Vampire – The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
There are few games that have had quite the troubled development cycle, that Bloodlines 2 had. The game was first set to be developed by Hard Suit Labs, under Brian Mitsoda, who was the lead writer of the first Bloodlines and published by Paradox Interactive, who owned the IP. However in 2021 development ceased, the narrative team let go and Paradox considered shelving the whole project.
The Chinese Room, a development studios based in the U.K., secretly took over and Bloodlines 2 was back on the radar in 2023 with a new announcement trailer. And then, earlier this October, the game finally released.
It goes without saying, that Bloodlines 2 had some gigantic shoes to fill, seeing as how Bloodlines 1 is something of a legendary video game with a cult following, a modding community that has been tinkering on eliminating any bugs from the game for 20+ years as well as being one of the best RPGs of all time.
Although Bloodlines 2 does not quite reach those heights, fans of the World of Darkness and also complete newbies (with a Vampire power fantasy) to the setting, will have a good time with the game.
Story wise, Bloodlines 2 is excellently written, with twists and turns, vampiric politics, backstabbing, betrayal and a juicy murder mystery. It’s all there. And all if this happens at night, in Seattle, during the winter festivities, with snow covered cars, festive lights and the tunes of Rik Shaffer in your ear. The moody atmosphere of this game is one of it’s greatest strengths.
As an additional twist, you are constantly accompanied by Fabien, the Malkavian vampire, who lives in your head and comments on everything that is happening. And since Fabien is a textbook Noir detective, his opinions and insights add to the atmosphere even more.
Gameplay wise, you get different Disciplines, based on your chosen Clan, just like in the tabletop game, but you can eventually learn all Disciplines from all Clans by the end of the game. And then you use those powers in combat, which is fast, chaotic and pretty hard, until you get the timing right of when to use which power, when to feed to recover your Blood Pool and heal and when to simply hightail it outta there.
Your character, Phyre the Nomad, is somewhat of a legend in vampiric circles, being an Elder Vampire that has been around since the 1500s. And there are two special abilities which only the Nomad has.
Telekinesis, which is an interesting mechanic in the game, as it allows you to grab out of reach items, but also to grab an opponent Darth Vader-style and pull him towards you, for an easy grab and feed.
Phyre is also able to fly, or more like, glide from building to building, which is one of your main ways of moving through the city.
Bloodlines 2 has a couple of things are not that good, mainly the fact that side quests in the game are basically fetch quests that you repeat each night for additional experience points, but those are completely optional. And the fact that you have to gather different types of blood to unlock Disciplines from other clans, and it’s tedious to have to run around the city, looking for a specific blood type and “farming” it until you have enough. It feels gamey and out of place.
The game could have benefited greatly from hand crafted side-quests that explore more different aspects of the World of Darkness setting, just like the original Bloodlines had.
Another major difference from the original game is the fact that there is no classic character sheet in the game. You don’t have traditional stats that you make stronger, you don’t level up your Disciplines once you acquire them and there are no weapons in the game, only those you pick up telekineticly during combat for a single counter attack.
Bloodlines 2 is not really a role-playing game, it is more like an action adventure game with role-playing elements. But the main strength of the game lies in the story, the general feel of the setting that the devs have adapted really well, and the excellent voice-work and moody music.
It is a huge deal that we got a sequel to Troika’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines in the first place, 21 years later and any fan of the setting owes it to themselves to at least check this one out. It might not be perfect, it might not really be an RPG, but it is definitely Vampire: The Masquerade.
The Chinese Room, a development studios based in the U.K., secretly took over and Bloodlines 2 was back on the radar in 2023 with a new announcement trailer. And then, earlier this October, the game finally released.
It goes without saying, that Bloodlines 2 had some gigantic shoes to fill, seeing as how Bloodlines 1 is something of a legendary video game with a cult following, a modding community that has been tinkering on eliminating any bugs from the game for 20+ years as well as being one of the best RPGs of all time.
Although Bloodlines 2 does not quite reach those heights, fans of the World of Darkness and also complete newbies (with a Vampire power fantasy) to the setting, will have a good time with the game.
Story wise, Bloodlines 2 is excellently written, with twists and turns, vampiric politics, backstabbing, betrayal and a juicy murder mystery. It’s all there. And all if this happens at night, in Seattle, during the winter festivities, with snow covered cars, festive lights and the tunes of Rik Shaffer in your ear. The moody atmosphere of this game is one of it’s greatest strengths.
As an additional twist, you are constantly accompanied by Fabien, the Malkavian vampire, who lives in your head and comments on everything that is happening. And since Fabien is a textbook Noir detective, his opinions and insights add to the atmosphere even more.
Gameplay wise, you get different Disciplines, based on your chosen Clan, just like in the tabletop game, but you can eventually learn all Disciplines from all Clans by the end of the game. And then you use those powers in combat, which is fast, chaotic and pretty hard, until you get the timing right of when to use which power, when to feed to recover your Blood Pool and heal and when to simply hightail it outta there.
Your character, Phyre the Nomad, is somewhat of a legend in vampiric circles, being an Elder Vampire that has been around since the 1500s. And there are two special abilities which only the Nomad has.
Telekinesis, which is an interesting mechanic in the game, as it allows you to grab out of reach items, but also to grab an opponent Darth Vader-style and pull him towards you, for an easy grab and feed.
Phyre is also able to fly, or more like, glide from building to building, which is one of your main ways of moving through the city.
Bloodlines 2 has a couple of things are not that good, mainly the fact that side quests in the game are basically fetch quests that you repeat each night for additional experience points, but those are completely optional. And the fact that you have to gather different types of blood to unlock Disciplines from other clans, and it’s tedious to have to run around the city, looking for a specific blood type and “farming” it until you have enough. It feels gamey and out of place.
The game could have benefited greatly from hand crafted side-quests that explore more different aspects of the World of Darkness setting, just like the original Bloodlines had.
Another major difference from the original game is the fact that there is no classic character sheet in the game. You don’t have traditional stats that you make stronger, you don’t level up your Disciplines once you acquire them and there are no weapons in the game, only those you pick up telekineticly during combat for a single counter attack.
Bloodlines 2 is not really a role-playing game, it is more like an action adventure game with role-playing elements. But the main strength of the game lies in the story, the general feel of the setting that the devs have adapted really well, and the excellent voice-work and moody music.
It is a huge deal that we got a sequel to Troika’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines in the first place, 21 years later and any fan of the setting owes it to themselves to at least check this one out. It might not be perfect, it might not really be an RPG, but it is definitely Vampire: The Masquerade.
Story
Gameplay
Music
Mood
Summary
An intricately woven mystery set in the World of Darkness, that will sink it’s fangs in you and not let you go until you finish it.
