you could try to disable music, or all sfx at all, lower graphic, disable all/most of graphic effects, try to run game in windowed mode, download and install graphic drivers provided by your gfx card vendor instead of nVidia/ATI/AMD ?
I am sure you tried at least some of that solutions, but still... :)

Best of the 3 said:
I mainly remember running around the basement / underground (I think (unless that was the kitchen) where that girl would keep running in front of you and shit would fall over. My favourite horror, when you're scared shitless but there's nothing there.
I find it amusing that you enter mansion being a supernatural monster, bloody hunter lurking in darkness, boogeyman yadda, yadda, yadda... And still you're like "man, that's creepy". :)


thaluikhain said:
Also, Nosferatu, IMHO, should be allowed to use seduction sometimes. On other nosferatu, for example. The very first time you'll probably use seduction is on a female vampire that has been having it of with a nosferatu as a major plot point anyway.
In World of Darkness Nosferatus are an apex of horrendousness. There are only a few more repulsive beings - at least in Vampire branch. So no Mr "smooth" for you. ;)

As for a major plot you mentioned. That's pretty good explanation i guess :
http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Mask_of_a_thousand_faces
 

Toriver

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Having played the tabletop source material, I really want to try this out, but sadly, I don't have anything that will run it. Sad panda...
 

NeutralDrow

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Toriver said:
Having played the tabletop source material, I really want to try this out, but sadly, I don't have anything that will run it. Sad panda...
As a fellow WoD player, I can sympathize, and it's purest luck that I have a system that can run this these days. They actually did a surprisingly good job sticking to the lore, and the changes to the game system were mostly understandable ones (like altering the Gangrel, Toreador, and Tremere clan flaws)...not that there weren't some points where I had to pause and say "wait, why isn't it letting me feed on other vampires?" or "why did I only get three blood points from draining that bum dry?"

Also, did you ever play Kindred of the East? If you did, <url=http://i54.tinypic.com/21315hc.jpg>this should make you laugh. For the record, she's a kuei-jin.

JesterRaiin said:
I find it amusing that you enter mansion being a supernatural monster, bloody hunter lurking in darkness, boogeyman yadda, yadda, yadda... And still you're like "man, that's creepy". :)
I think the only way I even got through that was by reminding myself that I was a monster, too.

Though being able to name all the ghost powers being used probably helped (Embody, Outrage, Argos, and probably Phantasm or Pandemonium), since I've played Wraith: The Oblivion.

thaluikhain said:
There's a few things that really feel rushed as well, which is a shame. The Malkavian crazy dialogue is inconsistent, sometimes you talk like English just isn't your first language, sometimes you have great random lines and sometimes it's just flat out bad.
I subscribe to the theory that, while the Malkavian PC is clearly schizophrenic, a good chunk of their dialogue is just him or her <url=http://i51.tinypic.com/2q9cql4.jpg>flat-out messing with people, partly to uphold the reputation and creep people out, and partly <url=http://i53.tinypic.com/20fxl6u.jpg>for the lulz.