Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Ever wondered what it would feel like to wake up one morning and find out that you've been turned into a vampire? Well that's exactly the situation you find yourself in at the start of Bloodlines. Unfortunately in vampire society just turning people into vampires without permission is frowned upon so you find yourself and your creator hauled off to a hearing where your maker finds out the hard way what the penalties are for breaking the rules. It looks like you'll be facing a similar fate until your life is miraculously spared. From there you are pretty much on your own to find your place in vampire society and not end up another pile of ashes blowing away in the wind.
In case you are worried that you need to have any previous knowledge to play Bloodlines then worry no more. Although there was another game in the series it has absolutely nothing to do with this one and the game styles isn't even similar. A bit of knowledge about the vampire societies created by Whit Wolf can be useful but even if you start this game with no extra information you'll soon learn the ropes and have a blast. Bloodlines is build on the Half-Life 2 engine so as you would expect things are looking mighty fine. While it never quite reaches the level of detail and realism that Half Life 2 managed it's still a damn fine looking game that will push your graphics card to the limits. Occasionally you'll see something that looks a bit rough or unpolished but overall the game looks very nice. It's also quite big so expect to see plenty of different environments and locations. The whole game takes place at night (for obvious reasons) but the modern gritty locations like China Town, Hollywood and Santa Monica features plenty of areas to explore and get immersed in. The game even has some genuinely scary moments and a few quests will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. Audio wise Troika has also done a fine job on bringing the vampire world to life and overall the voice overs are pretty neat. The music is also very nice and features a few awesome tracks by Gothic bands like Laguna Coil. I also burst out laughing more than once at the hilarious radio ads you'll catch from time to time or the wacky conversations you can engage with certain NPCs. When it comes to Gamplay Bloodlines reminded me a lot of Deus Ex which is definitely not a bad thing. You have a lot of different vampire clans you can pick from at the start of the game so there should be a style of gameplay suited to everyone's tastes. Whether you like sneaking around in the shadows, lock picking doors and hacking into computers or going in all guns blazing and wielding magical powers you'll find your type of personality to play as. As much fun as Bloodlines is it does have its fair share of annoying moments and a couple of rough spots here and there. While it might be enough to prevent the game from achieving classic status it's still a highly recommended piece of software that will keep you entertained for hours, especially if you like the subject matter. Troika has crafted a very ambitious and in depth game based on a cool license and whether you are a fan or never heard of it Vampire The Masquerade will have you enthralled once you're hooked on it's dark delights.
|
System Requirements
TAGS: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines,
|
|
Copyright © 2013 GAMERamble. All rights reserved