It was an almost surreal awakening as an historic monster in a vampire: masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and getting the first taste of blood. Phyre The Nomad, a half-dosting character with a constant history, has been sleeping for 100 years, when she wakes up in state-of-the-art Seattle-i I feel that I was thinking about this game almost so long. After announcing in 2019, many delays, unhappiness for development, gentle cancellation and almost complete restart under the Chinese room, finally playing allowed me to answer my large question: is it worth arranging from eternal sleep? I have been carefully bullish so far.
First of all: Chinese peace is not a studio in which I would do it to create a continuation of one of the most beloved iconic RPG from the beginning of 2000. They made a brand with what is sometimes called “walking simulators” and linear first -person horror games, such as amnesia: a pig machine and is still deeply waking up. But this is a really free spectacle in the open world, although on a modest map when you go out to the streets of the city. It’s not just smoke and mirrors.
I was impressed by the level of freedom, in which my vampire had to climb to public utilities and fire escapes, jump off the roof to the roof, slide with moody streets and of course get involved in the tradition of vampires consisting in dropping a very long road without any damage to the fall. However, it is not secure to do all these things before many deadly citizens in Seattle, because it will start to fill the masquerade meter, which can result in the game if you spend too many witnesses.
I discovered that the system is a bit too forgiving in a demo – you can throw someone in the middle of the street and as long as you run quickly enough, you will not bear any consequences – but it is nice to see a nod to one of the most basic principles of the environment: people cannot be allowed for vampires to exist.
It bites
Citing a nice, sticky hemoglobin cocktail has two main goals in the blood 2: People serve as mobile healing mixtures and charge their vampire disciplines – special skills related to each vampire clan. This is not really a survival game in the sense that your blood hematoma will not augment over time. But I felt that I had to feed often so that it would never become something that I could ignore, what is good.
There is an engaging blood resonance system in which the characters feel some emotions – fear, anger or desire – they can be encouraged to devote themselves to it depending on the clan, which gives the currency to unlock some disciplines when you feed them in this increased state. As a toreador, I loved to seduce someone in a murky alley before I bit, and it creates the impression that your vampire has a favorite type of mortal that you can come to. You can also feed yourself in a fight on enemies who are close to death, which is a bit forgiving because of how brisk it is. I didn’t feel like I was exposing myself to a solemn risk, stopping to a snack.
The fight is probably a faint link here, at least from a handful of hours that I could play in. I will let you have just not got it yet. But I went through the whole thing as Magrk Tremere, Brrawing Brujah and the seductive Toreador-Ten, together with Lasombra, being part of DLC day by day, which is equipped with a premium edition. And in each case, it seemed that the close -cruciferous fight was somewhat imprecise and cluttered. I tried it from the mouse and keyboard, as well as the controller, and the latter was definitely better. But I really wished myself a more “hard” blockade. It is also a bit disappointing that you can only exploit weapons, including weapons, using telekines. I understand that Phyre is older than a state-of-the-art firearm, but being a vampire with sweet double pistols is a cult atmosphere that is simply not presented in Bloodlines 2. Kate Beckinsale is crying.
To be straightforward, the fight was by far the weakest part of the original blood lines, so I won’t be much against it. Things begin to gather, unlocking more disciplines, with your basic clan line in terms of skill points, and the discipline between clans with a keyword, such as Celerity, which your clan specializes in obtaining a moderate discount. But nothing stops you from learning any discipline you want than discipline outside the clan, disciplines that are unlawful, which are very costly.
As a tremere, I could lure enemies into a group, cooking blood, putting it on it to turn it into an unstable blood bomb, and then hitting it with a bottle with telekinetically to explode and remove the entire room at the same time. This is absolutely infirmed, nasty amazing for the first few times, but it becomes a bit repetitive. It resembles a trick more than a game style. Brujah and Toreador are a bit more like conventional close -cruciferous fighting fighters, with whom I vibrated in a long time. Toreadors also have a neat ability to blink, and power will temporarily turn the enemy to your side with a kiss.
The world of darkness
Where the Chinese room always stood out, it is in the atmosphere and there is no exception here. Neon alleys, ghostly warehouses and decadent hotel apartments are dripping with compact details. I really applaud the way the net also changes during exploration, informing that there are undiscovered secrets nearby, let alone those where they are. In this way, searching for murky corners is still a amusing challenge, but I can also satisfy my internal obsessive complete complete that when the circle turns into a dot, I found everything you can find.
The story is convincing and full of unforgettable characters, as well as the highest quality voice for the main cast. At first, we don’t know why Phyre suddenly woke up or what is with a mysterious symbol on her hand, limiting her powers. But Prince Seattle has recently been murdered, there is a loose vampire sheriff Canon vampires pulling spikes and, yes, a police detective from Malkavian living in our head.
Fabien, who is in every part, hero Noir Noir Hero Noir, until you notice the fangs, somehow released phyre cerebral meat. Some retrospective sequences are played from his perspective, technically making Malkavian the last playable clan. So far, these segments have not covered the fight. All his disciplines are focused on solving secrets, for example, the ability to force someone to tell him, which they omit from their testimony. I decided that it is an engaging change in the pace. I didn’t really know what to expect from Bloodlines 2, taking into account the long, shady path he needed to finally relax in my undead rear fingers. But running with a well -written and well -visible mysterious story that allows me to discover my urban hunt with cold movement abilities, intrigued me at least. I don’t love fighting so far, and the masquerade system seems a bit too forgiving. But I am thirsty to spend more time with it. This is a completely different type of game than the original, but I dare to hope that it could be something really special. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be released to persecute the night of October 21.
