Category: Games

Feed Your Own Dark Fantasies in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Alex SkidmoreProject Creative Director, The Chinese Room

Summary

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 offers many ways to play.
Build your power set to embody an elder vampire that suits your style.
Use difficulty options to lean into deadly combat encounters or focus on the intrigue and story.

Greetings, Kindred, and welcome to the dark underworld of Seattle.

In merely seven more nights, our players can finally reawaken Phyre, the Nomad: an elder vampire who finds themselves in modern-day Seattle. You will start our game with a mark on your hand, a voice in your head, and a whole host of unanswered questions on your mind. Where things go from there will very much be up to you!

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a game that lets us bring the rich lore and distinct, powerful vampire clans of the VTM tabletop RPG to life in action-based, bloodthirsty combat. It also offers a new power fantasy that even longtime VTM players will get to experience for the first time: playing as a powerful, legendary elder vampire.

Our goal is for everyone to feel like the most dangerous character in the room – but powerful characters can take a variety of forms. Will your elder be strong, stealthy, or seductive? Why not all of the above?

For players who want to feel powerful by plowing their way through everyone in their way, we’ve included the Brujah clan, with hard-hitting lightning-strike punches and path-clearing charge moves.
For players who want to take down their foes without even offering a chance to fight back, there are the silent Banu Haqim, who can snap necks and sever heads before anyone knows they’re there.
For players who want to draw others under their spell and use enemies’ strength against them, we have the Ventrue, masters of control, who can command foes to attack one another – or even take their own lives.

Of course, every player’s power fantasy will be unique, and for that, we’ve included the ability to mix and match vampire abilities from all of our in-game clans. Want to play as an elder who keeps their distance and picks off foes from afar? Why not start with a Tremere, who can burst foes into viscera and hurl blood daggers across the room – and dabble in the Lasombra’s fear-inducing Glimpse of Oblivion for anyone who gets too close? Perhaps there are too many guns in modern-day Seattle for your refined tastes; try combining the Ventrue’s Mass Manipulation with the Brujah’s Taunt to get everyone to drop their weapons and fight “fair.”

Creating your own combat experience is just part of making your Bloodlines 2 elder, of course. We’ve designed a story rich with character interactions and ways to define your personality, whether you want to be respected or feared, to control the Vampire Court or burn it all to the ground. The powerful figures of the Seattle Camarilla may come to view you as ally, enemy, or opportunity, and the waves you make will change the city in vastly different ways, with plenty of potential endings to explore. This isn’t a game where you’ll be able to befriend everyone, so be sure that when you pick sides, you’re prepared for the consequences.

What’s more, if your power fantasy leans more into intrigue and supernatural politics than blood-soaked violence, we’ve included an array of difficulty options so you can enjoy the game your own way. Players who want to stick more to the story can dial back combat in Casual Mode, while players who want to test their mettle against the worst monsters Seattle has to offer are welcome to take on Hard Mode and try and avoid their Final Death!

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will arrive on October 21, and I can’t wait for everybody to experience the core fantasy of the World of Darkness: You are the monster. What sort of monster will you be this time?

Vampire: The Masquerade® – Bloodlines 2

Paradox Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆ 22

★★★★★

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You are the Nomad — an elder vampire awakening from a century-long slumber, new to the modern nights. Trapped in your Blood is a stranger’s voice. This mysterious entity, a vampire detective known as Fabien, will be your guide to 21st-century Seattle. In sections of the game, you will explore the city through his eyes as you revisit a cold case from a hundred years ago that threatens undead and mortal society. Hunt your way through a modern-night Seattle on the brink of an open supernatural war in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, where visceral vampire action meets a neo-noir murder mystery. Navigate the vampire Court of Seattle and its dark underbelly in this action RPG, realized by the BAFTA award-winning studio The Chinese Room. You are the Monster Blood sustains you and empowers your vampiric Disciplines. You’ll stalk and feed on the city’s population at night. Use your supernatural powers or raw persuasion on unsuspecting mortals to lure them into dark alleys and slake your Hunger. However, be cautious about breaking the Masquerade: revealing your true nature risks reprisals, starting with law enforcement and escalating from there. Remember, you are not the only creature that goes bump in the night. Experience immersive, visceral combat that rewards various playstyles and approaches based on your choice of vampire clan. Will you engage in close combat with supernatural strength, attack from a distance with blood sorcery, or silently thin the herd like the apex predator you are? Your clan choice will support these playstyles and more. A World of Darkness Enter the World of Darkness and rise through vampire society or rail against it. Experience Seattle – a city full of alluring, dangerous characters and factions, not to mention the mortals at stake in the clash of powers beyond their knowing. In this sequel to the cult classic, your choices, plots, and schemes will determine the balance of power and what becomes of the city and its people.