Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (BEWARE spoiler info)

[Gridfan]

I can't hype this game enough. Kickass story, and athmosphere? OMG! I've never ever managed to fall soo totaly into character in a game before,
if a online version of this ever get made and it's even half as good. I'd be their love slave forever.
I always loved the concept of vampires and setting etc.
But damn, this game has made me a certified geek.
It's also one of the longest gameplays out thre I've seen so far. (only Knights of The Old Republic is equal).

Bloodlines has awsome RPG elements. (solidly based on um White Wolfs Vampire: The Masquerade rules. (tabletop RPG games and manuals/source books)
so continuity is like super solid.

Here are some game highlights/checkpoints....

Vampires - check
Blood - check
Story - check
Setting - check
Details - check
Environment - check
Mythology - check
RPG stats - check
intense action - check
ghost house - check
ghouls (vampire servants) - check
monsters - check
bats - check
zombies - check
werewolfs - check
hot guys/chicks - check
erotic/sexual - check
18+ age - check
characters you wanna sink your teeth into - check
teasing (vampirical/sexual) - check
adult language/subjects - check
several nightclubs - check
strip bars - check
smut shop - check
sleazy gun sellers - check
puns/jokes/references to movies and people etc etc etc - check
humour (from light to the macabre) - check
scary - check
funny - check
sad - check
emotional - check
insanity - check
supernatural - check
hate - check
joy of sucking someone dry of blood - check
joy of saving someones life (with your own blood) - check
stealth - check
multiple player character variations at creation (with some story variations) - check
gorgeus details (dark, moody, boobs that jiggle, people that CAN dance) - check
flirting - check
seduction - check
domination - check
I can't stop, aaaaaaaaaaa - check

I mean this game is so cool that if your charisma is high enough and you step ontu the dance floor to dance, people will actually flock around you in a circle and dance, with you as the centerpoint.
And daemn does the girls (and guys) know how to talk dirty.

This game also gives you soooo much info (or introduction if you will),
into the world of Vampire: The Masquerade "world/setting"
I dare say that Bloodlines is the best vampire game out there.
no other game has ever made me look at a perso (in the game) and made me think "daemn, I so wanna go to a real goth club and hope I meet someone like "that""...

I'm on my second run thru the game now. (this time with a huuuge arsenal of cheat knowledge to make sure I don't miss a thing).

There is a ghost house in the game (part of a quest) that is in my oppinion the best god damn ghost house ever done in ANY game.
I don't wanna tell anything to spoil it, just wanna say that the poltergeist movies suck compared to this.
And the game looks beutiful, lip syncing, facial animations that rock.
characters are gourgeus. it uses a earlier make of the Source game engine (the Half-Life2 game engine).
but modified to give a more dark/gloomy look, and goth chicks whos skirts twirl around as they dance.

Man...I so wanna dive back into that reality this game seem to make.
If this had been a novel it would be among the top 10 best vampire novels.
Only, with Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines you get to PLAY that novel as well. if your a game addict (almost nonstop) like me it would take um 3 days to play thru it. if your a casual player the 60-80 hours of playtime would give ya a month+ of constant entertainment.

PS! The ingame radio ads crack ya up, I'd dare to say they bested Rockstar game's GTA III/Vice City when it comes to hilarious ingame radio.
If any wanna hear music from Bloodlust (kickass: goth/metal/techno/???), a hilarious ingame radio ad then poke a DJ or request it if the request lines are active.

[Gridfan]

Oh and one hawt vampy girl: http://www.gridstream.org/forums/viewto ... 4&start=25
You CAN bed her btw hehe. you won't see anything (black screen) but dan the sounds/noises crack me up. Oh, and she likes both males and females

While Half-Life2 (still don't have that one) may take the Source engine to the extreemes technicaly,
Bloodlines take it to the extreemes in setting/athmosphere. Holy crap does it do lol.

And those playing it, don't rush thru it. do ALL side quests. there is tons of'em in all the cities. And each is a half-a-game in themselfs as far as story goes.
Some of the side-quests are so cleverly done that you can't start it and end it in one go, you actually have to progress the main story line now and again to continue some side quests.
And it's also easy to miss side quests, and many things you do can influence wether a particular side quest is available at all (you miss it),
or actually trigger it.
Other times stuff you do change the direction of a side quest smack in a middle, giving it a outcome you didn't forsee.

How many games have that?
Side quests that need the main story line (quest too if ya will) to advance
so you can continue the side quest.
And sidequests that have multiple variations/outcmes/paths. O.o...

The creepy thing is Bloodlines was rushed out the door. (then kept inthe freezer due to the HL2 delays).
Imagine how the sequel is gonna be if the same guys make it?
These guys got mad skillz I tell ya lol..

[Gridfan]

Hell, Griddy...I'm making it a point my first play-through to make sure I get her in the sack. LOL I gave up the extra xp just so I could. Wink

Pity you can't do the same with VV, though. I haven't gotten to her yet, but I've seen enough of her to know I'd like a piece of that.

God, I'm lame. LOL

Nah! If that was true I'd be lame, but I'm not. So your not either

You can't bed VV (one can dream tough). but you can get a hot photo, a hot poster in your room. And heres a tip. come back to Vesuvius later on and you might catch her Pole dancing. *grin*

[Leraje]

The game is REALLY good and extremly addictive - last night desided to play it for couple of hours... then I realised that it's 7 AM and I have to go to work. Too bad my office rig would not run it, but at least it can run AO

Haven't had that much much fun since System Shocks and first DeusEx

[Aarric]

Well I have been looking for a good game to play during my AO/UO downtimes, was looking at Dawn of War, but a big WoD/VtM fan so maybe I will have to check it out...

[Rowenael]

I gotta get this game!

[Gridfan]

Hey Veldron! That character in the game you so liked. *grin*
Guess who she is modeled after....

Oh yeah! "Gen" vocalist in Genitorturers
Whos track 'Lecher Bitch' can be heard in the various ingame clubs

[Boinky]

You guys keep talkin about this game & it's gonna cost me $40 bucks!

Vel just send me your copy when you're done, or when Kirasha finds you with it

[Tarryk]

Well if it's any consolation, I don't have the money either. Besides, too many other games to play that I'm still enjoying.

[Oddysee]

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHAHAHAHAAAAAARGH!!!
<The sound my Malkavian makes when charging...>
(of course I play Malkavian, always have, always will...)

[WARNING, Rant mode entered... WARNING!!!]
Whoever made this game... should be dragged into the streets... and shot... Then revived... And shot again!!!

This, has potential to be THE greatest game I've played... No shit!
The story is gripping, the feel is awesome and the characters are sweet as hell... Only problem is, the f**kers didn't finish it!
Half the in game content was removed, half finished or left uncompleted. The multiplayer function was removed, tons of items and quests and a fair bit of the story.

Secondly, it's THE most buggy game I've ever played... Think AI was bad at launch? Guess again!
At a set location in the game (Society of Leopold, and a hasty get-away) the game is bugged beyond repair for 80% of those who've bought it... No fix has been made only "temp" solutions that require a degree in computer science and satelite hacking.

Add to that that it's been finished for a little over 3 months before release, because the deal was that they couldn't publish till AFTER HL-2 was out, they've had over 3 months to bug hunt... and decided NOT too!!!

Why can't they just patch it... fix it.. bring back what they took out... This could be the greatest thing... EVER... and now all it is is frustrating!!!
I NEED BLOOD!!!




Tm

[Vallikat]

Well for those of you who want to play this game, but can't afford it, let me offer a free alternative:

http://quiz.ravenblack.net/blood.pl?action=city

Ok, so its not nearly so good, but hey, you get what you pay for.
...


...

Come on people where are your imaginations?!!!

[Leraje]

Secondly, it's THE most buggy game I've ever played... Think AI was bad at launch? Guess again!

Allow me to disagree - you have forgotten (or never played) Daggerfall, which was lovingly christened "Buggerfall" by the fans.

And surprisingly enough I have not run into any of game-breaking bugs, although I definetly agree the game should've been polished a bit more.

P.S. Malk conversation rock

[Oddysee]

Malk conversational options not only rock, but have rekindled my love for V:tm.
I stopped playing because I got sick of all the "me crush, crush you to goo" people who only played V:tm to boost some weak ego of theirs. The whole "I'm the biggest, best and baddest" thing really dies fast!
I always loved the dark and moody feel of V:tm. The political games and stealthy feel of it all. Sadly this is ruined when just one player decides to play the game "I'm a walking god" style.

That aside, has anyone found a fix to the SoL (Society of Leopold) crash?
I want to play again, but I just can't seem to get this bloody thing fixed... And it's such a shame, because the game really does rock!

There are cheats, I could just start the game at the next lvl, give me all exp and items I'd have gotten and give me all quests till then, but I usually find that once you use one cheat, it's like killing an innocent. You slowly succumb to the beast and before you know it, you're using them every time you're a little stuck, or if you can't beat a boss or what ever... And within 1-2 days you've killed the game for yourself.

Hmh... Guess I just gotta see if anyone is up for some paper and dice V:tm... Hope some one else will GM tho, it sucks never beeing allowed to be a player... Oh well...





Tm

[Ashval]

I didn't have that bug hit me, Oddy...I was one of the few lucky ones from what I've seen on their forums. I don't know if it made a difference, but I overshot the boat and landed in the water. It worked. LOL But, there IS a workaround posted at their site...

www.dilapidation.com

I believe it's also posted on the Activision tech support site. Maybe you already tried it. It seems to work for most who encounter this bug.

FYI, a patch IS being worked on.

I haven't had any game-breaking bugs, and I'm counting my blessings. It is in need of some work via patch, though...big time.

[Gridfan]

The fix if you get the bug!

cant get out of a certain main-plot quest where I have to jump into a boat without a crash 100% of the time, no way around it, case closed. Seems to happen in every UK version."

Work around from Activision:

To enable the console for the game:
1) Right-click on the shortcut you use the launch the game
2) Select properties
3) Make sure you are on the shortcut tab
4) At the end of the target line add -console, add this outside of the quotes
5) The finished line should look like this if you have the game installed to the default directory
"C:\Program Files\Activision\Vampire - Bloodlines\vampire.exe" -console
6) Hit ok, make sure you launch the game using this shortcut

Once you have enabled the console load the saved game from this level and do the following
1) Get to the boat and approach it, do not get into the boat, but get as close as you can
2) Open the console using the tilde "~" key
3) Type the following commands in:

If you saved Johansen:
SaveJohansen()

Then to level transition if you're anybody but a Nosferatu:
changelevel2 la_hub_1 taxi_landmark

And if you're a Nosferatu, instead use:
changelevel2 la_hub_1 sewer_map_landmark

4) If you get to the next level and you do not have any items in your inventory reload your previous save (make sure you have a discreet save and are not just using the autosave) and try it again, but stand closer to the boat."

As to the unpolished issues. I'm blaming that on Activision.
Their the publisher! most likely the makers had a deadline. (to match the HL2 release prolly) when that got shifted. the game got parked.
But since the deadline had been reached. Well, I'm sure activision didn't wanna add budget for improvements etc. beyond the origiinal deal.
I'm pretty sure the devs wanted to do more. but. no money no work.

Publishers suck, esp if there are dumb suits at the top making decisions.
If activision had like said "ok, HL2 is delayed, here is a minimum budget so you can tweak Bloodlines until HL2 launch". but nooooo... phhf..

[Oddysee]

Through the game, pretty cool.
I guess my only complaint (not regarding bugs, unfinished quests, or the general half-done state of the game) would be that the diff between the first part of the game, and the last... are enormous!
The second half of the game seems to evolve primarilly around hack and slash, not too much questing and more annoying than interesting puzzles... The bosses only get harder via repeatingly becoming more annoying, not challenging but annoying... Like the penumbra garden quest.
This goes double for the bloody flyer... One tip... Get FULL flame thrower ammo, and save it all for the bat... ANNOYING as hell!!!

That aside, it's as though the interaction lvl is much higher in the first part of the game. More choices, consequences. You can actually finish missions via using your brain, not your sword. The latter part is kill, kill, kill.

I played Malkavian, so I think I had it easy. Now while they don't have any combat powers, Dementation and Obfuscate make for one MEAN combo!

Think of it as crowd controll, and invisibility. There is nothing you can't get past!

The bosses prove a little harder with the lack of a combat power, where protean and celerety are the big thing. But untill the end, the "sneak-kill" method is much more rewarding.
That aside, you mostly meet mortals, and you don't really need a combat power to dispose of them anyway ^^


Really great game, but it's rather obvious they were in a hurry near the end which is a darn shame!






Tm

[Ashval]

Bah...I had no flame thrower for the bat. Just hit the spotlights and blind it, thus causing it to crash land on its back. Then, hack the bugger up. Whatever life it has left after righting itself, nothing a few bullets won't take care of.

The only two fights that gave me trouble were the werewolf (I had a hard time before finally smooshing the asshat) and Ming Xiao (this is where celerity and the flame thrower saved me).

I agree that the last part got a bit too hack and slashish, but I still enjoyed it. I mean, when you're fighting for LA, at some point...ya gotta fight.

I finished last night as a Toreador...going to replay as a female Malk now.

[Leraje]

The only two fights that gave me trouble were the werewolf (I had a hard time before finally smooshing the asshat) and Ming Xiao (this is where celerity and the flame thrower saved me).

You can kill the bugger??? I spent 3 minutes running around like a little bitch in celerety-5 state trying to avoid him... grrr now I have to go back to that save and try to kill the furry bastard. As for the slimy one, she was not really a problem - I easyly dispatched her using a sword and aforementioned celerity

[Ashval]

Little hint on the wolf...you can't hurt him, but big giant steel doors sure can.

[Oddysee]

I found that running around in circles waving my arms about while screaming "we're all gonna die" seemed to do the trick ^^

Stupid lupine!

Anyway, female Malk is DEFINATELY what I percieve to be one of the easiest ways through the game.
On so many occasions I simply can't see how anyone without obfuscate could get anywhere. Well, ok, but at least not stealthily!
Malks can use dementation on conversations too. On all critical occasions, you can simply force your will upon them. Oh, and when you get the heavy leather outfit with the holes near the ass and the "xxx ploit me" written on the back. The white painted face sure looks cool ^^

I'm considering a Nossie. That or Gangrel. I think the game would be hard as hell for a Nossie, could be challenging. Masquerade breach when people see you, so ya gotta use the sewers. Theres a stealth solution to most problems so I think it could be fun.
Just have a hard time seeing how they will achieve a lot of the quests that involve actually talking to people...
Gangrel would be a laugh simply because of the claws and crow powers. Shame they removed Earth meld. Always liked that one ^^
Might a bit too much "punch, bite, hack, rip" for my taste tho...

Anyways, here we go again ^^

[EDIT]
Was I the only one who went first person, Colt Anaconda and fps'ed my way through the zombie house in the plague bearer bit? Totally fun! ^^

That said, think a Brujah would be able to take out the Gargoyle with his/her bare hands? Potense and Celerity might be interesting ^^



Tm