Vampire: Bloodlines review:4 stars (A lot of fun, with a few irritating bugs) - This game reminds me of one of my favorites - the original Deus Ex. You get to build up your character's skills and powers by spending XP, so you can choose how you prefer to approach the missions: sneaking around, talking your way in, or just smashing everything in sight.
The game looks very good, but some of the environmental effects slow the framerate to a crawl, and there doesn't seem to be any way to turn them off. Fortunately, this only comes into play in a few places. I also had to restart the game a few times when a critical interaction didn't work.
All in all, though, this is a must for anyone who enjoys FPS and RPG games.3 stars (A tough one to review.) - There's a lot to like in Vampire: Bloodlines, and a few things to love. That there are also moments that had me gritting my teeth, and so many "buts", is what makes this review a tough one.

The graphics, for example, are by and large quite lovely, very atmospheric... But. Half-Life 2, the game engine's parent, made better use of them, from both a hardware and a software perspective. Half-Life 2 ran well on my system with 512 MB of RAM; Vampire stuttered somewhat(when I upgraded to 2 GB, it smoothed out nicely.) Half-Life 2 also just _looks_ better, and doesn't distract with clipping, strands of wavy hair passing through the sides of people's faces, and moments of rough texturing.

The game combines RPG and action elements, which is frequently fun and interesting, but... It expects you to react too quickly for an RPG, and the way numbers are crunched will annoy action gamers. Even with your "natural" stats maxed out in a particular set of combat-based stats, you can easily find yourself gunned down by a larger group, or by some of the more powerful bosses. Some of the "supernatural" abilities may offset this; I can't say for certain, having only played through the game once. What I do know is that my character was pretty combat-centric, and still only won certain battles because of bugs or defects in the AI- enemies unable to hit you from certain positions, or getting stuck on pieces of the scenery.

The game allows a fair amount of flexibility in how you approach problems... But some of the options are either so convoluted or so difficult as to be unworkable, while others are excessively easy. Stealth in particular seems broken; I "stealth killed" any number of people who walked right into me, then turned around a few seconds later.

On the whole, the game feels poorly tested. Some abilities are far, far more useful than others, and unless I'm missing something, a character without at least one area of solid combat focus is simply going to die. You can't carry more than one of a type of gun, though selling all the duplicates one runs across on dead foes would have made it easier to raise money (which is ludicrously available at some times and completely sparse at others.)

Then there's the end game, where... Well, without spoilers, let me just call it kind of unsatisfying. Other endings may be available, but what I saw suggests they're merely variations on a theme, and that theme focuses more on some of the other characters you meet than on your own. After some of the ridiculously hard battles I fought, I'd like to know how _my_ character ultimately fared, maybe a spot of congratulations. Doesn't seem so much to ask, y'know?

Oh, one more word about those battles. The final boss or bosses are so ridiculously over-powered that I felt no shame at all in using any exploit available. One of them can repeatedly teleport and hit you from behind before you can react. The only way to avoid this is very precise timing and repeating a pattern over and over again. Said foe requires more than ten times as many hits to defeat as he does to defeat you. This kind of fight really makes you go: "Guys? What were you _thinking_?" When _succeeding_ isn't even any fun...!

Despite bugs and combat, I must give some significant praise: The dialogue is terrific, both in the writing and in the performance. I especially appreciated some of the humorous moments, much needed in the grim setting. The atmosphere is great, from the haunted hotel you encounter early in the game to the lairs of twisted, unholy creatures. The game generally feels _adult_, not in the sense in which the term is often used (where it could as easily be termed 'juvenile') but in a willingness to recognize shades of gray and handle uncomfortable topics without flinching.

Though I would hardly call the game an unqualified success, I enjoyed it, and I mourn for Troika, the now-deceased company that created it. Hardly anyone makes role-playing games combining character depth, plot depth and flexiblility to different player approaches the way they did. If only they had done a little more testing... If only they had settled the combat system more firmly in the RPG or action arena... If only...4 stars (One of the good RPGs.) - For those curious about this title, let me just say it has the most in common with Knights of the Old Republic. I skipped this title browsing Amazon for a long time with the assumption it was for Occult fans or a vampire/zombie blaster. It is very far from that..

Now that I am a bit more knowledable on it...It is a game world based upon White Wolf's Pen and Paper RPG (Yeah an RPGlike Dungeons and Dragons complete with 20 sided dice and Stridex pads). The world is very developed and what makes this game extremly fun (5 stars) to play is the fact the story in it is very very good. The entire main plot and subquests are extremly well done and engrossing. Additionally, each quest has multiple ways to complete it. You can sneak through it, blast through it, talk your way through it or a combination of all of the above. The more creative you are completing the quests the more expierience you get to improve your character.

The opening sequence enters you well into the world of the Underworld of the Vampire and Supernatural. It's no mere Dracula game, but an entire shadow world beneath the mortal world which is very interesting (I might even look for some White Wolf novels if there are any).

Here is a brief list, in my opinion, of all the good points and a few bad.

Pros
- Excellent story

- The music is some of the best i've heard in a game, even if you are not into Goth/Alternative. It's very atmospheric and fitting

- Lot of replayability based upon you can play a wide variety of Vampire Clans who all specialize in one thing or the other and the game changes in significant ways depending on what you focus in.

- Graphics based upon the Half-Life 2 Source Engine. Nuf said.

Cons

- Only thing that prevented a 5 star rating was the fact there is some minor annoying bugs. Jump around too much and get stuck between boxes, doors get blocked too easy etc...but very minor in the overall gameplay.

Bottomline

Definately worth picking up if you liked Knights of the Old Republic type games, although this has more interaction in the fighting.

Vampire: Bloodlines Features:
Computer Games
Action
Adventure
Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)
CD
ESRB Rating: Mature
Genre: Strategy/RPG
Mission: Set foot into the dark world of vampires in this rich RPG/first-person hybrid.
Platform: Not yet available

Vampire- Bloodlines is the CD-ROM version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 39.99USD.