80%PC

A really good "Action" RPG that's clearly an old school RPG at heart. Story is great, world is super interesting, graphics have aged a little but still has some great lip sync and facial animations (better than a lot of those nowadays), gameplay is very finicky and gets very repetitive and boring. The final missions of the game were absolute hell, I chose the independent ending so I believe I had to do both final missions. These weren't hard just way too long and tedious for boring boss fights. Still worth a play nowadays.

80%PC

Selene Gallio

95%PC

Unapologetically love this flawed gem. What a vibe.

80%PC

This game excels at creating an incredibly interesting, lived in, and realized world. Exploring that world, talking to npcs, and finding your place in it is so much fun.

Unfortunately, the game’s combat is severely lacking with annoying enemies, overly long dungeons, and bugs galore. However, the phenomenal writing more than makes up for these shortcomings.

65%PC

Quintessential "what could've been" game.

The first area is perfect for what the game should be. Dialogue is some of the best I've seen in an RPG, level design is great, multiple avenues to approach things based on your build, etc. This continues into the next 1-2 areas until all goes to shit. The latter half of the game is dungeon after dungeon, with hordes of bullet sponge enemies. There is no getting around this, which means if you created a more charming/talking character, you will suffer for 10+ hours. Combat already wasn't the games strong suit, but earlier fights felt handcrafted and charismatic build could get through if you invested in certain skills.

It's a shame, the game will grind you into the dirt right up until the end, with a great amalgamation of your previous choices, a wonderful story and exceptional atmosphere. But these amazing moments only make up ~20-30% of the game, max.

100%PC

The best videogame of all time. Everything about it is perfect, even it's imperfections, in fact especially those, I love how janky the combat is, it is beautiful. Mods for it are great too, the sabat one I remember, the sequel will not live up, but let them cook.

80%PC

8/10

75%PC

interesting

80%PC

I don't know how this game slid under my radar for so long. It really feels like an old-school Elder Scrolls/Fallout type story driven RPG with many different story outcomes. Buggy rushed mess, but easily fixed with fan-patch that comes pre-installed with certain builds of the game. Really a great experience and I can't wait for Bloodlines 2

50%PC

I adore the World of Darkness series of table top and card games. The occult world of vampires in this game is a really awesome world to build a game in, but the mechanics are rough at best and a lot of the later game has bugs that are progress blocking.

100%PC

Awesome game! True RPG. Great replay value.

80%PC

Great example of a game that could have been the best game ever made, but in the end failed horribly.
I feel mixed about this game, as i love the world, atmosphere, people and story, but the gameplay (at least after the first area) is bad, unfair and not at all fun. Still giving this a high rating, because i do believe the first part of the game, is the best i have ever played in my life

85%PC

There isn't a linear story here. There is a world and your character with their abilities that interact with it. Very much a videogame that uses the medium to an amazing extent to transport you to a world filled with interesting lore and characters.

There isn't a branching storyline. There's a lot of replayability because every clan will interact with the world differently. The dialogue choices change depending on the clans and stats. A lot to get engrossed in.

Still very flawed in that it has aged from a gameplay and graphics perspective. But these aren't too hard to overcome and to enjoy what's on offer.

Yes it's unfinished but you can enjoy what this game offers and realize nothing has really tried to offer the same experience since

70%PC

8/10 for the first half of the game, the rest ...

80%PC

(played with Unofficial Patch Plus): interesting world, characters and story. Combat is fun but gets repetitive. I had no problems with leveling since I played Gengrel and could use melee all the way to the end. Overall a very fun rpg that unfortunately gets a bit worse towards the end 8/10

60%PC

What goddamn nightmare. Dripping with charm and potential, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is the post child for missed opportunities. Rushed development, a wordy title, involvement with White Wolf, clumsy writing, and outlandish jiggle physics. Charming characters, solid worldbuilding, a cool (though poorly executed) story with fantastic endings. This game could have so much more, but is also kinda too much. Hot mess.

70%PC

I played as a Malkavian. The experience was fun and the only issue I had with the game was that the other maps weren’t as enjoyable as the first map: Santa Monica.

100%PC

95/100

85%PC

An excellent action RPG, with many different opportunities to reach the goal and complete the quest. Naturally, the graphics are outdated and only troika games could not cope when working with the source, there are few objects of physical interaction and they lag terribly, the details of broken objects interfere with your movement, you will get stuck on them. The animations, of course, are a pitiful sight, but all this is compensated by excellent dialogues, quests, plot, leveling and playable clans. The atmosphere of the world of darkness is conveyed magnificently; I really want to delve deeper into this setting. Not quite sure about the rating, let it be 8.5/9 out of 10.

80%PC

VtMB’s development was notoriously turbulent, resulting in the game being built on the frameworks of an unfinished engine and released in an alpha state. It’s true, there are a lot of flaws in Bloodlines—it’s is a Troika game, after all—but the writing and role playing aspect of the game is what sets it apart and above other titles. Every character is brilliantly nuanced and the excellent writing is backed up by top-notch voice acting and a surprising amount of humor. Considering the behind the scenes issues and the crunch for release, the dialogue is all the more impressive. Based on the source material of the tabletop RPG of the same name, there is a lot of preestablished lore to uncover in a familiar setting that exudes atmosphere, and Bloodlines has one of the most compelling, believable, and cohesive worlds I have seen to date.

Evidence of the rushed development of is most apparent in the last few hours when the gameplay narrows in on a linear set of missions related to the main quest. Until then, quests offer different solutions often provided through exploration and investigation of your surrounding environment, making tasks very open ended and player driven. VtMB’s level design is semi open with four different hub worlds that are relatively small, but packed and condensed with detail, quests, intrigue, and atmosphere. Many have stated that Bloodlines’ gameplay is easily summed up as Deus Ex with vampires, and I have to agree.

On the other hand, Bloodlines can be seen as a broken mess of a game. Combat is dull, unbalanced, and clearly lacking in polish and depth, making some sections a chore to play. Some fights can be avoided in one way or another, often through persuasion, and the stealth system is completely broken in your favor with the enemies’ detection skills being next to nonfunctional. The animations are very hit or miss with some really expressive movements in dialogue and cutscenes, but many that are stiff, robotic, and just generally awkward in other areas. Some occasional graphical or audio glitches are present and there are a few game breaking bugs in the base game, but the fan community has really dredged the game out of the broken, bug infested state it was reluctantly released in.

VtMB is undeniably a flawed masterpiece. If you have even a remote interest in RPGs and can look past the issues, play this game.

70%PC

I'm getting flashbacks to 'CoC: Dark Corners of the Earth' here. The beginning hours of Vampire: TMB are absorbing and exciting. Santa Monica is richly populated with interesting people and locales, all wrapped in a strong premise. Vampires are a setting I would normally not take seriously but 'The World of Darkness' sets a strong tone, it's dark, witty, while not taking itself too seriously. The gameplay is akin to immersive sims like Deus Ex but with melee combat and classes (clans).

Things start taking a turn for the worse after Santa Monica, the 3 hubs that come after aren't as tightly designed. And the major story beats start spinning their wheels, not really having the urgency that the first act had. By the end the game is barley holding on, the sewers sections is laughably unfinished and showcases just how unfinished the developers had to leave the game. It's sad to see so much potential in the early sections peter out into a unpolished mess at times. It's no where near as tone fluctuating as CoC, but it did run out of money, leaving us with a half finished game and a talented studio bankrupt.

It unmistakably runs on the Source engine. Unfortunately, the developers weren't able to utilize all of it's features as well as they could have, especially the physics. Some puzzles that could have used HL2 style physics interaction instead use some very awkward push mechanics. Visually the game is quite competent, especially in the art direction. though It has technical issues and a large plethora of bugs that sour the experience, but many can be modded away with the unofficial patch, which is a must.

The sound is well done, especially the voice acting. There are a lot of NPCs walking the streets at night, and they're all voiced by professionals who aren't voicing another 20 characters down the street, looking at you Bethesda. The music is fitting for the urban fantasy setting, mixing soft ambient stuff with hard techno. It's an interesting mix of styles that works well.

For the gameplay, it's horrid as an action game, decent as an RPG, but great when the level design is good enough to carry it. It's an immersive sim, which means—something. Point is it's sort of like Deux Ex. The first half of the game generally showcases the best it has to offer—with levels feeling like real places, obstacles you can overcome by making choices about your character, or another type of challenge that can be 'skilled' through. Most of the early game involves exploring, talking, making choices in dialogue, opening locked doors, finding secrets, and occasionally fighting a few enemies. Later on the variety is diminished, with more large dungeons filled with a gauntlet of enemies to dispatch or sneak past.

The real star of the show is the clan you choose, it impacts a lot. Each clan has a set of unique abilities exclusive to them, along with other bonuses and restrictions. It's a great selection, and some will play out vastly different. The character building is initially confusing, but ends up being relatively simple. It reminds me of the Witcher 1, a lot of ability bubbles to fill in. It's a decent way to do progression, though the game has way too much of a focus on combat in the broken second half, with little use for a accounting/hacker vampire build. I guess white collar vampire skills are the new Deus Ex swimming.

For the story, it's a good premise with some strong intrigue at the start, but I wasn't interested to where the built to. Maybe it had something to do with the last couple of forced combat sections souring my thoughts. Still, my favorite part of Santa Monica wasn't chasing the main quest, but getting lost in the various side quests stuffed in every corner. Once the main quest was all that was left, I found it interesting but very unfulfilling by the time the credits rolled. The conflict between the various Vampire sects wasn't as interesting as half the side quests to me. Still, the dialogue writing is strong and the voice performances bring them to life. I'll always remember the first thing I did at the apartment in Santa Monica, stopping to listen to the radio all the way through and laughing my ass off the whole time.

VTM:B deserves it's cult classic status more than most, because it's a brilliant game that was never finished rather than a finished mediocre one that caught the attention of a niche audience. The strongest element it has is the the aesthetics and setting, the way it brings across it's story, and the tight design of it's levels and world. When it works, you get the feeling you are a part of the night, drinking the blood of it's citizens, each quest touching on some facet of vampire society intrigue. When it doesn't, you're slogging through a bland dungeon filled with 20 copies of the boss you just fought in the previous room, hoping the game doesn't crash or bug out. Imagine what this game could've been with a few more years in the oven.

100%PC

This being the longest game i have ever played to completion should say a lot. I suck a da blood, i kill da bad guys, i make oopsie whoopsies

80%PC

Buggiest masterpiece I've ever played. First quarter makes me furious knowing how this game, if it had not been rushed as well as screwed over by Valve, would have been considered one of the greatest games of the early 00s and a classic. Lives up to the hype and is a testament to storytelling and voice acting. Some facial animations outdo all the Fallout and modern day open-world games by a long shot.

95%PC

Designer A: Let's make the greatest RPG of all time!
Designer B: Yeah! OK -- Amazing story, top shelf voice acting, perfect tabletop RPG progression system, timeless atmosphere--
Senior Designer: DONT PLAY TEST IT
Designer A: Okay.
Senior Designer: ADD BUGS
Designer B: Alright. You can get stuck in walls. NPC collision can block passageways.
Senior Designer: MORE
Designer A: One of the game's best items breaks if it happens to be on the right side of your inventory.
Designer B: I wrote a code to randomly generate more bugs.
Senior Designer: GOOD IT'S ACTIVISION POLICY TO MAKE AMAZING GAMES AND POOR CORPORATE DECISIONS
Designer A: I can't wait til this purchase of Blizzard Entertainment goes through
Senior Designer: MAKE A COSBY ROOM

But seriously folks, this game is terrific. In 2022 I finally played it because of an overwhelming and annoying number of recommendations, and I'm glad I did. All of the negatives are forgiven by how good an overall experience this is. Be sure to download and install the free Unofficial Patch to smooth over most of the technical flaws. Enjoy.

75%PC

For a 2004 RPG, it holds up surprisingly well. The dialogue is genuinely quite good, the areas feel pretty fleshed out, and the fact that there are so many different ways to play the game as the different vampire bloodlines adds a lot of replay-ability. It goes without saying there are many, many dated aspects of the game. Combat is not very good at all, many parts of the game can bug out, and the graphics are quite old. With all that being said, it's still a game worth playing.

90%PC

(Mid 9)
Will definitely revisit. Absolute masterpiece... if it wasn't for the terrible combat and bugs.

80%PC

[url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ1dlpo148U-hWfoRyrfWKZGEcp69MTvF]Прохождение на YOUTUBE[/url]

100%PC

Best Rpg ever made.

70%PC

great story, concept and overall atmosphere. Combat really sucks, and the fact you get forced into a combat role lategame is really annoying.
Deserved so much better.

90%PC

Still holds up after all this time...especially if you do a Malk and non-Malk playthrough

70%PC

7.5/10.
A fun game with cool characters, a decent storyline, and an interesting extent of RPG elements. Combat is somewhat too easy, too much time-wasting walking around, and a certain degree of bad level design. Certain segments definitely feel rushed or unfinished.

80%PC

Atmospheric awesomeness, but definitely deserved more time in the oven.

90%PC

It doesn't truly deserve the rating I've given it due to the numerous flaws in gameplay and the issues derived from the games development but my bias can't be ignored here. As a role-playing experience it is quite literally perfect.

100%PC

I am in love with this broken game... That's it, that's the review.

100%PC

Best vampire game ever. 10/10 Would suck again.

70%PC

Played this because I heard so many good things about it. The story *IS* really good, as are the characters - but the gameplay is dated. However, the story/characters/theme helped carry me over the gameplay hump to beat the game. Had I played this 10 years ago, I probably would say it's a "must play". As it is now, it's a "if you have time and don't mind so-so gameplay and dated graphics"

70%PC

It's tragic how much atmosphere this game has despite being incredibly unfinished and a technical nightmare to run.

90%PC

Graphics are getting pretty old now, but this is an excellent game once modded so it {ahem} works. The music is exceptional, too.

70%PC

ending sucks :(

50%PC

Utterly overrated.

70%PC

Gripping atmosphere that carried me through several playthroughs. Its unique setting and close adaption of the TTRPG make this worthwhile alone. On top it has fun characters and quests. What held it back for me was the small city sections that still had a lot of backtracking/legwork. And why I appreciate the political options presented to the player, I'm just personally not satisfied with them and wish they would go deeper and had more consequences still in the game. It might have been originally planned and the troubled development got in the way, who knows. What we are left with is fascinating and definitely worth a good look.

90%PC

Giving this game a 9/10 only because of the bugs and unbalanced bosses at the end of the game. If this wasn't so rushed during development this would've easily been a 10/10. The story is that good.

(I highly recommend the GOG version which has the Unofficial Patch pre-installed)

100%PC

While it may be difficult to get running (or get into) in 2021 this is easily the best Vampire: The Masquerade game, vampire game, and an easy top 10 contender for best RPG ever. The character building, the mood, the gameplay, the story, the music, the voice acting, and the aesthetic all feel uniquely modern, classic, and timeless in the same way a kindred is.

This is a true Vampire game - one that if you can get running is as close to perfect as you can get despite it's flaws.

70%PC

Only bringing the score down because of several bugs and game crashes even with the unofficial patch. A very solid Action-RPG otherwise.

90%PC

Play this with the Unofficial Patch Plus

60%PC

Was pretty decent but my save broke (this is with the fan patch) and i couldn't progress the main quest. I mostly liked what i played but wasn't blown away by the writing. The gameplay is bad but i knew that going in so it didn't bother me much.

100%PC

One of the best RPG's I ever played, story and characters are amazing. Combat is a bit clunky, but environment makes up for it. Everything is placed out where it fits, at least if you avoid the plus-patch. As that extras added with that patch feels very out of place and tedious.

70%PC

Good but undeniably held back by its rushed development. Very good writing, unique location and a very good story with cool branching paths, but a very janky gameplay experience with thoroughly mediocre combat that really drags on when the last 6 hours turn into nothing but straight combat. That dull section made such a bad taste in my mouth I'm tempted to uninstall it completely and never replay it lol.

90%PC

A classic for a reason, great visual and audio design pulls you in. Interesting story, mysteries around every corner. A treat to play.

70%PC

Fantastic story, characters, and setting. Combat is fine at best, but the level design - especially towards the end is not good. Its just murder hallway after murder hallway. For the first 3/4ths of the game I could look past it, but that final stretch is super tedious and not fun to play and brought the experience down a bit for me. Closer to an 8 than a 6.