Review Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Review

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

<p>HonestGamers <a href="http://www.honestgamers.com/reviews/9118/Vampire-The-Masquerade-Bloodlines.html" target="_blank">are being honest</a> about <strong>Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines</strong>.</p>
<p>They rate the game 9/10, Outstanding, "The majority of games simply aren't this good. It stands aside from the crowd and you'd be crazy to miss it".</p>
<blockquote>
<p><span class="standard">To a certain extent <em>Bloodlines</em> itself is in disguise; at a cursory glance it may resemble a first-person shooter, and indeed runs on <em>Half-Life 2</em>'s Source engine, but this is very much an RPG of extraordinary depth &ndash; that just happens to frequently involve blowing away mortals and monsters alike with a pump-action shotgun. The seven vampiric clans you can choose to descend from not only feature unique appearances for both male and female fledglings but each offer their own combination of supernatural powers ranging from the elegant Toreador's superhuman speed and savage Gangrel's ability to rend flesh asunder in the form of a monstrous beast to the Malkavian incapacitating entire hit squads in the blink of an eye by offering them a glimpse into her own diseased psyche. Don't care much for shooting or spells? Specializing in brawling can be even more effective against undying horrors than emptying a Glock into them, not to mention a physically adept character's ability to snatch gangbangers in the midst of combat and refill her health via a quick mouthful of arterial spray.<br /> <br /> Tasty.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="standard">I'm sure Tim Cain and the others are happy about the good ratings their games get nowadays.<br /></span></p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100348-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-review.html">GB</a></p>

 

[MicoSelva]

Uh... better late than never?

 

[SCO]

My rage cup overfloweth

Drink deep!

 

[Kz3r0]

Game Journalists are dirty whores and Hitmen for hire, let aside Troika clumsiness, I remember that those pieces of shit actually did evrything they could to kill tha game, they pulled the same shit with Obsidian.
Oh well, at least we know for sure now who pays bribes a who doesn't.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

I'm sure this will bring Troika back from the dead.

 

[Malakal]

Oh boy, praise now? Its sure going to help.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Hmm, it looks like that site in particular never flip-flopped. But the earliest review is in 2008. It begs the question: where were they when the game was released?

 

[denizsi]

Hmm, it looks like that site in particular never flip-flopped. But the earliest review is in 2008. It begs the question: where were they when the game was released?

Bloodlines was released in 2004.

 

[Lockkaliber]

Man I hate game journalists. All I can do is impotently rage about them though.

 

[Xor]

Bloodlines was a pretty good game, especially for an action RPG. I can even tolerate the dungeons and combat heavy 3rd act, although it would have been a stronger game without them.

 

[Multidirectional]

I can even tolerate the dungeons and combat heavy 3rd act, although it would have been a stronger game without them.

I only hate Hollywood sewers, I don't mind the rest. I actually get some pleasure raping everyone with my powerful Disciplines near the end. At that point I feel like my character deserves being uber.

 

[Volourn]

Overrated. the game is worth 8/10 because the combat is so crappy.

 

[Silellak]

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Overrated. the game is worth 8/10 because the combat is so crappy.

For reference, how much is DA worth?

 

[SharkClub]

Only 6 years late.

 

[DriacKin]

Overrated. the game is worth 8/10 because the combat is so crappy.

Bullshits. The game deserves no more than a 5 or 6 out of ten. Shit combat, bad level design, no c&c whatsoever, and lack off any game balance destroy the experience. And be honest -- the story/characters in the latter half of the game were lackluster at best.

The gaming journalists were correct the first time around.

 

[Volourn]

"For reference, how much is DA worth?"

8.8ish It should be noted, btw, that my so called 'beloved' NWN is worthy of just a 7.5.

But, that's because BL's combat is horrid. C&C, characters, and role-playing wise BL is just as good as DA, and even arguably better; but the combat just drags it down. I oculdn't play BL a second time simply 'cause the combat was that bad.

 

[Melcar]

Bullshit.

 

[CraigCWB]

I think it's fair for them to retroactively praise it, as it seems like a much better game by today's standards than it did when it was released. Not that there were a lot of really good RPGs coming out in 2004, but people still had some expectations about what good RPG was supposed to play like, back then. People don't even remember what a good RPG is, now.

Most memorable experience for me in that game was the haunted house in the beginning, and that had no combat at all. Troika did a great job with some aspects of this game like the atmosphere and the dialog/storyline, but they failed to deliver in other areas. Like the combat which was really shallow and repetitive in my opinion. Lack of any meaningful inventory. No real character customization other than choosing sex and class (vampire type) and a very small selection of "outfits". I imagine an adventure game fan would have been well pleased with it. An action game fan, maybe would love it too as it was an FPS+ extras. For me as an RPG fan I would have given it about an 8 out of 10 back then, and I would have only scored it that high because its compared well to other RPGs coming out the same time.

 

[Malakal]

Overrated. the game is worth 8/10 because the combat is so crappy.

Bullshits. The game deserves no more than a 5 or 6 out of ten. Shit combat, bad level design, no c&c whatsoever, and lack off any game balance destroy the experience. And be honest -- the story/characters in the latter half of the game were lackluster at best.

The gaming journalists were correct the first time around.

Combat isnt inspiring but You have nice disciplines to use, level design I found to be acceptable if linear (but with different approaches built in), there is some c&c at the end and on the way (like in the russian mob questline), lack of game balance doesnt really make it worse in singleplayer anyway.

I find Your opinion to be too harsh.