Preview Bloodlines pre-gander at Armchair Empire

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

There's a little <A href="http://www.armchairempire.com/Previews/PCGames/Vampire-Masquerade-Bloodlines.htm">preview action</a> of <i>Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines</i> going on over at <A href="http://www.armchairempire.com/">Armchair Empire</a>. Here's a bit of it:
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<blockquote>Troika are emphasising the shooter aspects of the game as heavily as the adventure side of things, so it?s going to be a case of waiting to see how the gameplay turns out and ignoring any genre label for the time being. The list of weaponry so far seems a little uninspired, so it?s a good bet that the focus isn?t on how big your gun is. The single player game looks likely to be an open ?quest based? game, although how free the choices are and whether or not the quests involve an inordinate amount of locked doors and key collecting remain to be seen.</blockquote>
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It's a mystery, wrapped up in an enigma!
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Thanks for the word, <b>Jeff Nash</b>!

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

I feel confident in stating, given the talent at Troika, that the game will not be "find key unlock door" style adventuring. Why is it that if there aren't 6 million kinds of BFGs that the only other possiblity is click-and-point adventuring?

The most recent PC Gamer (flameshield - ON!) had a pretty interesting article on Vampire and I was quite encouraged by it. Guns are not a huge part of the game (i.e. this is not an FPS) and their use will be more determined by stats than by twitch skills. I imagine something like a more comprehensive implementation of the Deus Ex mechanic.

Personally I have always thought that a first person RPG could really outshine an isometric in terms of immersion and I am pretty damned excited to see what Troika can do with it; that said I admit the history of FP RPGs is spotty at best. Still, hope springs...and all that.

 

[Volourn]

I like Troika; but quite frankly this is not going to be their best work. I'll stick with TOEE.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

I am not at all familiar with the WW Vampire world, but I think this sounds pretty cool. Clans, politics, the need to keep up the 'masquerade", non-linearity and vampires - I like all of that.
ToEE is a must buy as well, but I don't consider them mutually exclusive.

 

[Voss]

Doubts...
but I hope...

Though Redemption aside, I know how bad a Vampire dungeon crawl can be...
had one inflicted on me in PnP years ago. Not fun. So if this goes badly, its going to go very badly indeed. But hopefully they can pull it off.

 

[HanoverF]

Don't forget, there will be jiggling boobies, so it can't get all that bad.

 

[EEVIAC]

The most recent PC Gamer (flameshield - ON!) had a pretty interesting article on Vampire and I was quite encouraged by it. Guns are not a huge part of the game (i.e. this is not an FPS) and their use will be more determined by stats than by twitch skills. I imagine something like a more comprehensive implementation of the Deus Ex mechanic.

Deus Ex had really bad AI, which made the skills easy to exploit. One could just crouch in the shadows, wait for the crosshairs to close and take out enemies. I guess in a game using vampires, a head-shot won't be a lethal takedown. (I hope not.)

 

[Jed]

Deus Ex had really bad AI, which made the skills easy to exploit. One could just crouch in the shadows, wait for the crosshairs to close and take out enemies. I guess in a game using vampires, a head-shot won't be a lethal takedown. (I hope not.)

No, but a heart-shot better be!

 

[triCritical]

I like Troika; but quite frankly this is not going to be their best work. I'll stick with TOEE.

And you know this because??????????????????????

 

[chrisbeddoes]

And you know this because??????????????????????

Mayby because of the jiggling boobies ? :twisted: :shock: :wink:

 

[Voss]

Theres also the niggling detail that Vampire, done well, requires a level of interaction thats frankly beyond computer AI and dialogue trees at the moment.

Vampire done really well? Not going to happen unless you plug the brains of a lot of real and talented people directly into the system to interact with you..

With hard work and luck, Troika might be able to pull off the first (done well). But starting off with a shooter engine isn't exactly the most promising sign. I think Troika's the most promising company out there at the moment, but theres a saying about reach, grasp and one exceeding the other lurking at the corner of my mind. I just don't think that this particular type of RPG (which can really de-emphasize combat and action) really works on a computer platform. Some things just need people.

But I could be (and hope to be) pleasantly surprised.

 

[EEVIAC]

No, but a heart-shot better be!

I just hope that the weapons skills mean something - I shouldn't be able to make a precise shot on heart or head if I don't have the skill (much like real life,) no matter how long I wait for the reticule to close.

 

[Volourn]

Tri, you know it's going to be good, because??? Oh yeah, I frogot, you are a Troika fanboy. Cool.

Maybe, it's because they are emphasing the 'shooter" aspects of the game. I thought Troika was a rpg developer. I guess I was wrong.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Tri, you know it's going to be good, because??? Oh yeah, I frogot, you are a Troika fanboy. Cool.

Maybe, it's because they are emphasing the 'shooter" aspects of the game. I thought Troika was a rpg developer. I guess I was wrong.

I am not convinced that they are in fact emphasizing the "shooter" aspects. Because it has guns and is in first person no more immediately relegates it to FPS then a game that is isometric and has swords is immediately an RPG.
I will shamelessly admit my Troika fanboy-ishness, but that is only becasue they have earned it.

 

[Volourn]

With one good game? WOWSERS!

 

[Vault Dweller]

With one good game? WOWSERS!

Even without arguing that, "one good game" is a hell of lot more than many developers can put on their resumes nowadays

 

[Jed]

With one good game? WOWSERS!

Tim Cain has never let me down. Your preferred object of fanboi-dom, BioWare, always lets me down.

 

[Volourn]

Tim Cain hasn't let me down, either. he's 2/2. Troika is 1/1; but with their announced games they'll most likely be 2/3 ; an dthat's if I even bother to get Bloodlines.

And, as far as BIO letting you down; I'm not too worried about it. Besides, it's your own fault for continuing buying their games when you know you are gonna hate them.

 

[Jed]

And, as far as BIO letting you down; I'm not too worried about it. Besides, it's your own fault for continuing buying their games when you know you are gonna hate them.

Sure, blame the victim. It was an abusive relationship, Bioware kept promising to change, that it would do better from here on out, that the next game would be better. NWN was the final straw.

 

[Volourn]

:twisted:

 

[Walks with the Snails]

I don't know, I'm kind of with Volourn here. I just don't think too often about this one. It's kind of out there with how my attitude towards Lionheart was, I'll just pretend it doesn't exist and be happy. Maybe when it comes out if everyone says it's insanely great I'll give it a try, but otherwise I just don't really care. Deux Ex never managed to hold my interest past the end of the second level, so things aren't too hopeful.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

For starters I would say that "one good game" would be enough to merit my attitude toward Troika; collectively the talent at Troika have produced more than "one" but that is beside the point. I am also a fan because of the design decisions they make, their philosophy of game design etc...
I also rather enjoyed Deus Ex and if this Troika's attempt at something similiar then I imagine I will be happy with it.
Whatever - I am not saying that "this game will fucking own and I will buy it no matter what". What I am saying is that there is plenty about it that sounds good to me and make me antcipate its arrival.

 

[Volourn]

I'm happy for you, and sad for me.

 

[Azael]

This is one of those upcoming games that I approach with a "wait and see" mentality, unlike ToEE which is already on my list of things to buy. It might turn out alright, but it might just be another Deus Ex as well.