Since it is built on the same engine as Half-Life 2, Bloodlines also has
access to the same amazing physics engine used in that game. Unfortunately it is
underutilized in the game. There are instances when you can move things around
to find something hidden beneath, and sometimes you can find things to toss to
make a noise and distract guards, but overall most of the environments run a bit
on the sparse side so there’s not much to push, roll, or bounce as it is.
 |
| The gunfighting leaves something to be desired. |
So what about blood drinking? Well it’s not the primary focus of the game,
but you’ll still need to feed to keep your health up and to provide energy for
your special vampire powers (vampire magic, if you will). Since you must keep
within the confines of The Masquerade, you must be careful to isolate your
victims and to avoid draining them of life completely. Selecting your victims is
also important as the blood of a quality upstanding citizen will provide you
with far more energy than that of a homeless drunk or a (*gack*) rat. Feeding is
a simple matter of picking the right moment to bite by pressing the [f] key and
then being careful to press it again before your victim dies. If you kill your
victim or are seen feeding by another human, you’ll break The Masquerade. Do it
too many times and your game will end.
The RPG side of the game is really very good. The story is deep and filled
with the sort of twists, intrigue, and dialog usually found only in quality
movies. You may even find yourself believing in The Masquerade when you’re
through playing. The game also leaves you with a lot of leeway as you progress
through the story – playing as a different type of vampire will result in a
different gameplay experience even though the story will play out along the same
lines. If you’re an RPG fan you’ll really appreciate the way that you can really
play the game as appropriate for your chosen clan. You can play the game over
again taking a stealthy, heavy-handed, or charismatic approach, completely
getting into character and enjoying the game in a new way with each successive
replay.
The game’s dark and gritty vision of Santa Monica and Los Angeles is very
atmospheric and just the kind of place that you’d expect to find vampires
lurking about – although dark also means at times “difficult to see” if you play
the game in a well-lit room. The character animations are excellent, and the
lip-synching during the character conversations is virtually dead-on which when
coupled with the quality voice work really helps to bring the characters to
life.
If the combat were handled a little better, then Bloodlines would be a real
RPG benchmark. As it stands, the battles will prove a bit frustrating to both
RPG and action gamers. However, the overall quality of the game is so high that
if you are an RPG fan then you really should give the game a try. It’s certainly
never been so much fun to be dead before…
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
86%. With apologies to L7, let’s pretend that we’re undead.
System Requirements: Pentium III 1.2 GHz; 384 MB RAM;
64 MB
Video RAM; 4x CD-ROM; 3.3 GB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
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