It's been 15 years since the first installment of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines by Troika Games and Activision. A few months ago, the joy among the fans of the cult vampire game was great: The long hope that is being worked on a new part was confirmed.
This time around, Hardsuit Labs as a developer and Paradox as a publisher are at work to redesign the gloomy world of vampires: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. While it was initially said that the second part would be released in March 2020 for the consoles and the PC, the release date of the game has recently been postponed. It should continue to be the year 2020, but an exact date has not yet been determined. Certainly, the postponed release is a good decision, after all no fan wants the second part of the game to come back on the market with a miserable debacle, as was the case with the first part in 2004. Even if we still have to wait until the game is on the shelves, there is already some information and gameplay about the game.
Become a vampire
We wake up and we're dead – or undead. We are a vampire, more specifically a Thinblood, a young, weak, inexperienced and vampire-low type of vampire. If we want to survive in the world of darkness, it means improving our skills and working our way up the ranks. We are in a particularly gloomy and vampire-ridden version of Seattle, where various vampire clans and factions with different characteristics, lifestyles, and ideologies are at work. They all live by a motto – and now we too: The masquerade must not be revealed.
In other words: You must not use your vampiric skills in front of people in order not to fly up and keep the vampire's existence secret. However, there is a lot of commotion after a group of rebel vampires publicly attacked a mass of humans and turned them into vampires, to whom we too fell victim. The civil war between the vampire factions is erupting and it's up to us to survive as Thinblood.
In role-playing, we have the opportunity to choose one of three vampire skills. Including the possibilities to summon bats, to use mental magic or to dissolve in fog. Weapons are there to pick them up, but they are secondary, after all we should use our powerful vampire abilities first and foremost. In combat scenes, the combat skills are unpacked, through the reactive storytelling we make decisions that will influence and change the course of the game. The creative mind of Brian Mitsoda is behind the story, shaped and changed by our choice of skills, factions, clans and how we hold on to our humanity. It's also about picking a page and figuring out who the real enemy is in the war between the factions and who is responsible for all the evil.
The atmosphere of the cult game
In the role of the developer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 the Studio Hardsuit Labs is back, which are with heart and soul. You personally contacted the publishers of Paradox to realize the project of the second part. This shows that they are serious and enthusiastic about the game, which is also reflected in the visuals. The gloomy world of darkness portrays the prevailing mood in a rousing manner. The presentation of the different vampire clans is well implemented. In this context, it is particularly interesting to see how vampires are shown in different ways. In Vampires: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the vampires assume a human appearance in order not to attract attention, while the evil ones of the clan Sabbat, who represent the beast of the vampire, have a scary distorted face.
Especially in view of the book and cinema hit Twilight by Stephanie Meyer shows how different the saga of the vampires is told. While vampires are beautiful people glittering in the sunlight, Blade looks a lot more bloodthirsty. From the former face, lived by the legend of Dracula, with his sleek hairdo, his elegant appearance with cape and his white skin, is also in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 also little to see. There is more similarity with the vampires of the slot machine Blood Sucker, which can be played in 888 online casino. The five-reel, 25-payline video slot is a wine-drinking one – or is it blood? – Vampire with beautiful hair, but at the same time there is a scary atmosphere beyond compare with magical creatures and scary scenes. That comes closer to the atmosphere of the new Bloodlines 2. From glittering skin or even rings, as used in the TV series Vampire Diaries for protection from the sun, there is no trace. It is the vampire of the 21st century, with the different clans, other variants are represented. Fortunately, there is nothing to see here of the romanticized version of the undead.
Postponed release brings hope
The originally announced date for the March 2020 release was considered very ambitious from the start. As it says, there were already some problems with the first gameplay video of the E3 in June. Many requests, demands and comments were sent by fans to the developers, who then questioned their own plan. According to own statements, one does not want to make the same mistake that was made on the first vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. At that time the game appeared clearly too early.
Firstly, it was released at the same time as the second part of the hit game Half-Life and thus had to prevail alongside a game that is one of the best first-person shooters in history. On the other hand, the game was riddled with bugs, so it was not fun to play – it was not finished yet. However, the developers acknowledged the mistake. They almost repeated the mishap, but shifting the release date gives hope that they have learned from the past. Now the developers should be there to meet the demands and wishes of the fans and this time to bring out a great game from the start.
If they can do that, the game has plenty of potential. The first part of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines finally made it even after the bumpy start a few years later to cult status and was able to accumulate a large fan community. If the new game is now unfinished again, Hardsuit Labs and Paradox may be spoiled with the players. However, if you are enthusiastic about the first part of the game, you are already looking forward to the new game. Although we do not yet know exactly when the game will be released, you can be sure to be one of the first to try out the new game.
While patience is still an issue, we can not wait to finally hold the new vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – but at the same time developers should take the time they need to get started great game to bring out and not a sketchy problem copy. As soon as the time comes, it is time to master the vampire existence and to survive in the world of darkness. We are curious.
