Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

By Lewis Denby Published 4 July, 2009

Fangs for everything.

I love the sunshine, and I've rather a taste for garlic, so I've decided I'm probably not a vampire. It's taken a while to be sure, though. The world of Bloodlines is so arresting, so marvellously cohesive, that it's difficult not to be entirely taken in. Despite the ageing visuals, the places and people of this gritty, gothic Los Angeles are frighteningly real.

Real, that is, except when an NPC hovers across the room eight inches above the ground. Or gets shot, only to fall and cry out in pain three seconds later. When a texture flickers on and off in front of you, or the game crashes you back to the painful reality of your hideously cluttered desktop. In many ways, Bloodlines was the greatest game in the world. In many others, it simply wasn't good enough.

Returning with this knowledge does it some favours. This time around, I knew it would be broken, removing much of that crushing disappointment. I also came armed with an abundance of community fixes. Bloodlines' fans are admirably dedicated. That they've felt it important enough to spend years tweaking code and (for want of a better word) revamping animations says a lot for the inspirational quality of the game itself.

And, really, it is inspiring. A seedy, present-day take on the Deus Ex formula, it bristles with life and character, particularly during the opening half. Split into a series of hubs, each a different region of the City of Angels, Bloodlines follows your fledgling vampire's rise up the undead food chain - and isn't afraid to tackle some serious issues along the way.

I was excited to experience them again. But I'd forgotten what came first. So, without fully intending to, I found myself staring up at the foreboding silhouette of the Ocean House Hotel.

'Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' Screenshot 1

The terrifying Ocean House Hotel. I'm screen-grabbing to avoid actually going in there.

In the past, I've always found myself meticulously ticking off side quests in Santa Monica - the game's first region - in the hope that somehow the Ocean House mission would mysteriously disappear. Delicately riffing on a variety of haunted house tales, most immediately The Shining, it's a glorious, self-contained horror story, a courageous format-breaker so early in the game.

The secret to its success, much like the comparable Robbing the Cradle mission in Thief: Deadly Shadows, is that it shows rather than tells. You find newspaper cuttings, drip-feeding information on the hotel's dark past. Writing appears on walls, a stark warning of things to come. And there's no overt enemy threat in Ocean House. It's just a place where some really sinister things happened, and somewhere you really don't want to be. The whole thing is impressively terrifying.

It's the little stories like that of Ocean House - the ones not obviously related to the main plot - that fascinate me most about Bloodlines. Almost every quest, mandatory or otherwise, tells a tale or explores a character. All are fiendishly intelligent, and adult in exactly the right way. Bloodlines tackles issues that would have most games cowering in a corner, but never is it crass or exploitative. It's a game about people, about the nasty truths of our society. Despite the supernatural front, it's irrefutably a game about real life.

'Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' Screenshot 2

This is me. You totally would.

It's a beautiful thing, and I've yet to play another game with such astounding attention to narrative detail. The script isn't just witty and intelligent; it's positively huge to boot. That each character delivers his or her lines so candidly, so effortlessly, throughout this mammoth spread of dialogue is nothing short of spectacular.

I'm almost certain they're real people, digitised. Nuanced and entirely credible, they speak with innumerable traits intact, never missing a beat. From the delightfully twisted Voerman sisters near the start, right through to Gary the Nosferatu in the later sections, each is thoroughly spellbinding.

Bloodlines's penchant for extended conversation has been interesting this time around. Usually, I'm a male Toreador. The elegant upper-echelon of vampire society, the Toreador are well-spoken, calm, calculated and charismatic, precisely capturing the sort of character I tend to veer towards in role-playing games. I'm always a male one, because of the rather fetching suit.

This time, I fancied a change. The more thuggish classes don't appeal to me, so I was left with a choice between a Nosferatu and a Malkavian. The Nosferatu are hideously ugly, clearly not human, and largely confined to skulking around in the darkness. Not my cup of tea. The Malkavians are just insane. They have arguments with signposts and speak in a barely intelligible flurry of nonsense, but their appearance is strikingly human. Could be interesting. I picked a busty female. Just because.

The stark raving lunacy of playing a Malkavian is amusing, but fairly inconsequential. The perks of playing a bubbly, attractive lady are far from it. As an experiment, I threw all my early stats into the charisma and seduction feats. Within half an hour, I'd charmed my way into two buildings and sucked half the life from the neck of a vaguely aroused security guard.

Bloodlines doesn't simply take your character's traits and re-juggle its numbers accordingly. It rewards you with whole new lines of dialogue that directly shape your relationships with various other denizens of the game. Though action-based stats function in a reasonably straightforward manner, the feedback provided for building your personality is miraculous. In other words, you're not just levelling up. You're actively playing a role.

'Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' Screenshot 3

Jeanette Voerman - one of Bloodlines' many spectacular characters.

Of course, it all takes a nosedive. Bloodlines' degradation into incessant hack-and-slash is well documented, but I do wonder if those who haven't experienced the final sections understand quite how tedious they are. I recall my original play-through, in which - having created a particularly talky character - I found myself simply running away from every grotesque beast in the mandatory, maze-like Hollywood sewers, since my action stats were nowhere near high enough to take them on. A friend of mine, who had focused on combat, recounts how even he had to use a full-ammo cheat. The bugs are irritating and occasionally disastrous, but most of them can be fixed. Sadly, the complete dissolution of the early intricacy and intelligence will always remain. There's no patch for the game design.

There is, however, a work-around. It's an option that's available throughout Bloodlines, but only really becomes logical once the first three hubs are cleared. It's a simple combination of key-presses and mouse-clicks, and you'll find yourself a lot more enamoured towards the game should you take this route.

That is to say, you can quit.

'Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' Screenshot 4

Er. This sort of thing happens a lot.

The ending's available on YouTube if you're that interested, but really, nothing exciting happens once you're done with Hollywood. The main narrative arc was never the most interesting thing about Bloodlines. It's the incidental stories and the people you meet along the way that matter.

They're abundant in the opening sections, yet criminally thin on the ground later on. Bloodlines falls from its pedestal after 15-or-so hours, but the journey to that point is as mesmerising as you're likely to see. At its best, it's a glorious, grand, mature piece of design, still unsurpassed in its niche little field.

Encapsulating it all was the first time I entered an LA nightclub, and the first time I met the sassy, voluptuous Jeanette Voerman. "You smell new, little girl," she said, "like fabric softener dew on freshly mowed Astroturf." In the background, the music, the dancing and the unstoppable sense of cool... that's Bloodlines. Though its life is eventually sucked away by the fangs of its own turbulent development, it remains as stylish, smart and seductive as games come.

Picture of Lewis.

About Lewis Denby

Originally from oop norf, Lewis moved to scary London to write about video games. His work has appeared in a variety of websites, games mags and national papers.

Read more articles from Lewis by visiting the Lewis Denby archive page.

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Comments (73) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lolife.se #1 3 years ago

    The game is a masterpiece.

    I played it through as a Gangrel. I didn't find the game to be that buggy, nor the action too tedious either. Quite simply, it's one of my absolute favourite games. Really sucks that its developer (Troika) went bust.
    Edited by 1 at 04/07/09 @ 23:08

  • munki83 #2 3 years ago

    A flawed gem of a game, I played it through a few years back as a female Malkavian vampire and had great fun. The fan patches of the game fix a lot but the later parts of teh game are just not as good as the start.

    I hope someone gets the hands on the license and makes a new one as we need good vampire games :)

  • the_dudefather #3 3 years ago

    The combat heavy parts are not great, but this is such a great game, played through for the first time near Christmas when I got it off the steam sale, and I might have to play through it again now

    we need more RPGs like this and the 2 DE games

    Watch out for raptors!

  • Hunam #4 3 years ago

    I love this game, more than I should really. Played it through as a Femme Malk and as a Male Toreador, but opposite to the way Lewis did. I liked the combat and whilst the warrens was a big pile of confusing poo, the rest is great, and I don't mind the rush at the end because I guess by that time my patience runs out with role-playing and i just want to cap some fools, which is why I don't mind the action ending to STALKER either really.

    Everything about the game is just great though, it's a shame that games aren't made with the same dedication to character as this. I think that is what put me off Bioshock, because it's so passive, there isn't much to interact with outside of killing folks, but in Bloodlines you basically get the choice. The Hotel still scares me, and I really have to build myself up to even go near it these days, my memory has just twisted it into a horrible trauma and tries to stop me going near it.

    More games like this please, kthxbai.

    Speaking of DE(DX?) I hope DX3 takes a note from Bloodlines and gives more dialogue options.
    Edited by 1 at 04/07/09 @ 23:33

  • frostcircus #5 3 years ago

    Can we get a more specific pun, please? "We've Ventrue so much together" or "Tremere thought of it makes me tingle" or "Gangrel that ends well" or something. If we're going to cringe, make it be for the right reason.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/09 @ 00:02

  • dagas #6 3 years ago

    Long time lurker of EG. I had to finally register to say how great this game is. I bought it for €50 when it came out and it was well worth it. Too bad Troika Games didn't make enough money to live.

    The best character in the game is Velvet Velour I WANT HER! I have her signed poster on my (in game) wall.

    IMO the best games always have flaws. Like Mass Effect one of the best games of all time. GoW was a great game in every way, yet I don't remember anything about it, it left no impression on me. Vampire TM:B I will always remember. It's the flaws that creates the personality is it not? ^^

  • mika1h #7 3 years ago

    The hubworlds and the characters are amazing in this game. Sadly the dungeon levels are shite after the first early ones and ruined a potentially good game for me.

  • Hunam #8 3 years ago

    It is a shame it shipped in a pretty bad shape too, and that was a mess too. Activision kept on the pressure, as I guess they should in their position, to have the game finished by the agreed date, this was done, however Activision also had a deal with Valve that Bloodlines would not ship prior to HL2's release as that was to be the official release of the Source engine, which Bloodlines used. So the game was done on time, but a bit worse for wear and Valve yet again delayed HL2 by a few months. Troika then asked Acti for some more budget to you know, go back and finish the game seeing as they had a extra 3 or so months to work on it, Acti refused this and just kept it on the shelf till Valve got their act together and released their game. So Bloodlines was released in it's state and Acti finally relented to fund a patch, then cut the game off.

    Troika then failed to get a deal with another publisher for its unannouced game and it all endeth there. With the industry a little worse off.

  • makeamazing #9 3 years ago

    I love this game, and this shows how a larger games company can truely screw over a smaller company with style and great ideas. This is one of my favourite PC games ever.

    You can still get it on steam etc... its worth it for the cheap cost.

    RIP VM...

  • TheTingler #10 3 years ago

    I wonder if anyone remembers Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption (the first game) as fondly?

    I'm saddened to hear that the ending became so action orientated. I got a fair bit in, was loving it, and my hard drive crashed. Never had the patience to play it all again - although I will someday. Soon.

    As for Ocean House... I nearly stopped playing there. THAT'S the game I want. First-person haunted house game, with only ghosts. Preferably Western, not Japanese. Otherwise I'm eyeing up that The Grudge game...

  • lolife.se #11 3 years ago

    And the soundtrack. Awesome. Just awesome. So fitting, so perfect.

  • Zaltan #12 3 years ago

    From what I remember I got it a few months after it came out in the Game sale for £7.99. Loved it though for sure! I still have it somewhere.

  • persus-9 #13 3 years ago

    In spite of everything this game is a classic. Yeah it's buggy but it's not unplayable, the problems I experienced were actually less serious than those I later had in Oblivion (the only game I've had to mod just to keep playing), the combat is weak sure but if you pour a decent amount of points into melee it never gets too bad. I think it's worth playing through to the end, sure it goes down hill but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes out.

  • Sar #14 3 years ago

    Brilliant game, and played through several times with different clans.

    Masterpiece.

  • TheComedian #15 3 years ago

    Sold. I heard a lot about this when it came out, but my computer was a pile of wank and it slipped me by.

    The comparisons to Deus Ex (my fave game of all time by quite a wide margin) have prompted me to get this tomorrow morning! I don't mind the niggles and flaws; DE had some of the worst AI I've ever seen, some horrific bugs, but the overall experience was magical and the closest to a good book or great film I've had.

  • IN4ARIOT #16 3 years ago

    seriously , despite the flaws, a remarkable game I'll never forget playing .. ta for the memories

  • Ryuken #17 3 years ago

    One of the best 3D RPGs ever, a big shame of the last third (especially those enemy respawns, every game becomes a bit shitty when you see that happening, HL² included) and the ending but if you're playing as a Celerity-powered Brujah you can cope with the combat, no cheats needed. For the rest everything was so perfect in this, the voice-acting, the music (both the licensed stuff as the composer's work), the underground theme, the pure RPG mechanics, CCP has a serious challenge ahead of them to trump this with an MMO.

    I wonder if anyone remembers Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption (the first game) as fondly?

    Hmm, I loved its atmosphere and the setting changes but its gameplay was more akin to a linear, partybased Diablo-clone and that didn't feel right imo, same reason why I didn't really like Dungeon Siege or Throne of Darkness. Still, Nihilistic beat NWN for having the first Dungeon Master tools for online games and Redemption was one of the best looking games of its time. The big man behind that title (Ray Gresko, also known for the original Jedi Knight) is now working at Blizzard on Diablo III, alongside Troika's Leonard Boyarsky. There are good times ahead... :)
    Edited by 3 at 05/07/09 @ 07:30

  • bad09 #18 3 years ago

    Lots of love for this one in here might have to hunt it down and try it!

  • MisterFalseName #19 3 years ago

    One of the best PC games I've every played, and unbelieveably the PC I had at the time that crashed on every other game was eerily stable on Vampire. It does take a turn at the end for the worst, but it still carried me through (twice!) and I think the five endings are well worth seeing.

    Anyone know where the talented development team who made this went after Troika went bust?

  • Megalodon #20 3 years ago

    Quite frankly, that was an excellent article. You really captured everything I feel about this game on two excellent web pages.

    Even as a Gangrel I really hated the sewer levels and beyond. The only time I had a cakewalk in these levels was when I felt in hacking and slashing mood and played a fully maxed-out Brujah warrior. I simply annihilated everything in my path, tough boss fights that used to take me minutes of strategizing became a simple few clicks of the right mouse button and the left one, repeatedly. The downside, of course, was a less than original run through the witty quests. I was like an orc barbarian, playing through a hardcore role-playing session, growling answers until I found a use for my huge cleaver in huge all-encompassing fights.

    The game is beautiful, mesmerizing, sinister and witty, yet its end levels and bugs are disastrous, exactly as you depicted. I dream about this game alot, and always sigh and cringe when I reach the sewer levels, time and time again. I wish a similar game was made, one that successfully captures the intelligence and charm of the first 10-15 hours of the game, and remains that way for 40-50 hours. How I wish that bloodlines would have been better. Or better yet, how I wish that a new role playing game based on 'Vampire: The Masquerade' system was under design.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/09 @ 09:59

  • Alexjh2 #21 3 years ago

    I've completed the game twice, also on a toreador first and a malkavian second and very much enjoyed it both times. Out of my own favourite RPGs, it only rates behind Planescape: Torment in writing stakes, and only loses out because Torment was better at getting an emotional response. That being said they are very different games, so it's unfair to directly compare them.

    I'd say it's a tad unfair to say the entire game after Hollywood wasn't very good. Personally I couldn't stand that whole snuff film plot, including the sewers section mentioned. The first time I believe I zipped through it using a speed power, on my malkavian I cut my way through. Thematically I thought that the descent into fighting worked well, as it seemed less like run out of time, and more like symbolic of the world descending into chaos.

    I'd also recommend the werewolf fight, if it was just a bit easier it would have been one of the highlights of the game - the fact it more or less forces you to reload for the slightest mistake cripples the experience. The first time I did it, I ended up using a bug where I was sat crouched on a box against the wall with the things face inches away from my face but unable to attack me, the second I worked out how you were supposed to do it.

    I have to say though, if you do quit early, you miss out on the ending, (unless you watch youtube) which, although I can't speak for the other options, if you go with the anarchs and let him have the key, is one of the most wonderful dark humoured cutscenes I've ever seen.

  • UncleLou #22 3 years ago

    The game has its flaws, but writing and characters are second to none. A game for adults, and I don't mean the tacky slutty vampire cover. If only Bethesda had at least a 100th of Troika's writing talent.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/09 @ 10:52

  • jimmyjimbob #23 3 years ago

    Brilliant game, great memories of the haunted hotel scaring the hell outta me!! Not many games I can honestly say that about!

  • dominalien #24 3 years ago

    what format is it for?

    Windows

  • Demiath #25 3 years ago

    I only played this game through once and wasn't completely mesmerized by it or anything (at the time I was constantly reminded of how bad it looked compared to that other Source engine-based game, Half-Life 2). The dialogue is great, though, and the simple hack'n slash combat works decent enough when it isn't needlessly protracted (as in some of the sewers sections). The city was strangely devoid of life (very few NPCs on the streets etc.), but this actually enhanced the game's eerie atmosphere at times.

  • dominalien #26 3 years ago

    I just bought this from Steam following this retrospective. It's very expensive, but I'm silly like that.

    Apparently it works fine in Wine on Linux. We'll see. I couldn't buy it through Steam, but buying in Firefox worked fine.

    EDIT: It runs very well in Wine. The fonts are slightly less pretty than in the screenshots here, but it's fully playable so far (first 15 minutes).

    It's excellent!
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/09 @ 12:33

  • Spindle #27 3 years ago

    Anyone getting this for the first time now you really really really should get the unofficial fan patch. It makes a massive difference.
    First time I played this I didn't get the twist with the 'twins' at all. In the final scene with them I still thought there was two of them and that there was just a bug with the characer models

  • BabyJesus #28 3 years ago

    This game is like Deus Ex, as soon as someone mentions it it ends up getting reinstalled on loads of computers around the world. RPG mastery.

  • MrWonderstuff #29 3 years ago

    Missed out this first time around and may well get it. Is Steam the best place to get this?

  • FabricatedLunatic #30 3 years ago

    This was one of the first western RPGs I played and I was enthralled by the freedom with which I had to develop my character and complete missions. That, along with the atmosphere and writing, makes this one of my favourite games. It's just a pity that the last third is so combat-heavy and that Troika had to close so soon after its release.

  • Genji #31 3 years ago

    *sees stop sign*

    NO, *YOU* STOP

    ....

    ....you win this round.

  • Olemak #32 3 years ago

    Got this on day one and have played it to completion two or three times. The easiest was with one of them fighter clans, I forget the name, but with Celerity maxed out all combat was pretty simple. I do remember some of the stuff in chinatown being rahter bad, and bugs dis mess up that crusader/vampire hunter storyline completely, but still - a gorgerous game. Perhaps the best I've ever played, at least in some regards. Definateley the most momorable. I reccomend everyone to pick it up on the cheap, I think it is on Steam, and have a go. In fact, I am going to go rummage through my collection and reinstall it myself. Fourth time's the charm.

  • DDevil #33 3 years ago

    Yeah... I never did finish this game. After the great start, it really does jump the shark after VV. I did give up because of the "hack and slash".

  • slivir #34 3 years ago

    I'm surprised this article came up since I've been thinking about this recently.

    I played this game until bugs made it impossible to continue, so I was spared the pain of the last half. I'm kind of glad in a way. I've always thought Bloodlines was one of the best games ever made, but maybe if I had stuck around and played the rest of the game I wouldn't have thought so.

    That hotel mission was bloody fantastic. No game, not even silent hill, has made me shit my pants to that extent.

  • Sunyavadin #35 3 years ago

    Deus Ex with vampires.

    What's not to like?

    Still one of my favourite games of all time.

    And it introduced me to Chiasm. And anything which introduces me to more good music always has a place in my heart.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/09 @ 13:21

  • M83J01P97 #36 3 years ago

    I read somewhere that if you buy the Steam version, the fan patches don't work... any truth to this?

  • LewisResolution #37 3 years ago

    Supposedly they work fine.

  • frostcircus #38 3 years ago

    I use the Steam version, and can assure you that both of the patches work perfectly.

  • TheComedian #39 3 years ago

    Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a physical copy of this? I don't like just downloading games.

  • Shrike #40 3 years ago

    Great game, but while I agree generally with this article I kinda disagree that the ending loses its way totally. I've played through as a meleeing Toreador and a gun/magic Tremere and not really had any difficulty with the combat - had to reload a few times, sure, but never needed to exploit bugs.

    Also, you've got the sisters mixed up. The schoolgirl is Jeanette, not Therese.

  • Roamer #41 3 years ago

    My favourite game ever, and the demise of Troika is one of gaming's greatest tragedies. Loved this and Arcanum, but I haven't really gotten around to Temple of Elemental Evil because of its bugs.

    It's good to hear that one of the devs is in involved in Diablo 3.

  • john_silence #42 3 years ago

    Vampire: Bloodlines may not be the most satisfying game I've ever played from a gameplay perspective, but as an interactive experience very few games compare, and none I've played can reach it when it's at its best. There's fear in there, of course, but I was even more impressed by the atmosphere of mystery and the way the game lures you in and manages to make you live it, not just play it. Some mesmerizing crap.
    I was never bothered by the bugs, except once at the end when I was literally forced to use a noclip hack to get through a door that would not open. Admittedly I have a high tolerance to bugs as I rather enjoyed Boiling Point!
    One more thing on that note, to all who are yet to try the game: be very wary of user-made patches. Some of them tinker with the fundamentals of gameplay in very weird ways, and were obviously developed by people who do NOT share the developer's vision. Try looking for one that's dedicated to technical bug-squishing only.
    Edited by 5 at 05/07/09 @ 16:35

  • Creasy #43 3 years ago

    Wow... what's wrong with the world... Seriously... I love vampires... I loved Vampires 1 (though also a broken game at times)... There actually just 2-3 good vampire movies out there... There's so much potential... Hopefully the Eve Online developer will get the first real good vampire game with World of Darkness... But Vampire Bloodlines was the most disappointing game ever. Sure, huuuuge potential... But sucked sooo bad. No atmosphere AT ALL.

  • LewisResolution #44 3 years ago

    Creasy: No atmosphere? Really? Really?

    Shrike: D'oh! Always the professional, me. Bramwell? Cast your editing hand of wonder.

  • Scimarad #45 3 years ago

    I really ought to get back to playing this but I'm totally inept at the whole M+K/B thing...

  • Obiwanshinobi #46 3 years ago

    Guess I should play it properly someday. Insanely bugged Arcanum was great after all. But oh boy, the character design in this one is almost as horrible as in Tribes: Vengeance, which really says something, even on the PC playground.

  • frankfurter209 #47 3 years ago

    Is it just me or should the author be writing erotic literature?

  • grantc7 #48 3 years ago

    I enjoyed the game a lot at the time, but I cant help but remember that the combat was utter turd (sorry if this is covered in article, haven't read it all yet), although it was ages ago so maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

  • thesonglessbird #49 3 years ago

    I tried playing through again about 18 months ago. Unfortunately, even with all the patches and whatnot, a bug stopped me from progressing. It wouldn't let me speak to some guy I needed to. Shame, because up until then it was fantastic.

  • TheComedian #50 3 years ago

    Just got a copy of this on ebay!

    Can't wait :D:D:D

  • Orange #51 3 years ago

    It's superb, would love more rpgs to be like this and Planescape Torment.

  • peppergomez #52 3 years ago

    Nice article. I played this when it came out, and couldn't forgive it it's buggy, unpolished state. I did finish it though. So, question for the article's author, and anyone else who has played it recently, witha all the community fixes:

    How extensive are the fixes and corrections- do they make it a markedly superior game, such as, say, playing Oblivion w/ FCOM and a variety of graphic overhauls, unofficial patches, and various other gameplay fixes? With such fixes, Oblivion is a darn near perfect masterpiece, imo.

    Finally, some constructive criticism: if you are getting to "resurrect" or revisit an old game, a bit more focus about what has been patched/modded (largely by the community, it seems) since its release is a good idea. After all, we can always go back and re-read the review. Ok, back to my first question, and thanks again.

  • zarglu #53 3 years ago

    A great game indeed, well worth playing (multiple times).

    I don't agree about the shooting, there are ways to avoid much of the fighting, and what remains can be handled gracefully: there are always things to be done to soften up the enemy, be it stealth, special weapons or weak points. Stealth combat can be right up there with the best of them.

    As for the bug, the major annoyance was the memory loss. Save, quit & reload every our or so, and you'll be okay.

  • Miths #54 3 years ago

    I never finished the game (if I recall correctly I quit after 12-15 hours, probably around the time when the experience took a turn South), but the Ocean Hotel was definitely one of the most memorable game levels I've ever played. It was just plain fantastic and terrifically thrilling.
    Oh, and I certainly haven't forgotten Therese either :p - a wonderful character.

  • Iceman346 #55 3 years ago

    One of the best RPGs I ever played and the best game Troika ever made. By now I've clocked about 3 and a half playthroughs and I still wan't to play it as a gunslinger sometime.

    Yes, the last third of the game is a lot worse than what comes before but then the first two thirds are just insanely good in so many aspects, be it atmosphere, writing, quests, voiceacting, characters, you name it.

    I bought the game back when it was released, installed it and was instantly glued to the screen, the half played copy of Half-Life 2 lying in the corner gathering dust ;) I heartily recommend this to anyone who even has the slightest affinity with RPG gaming.

    Just as an info to all the newcomers to the game: Bloodlines has two nasty technical bugs which were really unimportant at the time of it's release but have come to the light with mounting hardware power:
    - If you have 4 GB usable Ram installed the game can't detect the amount of available Ram and will limit the texture quality to the absolute lowest settings. So if your game is looking extremely blurry this might be the cause.
    - If you are using a 64bit OS with over 2 GB Ram installed the game will crash at startup.

    There are fixes out there for both problems, afaik both are included in wesps community patch.

    Also there are two lines of community patches, one of them is wesps version, which allows you to play an "extended" Bloodlines where he has restored some portions of the game previously unaccessible and done a great many changes to the RPG system which I dislike. He also gives the option to install a reduced version, I don't really know if there are any major changes in that version.

    The alternative is from Tessera and while I really, really dislike his attitude this patch is the preferred version for first time players of the game imo because it just fixes game bugs and doesn't change the gameplay itself. It's called the "True Patch" and it has apparently been removed from the site of the creator but is still around for download on other sites.
    But this patch doesn't include the fixes for the 64bit OS/4 GB Ram issues so you have to download seperate fixes for those if neccesary for your system setup.

  • puck75 #56 3 years ago

    The ending was fun, because of the real nature of the friendly taxi driver. ;)

  • LewisResolution #57 3 years ago

    Peppergomez: A nice combo of official and community patches will fix most of the technical problems - bugs, crashes, glitchy animations etc - and tidy up the otherwise stunning script so it looks like Troika actually employed a proofreader.

    Another community patch, which people have mentioned, actually attempted to improve the game bit of the game, but many feel it didn't quite work.

    Ultimately, Bloodlines' main weakness is in its final levels, not any fixable problems.

  • Farfarer #58 3 years ago

    A game so riddled with flaws that it shouldn't be any good... but the sheer quality of the writing, voice acting and atmosphere rise it into the upper eschelons of gaming.

    It even vies with Deus Ex on my list of best games of all time.

  • kangarootoo #59 3 years ago

    Great game. Some of the best dialogue and voice over acting of its time.

    Fan patches are a must, if only to fix the performance issues.

    And for a first playthrough, it has to be Malkavian. The most interesting character to play in this game imo, as they clearly put extra effort into supporting the madness of the clan.

    P.s. small hint, keep checking your mailbox (email and physical mailbox in your pad). I didn't bother and found a bunch of missed side missions near the end of the game).

  • loopy #60 3 years ago

    I think I need to reinstall this right now, I never did play it through properly the last time due to some of the bugs.

  • Iceman346 #61 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    I don't think that the Malkavians are a good choice for a first playthrough of Bloodlines. There are some portions of the game where Malks have additional insight and get more info than the other clans which are subtle hints you normally don't pick up on a first session.

    I would recommend to play Malks in a second or third playthrough.

  • kangarootoo #62 3 years ago

    @Iceman346

    This is true. I guess what I am really saying is that if you are only going to play through the game once (as many will), the Malkavian should be the clan of choice for the reasons you give. Also, I chose Malkavian the first time around so I am probably reminising :)

  • Nameless-001 #63 3 years ago

    HOW can you make a retrospective of one of the best RPGs ever without at least mentioning the unofficial patch? This is totally stupid. Really.

    Bah..this is the link: http://ww w.patches-scrolls.de/vampire_bl...

  • LewisResolution #64 3 years ago

    Nameless-001 - I mentioned it in the third paragraph. No link, granted, but it's still there.

  • Cthulhu_X #65 3 years ago

    I played Bloodlines the same way as author of this text :) And now I'm going to play female malkavian too :D

  • rogermellie #66 3 years ago

    I bought this and elemental evil, but sadly no one else did.

    Great game and I might have to dig this out to play as another clan.

  • discopunk #67 3 years ago


    IMPORTANT:

    To play Bloodlines without encountering any of the bugs, download and install the following patches:

    1. vtmb_1_2.exe
    2. True_VTMB_Patch_504AT_FINAL.zip
    3. quk-hlm-vtmb12.rar

    You must install them in this exact order.
    There's also a widescreen patch (vtmbrespatcher.exe ), but it didn't work for me.
    Enjoy.

  • Nameless-001 #68 3 years ago

    Sorry Lewis I only researched the article with the keyword "patch" and didn't find it. Anyway in my opinion this is not enough for someone willing to play for the first time, as after reading your article he will probably go on playing the game with the official patch only and finding it full of bugs, missing content, text errors, etc..

    I assure you that the work behind the "unofficial project" renders it NOT an option when coming to a replay or a first play.
    I do not suggest the patch mentioned by discopunk: it's old and incomplete.

    Bye ;)

  • Iceman346 #69 3 years ago

    @rogermellie

    I bought ToEE, too ;) It was the stark opposite of Bloodlines somehow. Severely lacking in the story and writing department but and excellent combat system which is second to none even today. Not really a game for RPG fans, more for Turn Based Strategy players. But I'm always put off a second playthrough because of the shitty questlog which really doesn't work at all.

    @Nameless-001

    The "True" Patch is older but by no means incomplete. It just fixes most of the bugs the game has without touching unused content or rebalancing anything. For first time players it's the best patch choice imo, so that they can experience the game as Troika designed it.

  • YourMessageHere #70 3 years ago

    This game is amazing. The sheer scope and diversity of it spoiled my expectations of games forever. Once patched up with community fixes, it's undeniably up there with Deus Ex and System Shock 2 as an Action RPGs that represents some of the most holistically pleasing narrative-led games ever made. The game may have been the first Source game released, but the characters were modelled well enough that I find them more genuinely emotive than many more modern, photo-real yet wooden game characters, and together with the superb dialogue it made them live like few games ever manage.

    By the way, I'd like to speak up in support of the Extended patch version by Wesp - as I understand it the idea is to reinstate all the content that Troika (may they rest in peace) originally intended to include but for whatever reason didn't, while maintaining overall balance. I installed this and played with this, had a thoroughly great time, and I feel this aim was generally reached. The combat, at least in this patched version, is considerably less clunky than in either of the two previously mentioned ActionRPGs. That said, I played last around community patch 4.3 and I believe we're on 6.3 now so it may be a rather different beast.

    I liked my first playthrough as a female Tremere best, partly because of the blood shield thing, partly because she was a crack shot with a Magnum, and partly because of the awesome skirt. My melee-focused Brujah was good too - love those sledgehammer stealth kills. Must try out Malkavian next time through...

  • peppergomez #71 3 years ago

    thanks, lewis. $45 used on amazon, and $19 on steam. will all these community patches work properly with the steam version of the game?

  • wesp5 #72 3 years ago

    To peppergomez: Yes, the unofficial patches work with the Steam version of the game.

    To Iceman346: The so called "true" patch is indeed incomplete with many unfixed bugs left, because originally it was created out of the 3.3 version of the unofficial patch without permission. If you want to stay true to the original game either play with the official 1.2 patch only or with the basic version of the unofficial patch which is up to date on all the bug fixes while not containing any restored content that changes the gameplay or things like weapon tweaking.
    Edited by 1 at 09/07/09 @ 13:37

  • boyo #73 2 years ago

    Unforgettable moments in this game, a real classic. Quite frightening in places, I wouldn't recommend someone with a dicky heart playing it! Essential to have a fully patched version.