If finished “Vampire: The Mascarade – Bloodline” today with the feeling of reaching the last pages of a novel that dragged on for too long.
The begining of the game was novel, dark, sexy and enticing…. but somewhere down the storyline, this game turned into a tedious, painlful and dreadful experience.
The last chapters of the game are blatantly unpolished and unfinished, with huge shortcuts in the storyline, unbalanced opponents, unsurmontable obstacles and a fizzling end sequence.
Here is a perfect example of how much people are willing to tolerate as long as they are told an interesting story. In spite of the obstacles near the end, this game still manages to remain interesting.
The complexe story with multiple allegiences, side quests and separate endings play a big part in keeping interest in the game alive. The impressive gallery of characters makes you actually care about how you interact with them. The soundtrack is detailed and almost hypnotic, to the point of becoming a character in itself like in any great movie.
I have mixed feelings about the graphics – they were dazzling enough to create a coherent dark and creepy universe, but the textures were not detailed enough to be competitive with modern 3D games such as ‘Half Life 2’ or ‘Far Cry’. The Physics engine shared with ‘Half Life 2’ made only anecdotal appearances, contributing the the feeling the game was released far from being finished.
Yet, with all its defects, this game was a memorable experience. I would almostplay it again with different characters if only it was not so tedious near the end.