Retrospective: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Comments by Lewis Denby

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.

Best PC game I have played.

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 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!

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.

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.

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? ^^

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.

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.

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...

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...

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

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.

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.

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

Masterpiece.

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.

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

Brilliant game. Pity they went bust. But what a game to go out on. Brilliance.

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... :)

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

what format is it for?

Windows

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

*sees stop sign*

NO, *YOU* STOP

....

....you win this round.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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

Supposedly they work fine.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

This game is one of the best rpg's made in the last decade (It says a lot about the poor state of rpg's that I can say this with 2 more years left this decade:()

*ARTHUR NIMBLE!* hahahaha ohmygodthatwasinsanelyscary!

Creasy: No atmosphere? Really? Really?

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

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

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.

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