Codex Review Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Review

[Spazmo]

Tags: Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

We've got our own take on Troika's Vampire RPG. Read on. Here's the opening paragraph because you don't get to see the end unless you read the whole thing, you cheater.

It was around this time last year that Troika Games released their second game, Temple of Elemental Evil. The game, publisher and largely the teams are all different, but the stakes for the company seem about the same. Both games follow a Troika title that wasn't quite as good or successful as fans--and those who certainly aren't fans--would have liked them to be. Both games are a chance for the company to really make a name for itself and show that years after Fallout, the game that got it all right, and Arcanum, the game that got lots of it right, the Troika team still had it. And, unfortunately for this new game, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, both games, while being quite good in their own right, don't fully make up for all the mistakes made in the company's previous effort and, woefully, make new ones of their own.​

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Fortunately for all humanity, the tentacles of the latter never violate the former

And the screenshot with the shopping cart balancing act was quite humorous as well considering I do that all the time in the game. I especially like balancing the barrels on peoples heads. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll try to balance them on people who are actually walking. Yeah, okay, I need a life.

But seriously, good review. I agree this is a game that all lover's of RPGs should try, even if they are not fans of the Masquerade setting. Let's just hope that Troika's next project is just as extensive as this one is, except that it gets better treatment towards the end and in the QA department.

 

[Spazmo]

It wasn't balancing on the hobo's head, it was on its way to thwacking it. But yeah, like I said, it sucks how stuff just bounces off the model's enormous hitbox.

 

[Whipporowill]

I have to say I found the ambient music pretty damn good, and the licensed music was generally very fitting - although nog always to my liking.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Oh. Okay.

Yeah, I got a kick out of hitting people with bottles and cans and shit whilst they continue on like nothing is happening. One of the few things I did enjoy about Halflife 2 was the citizens would get pissed if you did that to them. Of course, all they did was yell at you to stop it. Would have been nice if they'd go medieval on your ass or something.

I have to say I found the ambient music pretty damn good, and the licensed music was generally very fitting - although nog always to my liking.

Yes, I agree very much with this. As I stated in another post, I especially loved the Downtown theme. Very cool stuff. Reminded me of Shadowrun for the SNES. Also, Hollywood's music is VERY Silent Hill-ish in nature. Honestly, there was only one licensed piece I haven't liked so far, and that was the Vesuvius music. Other than that, it's pretty good stuff.

 

[DemonKing]

Good review - I've just entered Hollywood so still have a way to go but so far it is pretty addictive. I find myself going back to my haven to check up on things, visiting favourite NPCs etc. The voice acting is great.

Also just got my first change of clothes...Precinct 69 Malkavian chick looks even better than the cheerleader version you get at the start of the game!

I guess it's kind of a combination of KOTOR and Deus Ex in game style. There are a few bugs - clipping issues and I had a weird one at the beginning of the ship quest where a cop kept on repeating hismelf over and over to me, and I find it interesting that whenever my vampire goes down in a lift her ponytail flys up like she's hurtling to the ground.

Overall I would give it 8.5-9/10 so far...definately the best Troika game released yet IMHO. Of course, that might change if the ending is as bad as Spazmo says.

 

[Jinxed]

And the screenshot with the shopping cart balancing act was quite humorous as well considering I do that all the time in the game.

My screenshot is much better

Jeanette = OWNED

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Okay, how did you pwn Jeanette like that in one of those safety areas? :D

 

[Jinxed]

It's just a trick. Have you ever tried to jump on top of people? They run around like there's a fire. Jeanette does some sort of dodge on the floor and occasionaly she falls flat like that on her belly.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Damn but that's one nice piece of undead virtual ass.

 

[Sol Invictus]

It's a pity she uses fresh blood to lubricate her vagina. Yuck.

 

[android]

Good review, I was expecting more bashing though. Some questions: how is it with the diplomatic skills? There are 3 right? Diplomacy, persuation and seduction? Which is most useful? And is seduction useful only for female characters?

 

[Sol Invictus]

Persuasion is the most useful. Intimidation is worthless. You don't get too many seduction options as a male character because not many male characters are gay, but all female characters are lesbians.

 

[dojoteef]

Persuasion is the most useful. Intimidation is worthless. You don't get too many seduction options as a male character because not many male characters are gay, but all female characters are lesbians.

Here here! That is so true. Though you did leave out the mention of two other possible social skills. If you're a Ventrue you can use Dominate in conversations though you only get a few times that you get to use it. Malkavians can use Dementation in conversations (which works very similarly to Dominate) and get to used it damned often at that as well (more than Domination for Ventrue characters so far that I've seen).

 

[Jinxed]

Intimidation is worthless

Only because there is too much persuasion. But then again, if someone had to specialize in persuasion, intimidation and seduction at the same time, how the fuck would they get through the last areas of the main plot? I think if China Town had 2x more things to do it would allow the player to actually accumulate the needed XP for the end.

 

[android]

Persuasion is the most useful. Intimidation is worthless. You don't get too many seduction options as a male character because not many male characters are gay, but all female characters are lesbians.

With all the JiggleTech and stuff I thought the game will be more geared toward the male character... I wonder why all females are lesbians?

 

[DemonKing]

You don't get too many seduction options as a male character because not many male characters are gay, but all female characters are lesbians.

Not really true - my female Malkavian with high seduction gets blown off quite regularly by some of the girls hanging around clubs and bars...although there's a cute Goth slut at the Cathedral club Downtown that profers her neck to me with little more than a wink. :wink:

 

[Mendoza]

You don't get too many seduction options as a male character because not many male characters are gay, but all female characters are lesbians.

Not really true - my female Malkavian with high seduction gets blown off quite regularly by some of the girls hanging around clubs and bars...although there's a cure Goth slut at the Cathedral club Downtown that profers her neck to me with little more than a wink. :wink:

I can also think of 3 times I used seduction on men in Santa Monica, it just requires you to have a higher skill than you would if you wanted to use it on women. The opportunities dried up after that, but then they also seemed to for women as well. I have a seduction of 9 and the only use it seems to be is in getting girls in bars and getting hookers for free. You get a few more conversation options with it but they don't really do anything. It's just flirting for flavour.

 

[Ortchel]

With all the JiggleTech and stuff I thought the game will be more geared toward the male character... I wonder why all females are lesbians?

Because males will inevitably make a female character to see her ass in third person, which should answer your question; guys like lesbians.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Well, as I said before, I'm almost positive the speech skills are also affected by what clan you chose. I got a lot more seduction options with my Malkav chick than I did with my Toreador one, at the same skill level even. So, I experimented. Thinking about it, I realized that Toreador would more than likely be better off with persuasion since they are very social, yet not prone to be slutty like the Malkavs can be. So I tested the above with Persuasion instead of Seduction, and found that my Toreador got more persuasion options then my Malkav, again at the same skill level. Then I tossed a Brujah into the mix and got more intimidate options then I did with the other two.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that what clan you choose affects your speech skills as well. And, actually, that makes sense to me and just added alot more depth to the game, IMO.

 

[Jinxed]

I didn't really feel like the changes were significant. I played with Toreador, Brujah, Malk and Tremere and I didn't really seem to catch the difference. I only noticed a slight boost to seduction early in the game as Toreador, which dissapated later on. Can't say much for the Brujah, I didn't add anything to the speach skills till very late in the game. With Tremere I kept the skills at around 5 because I had to focus on my disciplines.

And Malkavian, well, they're crazy, and Troika gave them a lot more distinction. It's possible that some some clans get special dialog options in regards to their style. Damned if I want to play the game THAT much. I'm already beginning to exhibit a mechanical way of progressing through the game.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Well, I only experimented through Santa Monica up to the point where you have access to Downtown, so I don't know about later areas. But I did notice a significant difference between the clans using same gender and same skill levels. I would say that the Malkavian had about 50% more seduction options than the Toreador, who in return had about the same amount more persuasion options. So, either speech is clan specific, or I've encountered one of those bugs that's really cool.

 

[zenslinger]

Lotta nitpickin' in that there review, which is fine I s'pose, this here site bein' HAWD-core an' all. But I say: can't fault the music atall, no sir.