Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Edited January 14, 2005

Appearances can be deceiving. A central theme in Vamipre The Masquerade: Bloodlines, what the world chooses to believe has great effect on what they see. The principle behind White Wolf's World of Darkness is that an entire universe lies in the shadows of our world, hidden by the denial of beliefs deemed superstitious or the machinations of an unseen hand. And what lies beneath Bloodlines' rough exterior is one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time.

As a finished product Bloodlines should be an embarrassment. The first developers to use Valve's brand new Source engine can't even put together decent looking textures, and barely comes close to imitating the amazing lip-synching that went into the characters of Half Life 2. There are obvious typos in the dialog options, graphical slowdowns, and the same sound stuttering that became such a problem with Half Life 2 before it was patched. Watching my Tremere neonate prance around the screen and dance wildly at bars while attempting to seduce people for my next meal felt shameful. To be honest, I thought I had made a mistake picking up this game. But to take Bloodlines at face value is to set yourself up for disappointment. I've dismissed games with fewer bugs than this, and if there is one game that deserves a second chance it's this one. Bloodlines' ultimate undoing is that you have to dig deep to truly enjoy the story presented in its immersive world.

Much to my chagrin, I admit I played the Vampire: The Masquerade pen and paper game. In a dimly lit basement we rolled the 10-sided dice holding chalices of cherry kool aid, which we eagerly drank upon victory. Chalk this up to misspent youth, but as with all tabletop RPGs we were so desperate to avoid the real world. Whether it was pretending to be a drunken dwarf warlord or plotting to kill a Ventrue primogen, it really didn't matter to us. But the World of Darkness is not for everyone. It borrows heavily from Anne Rice's famous Vampire series and modern vampire movies like The Lost Boys, creating an angst-filled fantasy paradise where misunderstood teens can prey on humans. Even though White Wolf's games were intended for a mature audience, you're more likely to see older World of Darkness gamers hanging out in Vampire bars downtown. I think getting used to White Wolf's gameworld is part of the learning curve. It's dark, gothic and most definitely gruesome - some might say it's simply genre cliche. And I guess they'd be right, because if you think about it, the World of Darkness was just created by a bunch of goth geeks that were tired of Dungeons and Dragons.

As a beginner's RPG, D&D rightly focuses on the mechanics of battle, character building and treasure hunting. It was up to the Dungeon Master to make the experience memorable, but D&D always left an out for those DMs that couldn't be bothered with creating a world that was believable, and could easily dump their PCs into pre-designed dungeons to battle monsters and gain loot. The World of Darkness, however, made sure you were a character first, and a sheet of stats second. Indeed, the first games set in the World of Darkness could easily be described as "modern" D&D - both figuratively and literally - an evolution in role playing for those that were tired of repetitive dice rolling and rules lawyers. White Wolf's sourcebooks were more full of background information, political structures, and even etiquette before delving into number crunching and magic items.

Bloodlines takes this feeling of the Vampire pen and paper game and successfully transforms it into a CRPG, complete with an accurate portrayal of stat building. As I played, I was more interested in forwarding the plot, exploring new avenues not to gain experience, but to reveal each resident of this finely crafted world. I found that I had a surplus of experience after each mission, spending it only as necessary and saving the extra points to increase my ability to navigate a conversation, not really caring how proficient I was with a gun.

This isn't the first time White Wolf's Vampire license was given the computer game treatment. Nihilistic's Redemption (2000) was a glorified dungeon hack, and was mainly used as a vehicle for their "Storyteller" multiplayer mode before Bioware's much more robust Aurora editor was released with Neverwinter Nights. Indeed, even the game's character sheet bore little resemblance to White Wolf's game; instead Redemption seemed to be a lazy interpretation with conventional RPG stat building thrown in. The transition between medieval and modern time periods was a nice addition, as it tied in with what White Wolf was doing with the license at the time (Vampire: The Dark Ages was fairly new, if I recall). But for fans of the source RPG it was a big disappointment.

Then I heard that Troika started work on Bloodlines. A developer with a knack for RPGs (though not that keen of an eye for polish), big expectations were made for the game as many thought it would improve on Redemption's faults. Even a new multiplayer mode was promised, and when Valve announced Troika would be the first outside developer to use the Source engine, the PC gaming community was completely enthralled. After delays attributed to Half Life 2, Bloodlines was finally released - but without multiplayer. And given that it was released the exact same day as Half Life 2, I think many early reviewers felt the need to sweep it under the carpet, its lukewarm reception understandably pinned on its seemingly unfinished state. But that doesn't mean this game isn't any good. Early reviews are particularly unfair in this regard, because they don't want to steal the limelight and slow the momentum of other, bigger releases of the Holiday season.

Before you start Bloodlines, you select your clan and pick your starting abilities. You can also take a short quiz, and based on the answers the game will pick the abilities for you. There aren't many options for your character's appearance, but I think after playing MMORPGs this was a reflex reaction. Bloodlines at least allows you to select a male or female version of each Clan, distinct in appearance. The premise of the story is that you're the bastard childe of another vampire, who is killed in front of you, while your life is suprisingly spared. After a conversation with one of the game's many NPCs, you learn that you have two distinct futures ahead of you: become the pawn of Los Angeles' high-level vampires, or make your own destiny. I could easily change this intro sequence. Why not have your character enter some darkened club, unbeknownst to you, the lone human, that it is full of brooding, scheming vampires? You could strike up conversations with them, and, like the quiz determining your traits, ultimately determine what Clan would be the most appropriate to join. To me, this would make the game seamless, and tie everything together nicely. After all, the beginning of the game makes it quite clear you don't belong in this new world.

The game takes place around modern day Los Angeles, including a Downtown core, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Chinatown. Though you can't actually walk between them, the areas are reachable by cabs in each location. The game world is further divided up into sub-areas, identified on your HUD: Masquerade areas, Elysium areas and combat areas. For those unfamiliar with the Vampire RPG, the Masquerade is the most important aspect of your existence. Though you may travel by night, in order to blend in with human ("kine") society, you must act the part, and betray no evidence of your preternatural nature. That means no bloodsucking in public, and the use of your powers is prohibited as well. Elysiums are safe havens, neutral ground as designated by vampire ("kindred") society. You can't harm or otherwise act aggressively towards people in these areas, no matter what conflicts lay between you. Elysiums are usually clubs and bars, though some residences are deemed safe areas as well. Combat areas are as the name implies: you can do anything here. These will usually be the "dungeon" areas of the game, where some quests are completed. You may still have to sneak your way into Masquerade or Elysium areas as well, though, putting many restrictions on the way you can go about your mission.

There are more loading screens than Fable, and it actually becomes hard to tell when they'll pop up because the areas aren't always divided up into predictable segments. Waiting for areas to load easily became my least favorite part of the game. Each city area is designed as an openly explorable environment. You're free to do what you want with the NPCs on the streets, be it feed, kill or rob - but it does have consequences. Committing a criminal act in plain sight may catch the attention of the police patrolling the city. They will come after you, unless you run away and hide for a time until they give up the search. Though they have really short memories, because walking by an officer after they have just looked for you won't attract their wrath again.

Feeding is essential to survival, and becomes a game in itself. You learn to pick your marks - usually the ones foolishly walking the street alone - in order to preserve The Masquerade. A well dressed mortal will most certainly have healthy blood, but will be wandering the streets in full view. A homeless person or bag lady wandering the alleys will usually have thinner, quickly drained blood - or will sometimes be diseased. Controlling the beast within is imperative; you can never drain a mortal to death lest you lose a piece of humanity, the lone characteristic that differentiates your former self from the curse of immortality.

The Nosferatu and Gangrel clans are noticeably beastly looking, and at least in the tabletop RPG have problems interacting with normal society. When you're first selecting your clan, and aren't familiar with the game world, this may be a choice players soon regret. But you can tell the level designers at least made the city with these types of characters in mind - it's very possible to sneak around the city without anyone ever seeing you. Hidden alleyways and a sewer system connecting all four game areas make this extremely easy.

I don't like that the impending doom of daylight was left out of the game. No matter where you go or what you do, it is always night and you have no fear of running out of time - because it seems that time is not a factor in this game. Wouldn't it be more realistic if daylight was a constant threat? Even if it meant finding a place to "sleep", time could still pass immediately until it was dark again. This would lend an air of immediacy to all of your quests, though perhaps the developers thought that players wouldn't like the feeling of being under pressure. But in Bloodlines, it would add even more to this underworld of vampires that is presented.

Most of the quests in the game go out of their way to present a suitably dark and mysterious atmosphere. One of the first missions where you must visit a an abandoned hotel that may have been the location of a series of brutal killings, was very creepy. Newspapers were strewn about describing the ghastly murders, ghostly figures ran through the halls - always quickly enough so that you weren't even sure if you saw it. The World of Darkness was used to its fullest as the quests explored flesh eaters, snuff films created by depraved vampires, werewolves, and blood-plague bearers bringing a self-proclaimed apocalypse. The soundtrack is great at setting the mood, and the music that plays in bars and clubs is from a wide range of gothic-rock sources. Though in each club only one song is repeated over and over again, making it hard to accept the patrons didn't at least make a meal out of the DJ.

I've tried to avoid talking about the visuals, because aside from the bugs (which have an effect on everything) this is probably the weakest part of the game. The interface and HUD is terribly ugly, and though I set up my commonly used spells and actions through hotkeys it felt like something ported from a console. Some environments, though they may be able to convince you of their atmosphere, are still sparsely decorated. Rooms will be re-used, and some don't even have a purpose except to confuse you as you wander the halls of some abandoned building. Even the characters look cartoonish and low detailed, with the clothing making it more obvious. It's hard to believe this game is based on Source. Even the in-game physics aren't as realistic as Half Life 2's - where in HL2 every object becomes a weapon, in Bloodlines only certain objects are manipulatable.

That aside, the dialogue in this game is absolutely amazing. They felt like real conversations. And not just the typical utter one line and get a reply method. When you talk to NPCs you get the distinct feeling that you are within a designed conversation. This really is a mature RPG, and not of the "huh huh...breasts" nature, but instead a game that takes advantage of the adult themes and content of the World of Darkness RPGs to present a compelling story. The responses you make will also dictate how characters will talk to you, usually within the same conversation. Your skills in subterfuge, seduction and intimidation will also help in this regard. Sometimes you can even eliminate leads based on your responses, locking out potential quests. It obviously pays to be the nice guy, but that doesn't mean being a miserable prick doesn't make things more interesting. However, I felt the need to press 1,2,3, etc. for dialogue options was a bit old school. Why not just a mouse click? Every other RPG follows this convention. Through the dialogue and quests, I began to notice how Troika really captured the essence of Kindred politics and social dealings within the World of Darkness. For most of the game, Bloodlines felt more like an adventure than an RPG. It was focused on presenting a story rather than having players worry about tweaking their character's stats. But when there is combat, it's almost like an entirely different game.

In Gamespot's review, the reviewer's biggest complaint was the combat. I agree that it feels completely awkward and unrefined, but the things he was whining about were explained in the game, and anyone who's played the Pen and Paper game would know this as well. Bladed weapons do more damage to vampires, as bullets and clubs are of the "bludgeoning" type and are absorbed through preternatural means. There are skills that can be levelled to alleviate bludgeoning or critical (bladed weapon) damage. And to improve your skill with firearms, you will need to upgrade those skills too. Though counter-intuitive, I think it was brave of Troika to make it harder to shoot if you lack the skill, transcending the "move cursor here for a direct hit" convention. Guns aren't entirely useless when fighting vampires anyway, and will obviously do more damage to humans or ghouls. I'm sure there would be more complaints if guns were entirely left out. The only viable complaint that I can muster about gunplay in Bloodlines is the lack of specialty bullets, made famous by Blade - silver-tipped or holy water-filled rounds aren't available. Though I made my personal favorite the Katana, the flamethrower is particularly devastating weapon. I was actually able to slay one of the boss enemies in about three seconds, and it's quite handy in giving Final Death to multiple enemies at once.

The great thing about the majority of the quests is that there are different approaches to each objective. Sneaking is implemented very well, and because you only get experience points for quest completion dispatching every enemy isn't that important. Instead you can focus on your character's strengths: intimidate or charm, sneak by or charge into every room - the choice really is up to the player. Unfortunately not all the quests will give an experience bonus for not killing anyone, unless it explicitly demands it. And even some objectives require the killing of a guard to get a key, whereas the Thief series allows you to pick pockets.

Sneaking is actually a great strategy for most missions, but don't confuse this for Splinter Cell. The AI is very spotty, and there are times you can be crouching right in front of someone and they won't do anything. Moreover, guards will give up the hunt very easily after they spot you or hear you moving, something that spelled certain doom in other stealth-based games. Characters who are undeveloped in combat can use stealth to their advantage: as long as you have a knife, you can sneak up behind an enemy and kill them with a particularly bloody throat slitting.

After doing its best to build the game into an adventure through Vampire society, about three quarters of the way into Bloodlines things take a sharp turn towards combat-centric quests. Just when you thought the game would allow you to talk your way through many of the missions, revealing in its series of encounters a cohesive and believable environment, you're expected to suddenly arm yourself and begin the bloodshed. As I said, there isn't experience awarded for each enemy slain, so it's annoying to be faced with countless enemies to dispatch before being able to reach your objective. It's also frustrating to have to invest in previously ignored skills that are combat oriented, as opposed to the continued development of your socialite vampire.

The final act of Bloodlines borders on unfair for any characters that were developed with these "soft" skills like intimidate, stealth, and security. The game essentially forces your hand, as you're placed into a series of gauntlets where you're clearly outnumbered. In the initial "Blood Hunt" sequence, Camarilla forces are out on the streets and even the Nosfaratu have come up from the sewers and want a piece of you. What I fail to understand is how this was even possible. What happened to all of the humans that populated the streets only a few short moments ago? Surely a large scale vampire assault like this would grab their attention. Furthermore, for the most part the endgame sequence allows little leeway in avoiding conflict, with a final boss battle that seems almost anti-climactic. After that, you're treated to a brief conversation where the plot is resolved, in a fitting but extremely terse cutscene.

With Vamipre: Bloodlines, Troika seems to be making a habit of creating great concepts that need to be patched immediately (see the Temple of Elemental Evil). The recently released version 1.2 patch doesn't eliminate play interrupting graphics slowdowns, the amount of load screens and blatant dialogue typos, and instead just addressed showstoppers like crashes or broken quests. Still, the community seems unfazed, and I've heard of some people completing the game two or three times before the patch was even released.

In the face of all of these faults, there is a game that I looked forward to playing every day for the last two months. My character didn't level up over this time; I felt him evolve. Or maybe it was just my appreciation of the game that was evolving, as more information was presented and the grand schemes of Los Angeles's power players are revealed in their claims for more territory. Perhaps I can be so bold as to compare it with my experience in Half Life 2 - the ending is almost equally abrupt and lacking - but completing the game was just a small part of the entire experience. The journey was the most enjoyable: the character development coupled with an intriguing story and dialogue, and a game world brimming with atmosphere made Bloodlines one of the best games I played in 2004. The blemishes are hard to ignore at first, but I've heard more excuses made for less deserving titles.

so I dove into that frozen sea