Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

With its perfectly well-crafted environments and intriguing immersive quests, which lose a little bit of their appeal towards the end, Bloodlines' fangs clang around your neck and suck the blood out of your veins like a kindred, leaving you dead. And then Bloodlines shines upon your undead life by piqueing your interest with its magnificent gothic world structure, never letting you peek outside the window, always keeping you in the range of the death parade, making you care for the masquerade or convulge the beast in a free state.

There is only one kind of people that won't like VTMB after it is properly patched with the Unofficial Patch: people who skip all the dialogues in games and just want to fight. If that's your case, sure. This is not for you, play Bayonetta, Devil May Cry or a more modern RPG instead.

If you're not that person, however... oh, boy, are you in for a treat! The story, the characters, the ambiance, the music, the choices, Bloodlines is simply amazing at storytelling. You'll feel there and feel that the you're interacting with believable and complex people with all the NPCs. Most missions can also be completed by multiple means, be it fighting, sneaking, or talking your way through, which gives it a lot of flexibility, and the few ones that didn't give you much choice at launch have alternative fan-made shortcuts if you go for the "Plus" version of the patch that work perfectly well.

That also gives the game A LOT of replay value. After completing it and falling in love with it with your first vampire clan, you'll be curious about how things could've been if you made different choices and played in a different style and you'll certainly want to go for another run with a different clan. Malkavian and Nosferatu clans also make the game completely different by themselves, giving you fresh and unique experiences. Just to give you an example of all that, I have played VTMB for 130 hours and there's STILL things I haven't done in it.

To put it simply, then, this game is awesome and you SHOULD give it a try. Just make sure you use the Unofficial Patch. It's free, very easy to install and the only thing you really need to get to be able to experience this so called "flawed masterpiece". Enjoy!

A great game in general.

A tip for those interested: DON'T OPEN IT.

VTMB is the definition of a cult classic. this game is a diamond in the rough released before it was properly finished. dedicated fans fixed and kept alive for 20 years. the combat can be a bit bad. the game is definitely front loaded with its best bits and the end parts are weak.the closest cousin is probably the original Deus Ex. VTMB leans more on the roleplaying aspects than Deus Ex. those 2 games just nail the city block sized RPG. smaller but more detailed worlds. this game is one of a kind and will always be a flawed masterpiece.

also the version on GOG has the unofficial patch and runs easier without having to mess with it. if you have problems with the Steam version, try the GOG version.

I'm glad I beat this game. When a game has a kind of flawed gem reputation I usually will only care about it if it's a CRPG or a Beat 'em Up and in this case it's very much the kind of CRPGs I like - which are the weird action hybrid ones. Turn based CRPGs tend to be more comprehensible but they also are some of the longest things known to man with dungeons that make my skin crawl. Here, I have an incredibly unique setting with writing and characterization that practically turns the game into a period piece on early 2000s edge, horror, and counterculture. Or at least what 30-40 year old dudes think that looks like in 2004.

So the game works like a typical CRPG formula in terms of builds but also with imsim stuff added on too. You can do combat focused classes (vampire clans), social focused classes and stealth focused. There's overlap but that's always the formula I see for this particular brand of "Fallout derived".

The combat is bad, I'll say that outright, but an interesting, fun, bad. Melee has a weird feel where you can literally air-juggle opponents and wall-splat and ground-bounce them but it feels so sluggish because every attack has a billion years of endlag with overly fancy animations. And the animations are also hitboxes, so you can not only whiff but low-profile many other attacks just by existing. It's anarchy. Guns are weird, it works like Deus Ex. You have to be standing still to get your aim better and if your gun points go up you aim better and hit harder. I didn't like guns in this game, I feel like they only get usable at a higher level but don't pack the same (literal) punch as whacking a dude.

There's also a lot of stealth in the early to mid game before it starts throwing forced combat at you. I hate that too! The game penalizes non-stealth builds in a big way by making so many rewards requiring stealth over combat or persuasion builds. Stealth works like a thief or deus ex, you duck, you try to take advantage of dark areas, try not to make line of sight. But since it's also a skill, you can just fail dicerolls and enemies will instantly look behind you and shoot you. Mission fail, no XP bonus.

The social gameplay is extremely flawed too. Persuasion triumphs heavily over the other two social skills Intimidate, Seduction and the soft 4th skill Dominate. Why? Because Int and Sed do the same outcomes as Persuasion usually, only there's less of them around. You have less opportunities to do it. There's a lot less chances to be social and solve a quest too. It feels great when it comes up but it's more rare than I'd like.

And yet I put up with forced combat and stealth sections with my persuasion build because the setting/writing is great. Character animations are weird but the voice acting is 110%. There's so many info dumps but it's really fun stuff. Which makes up for the fact a lot of the quests are just fed-ex delivery jobs. It's also annoying how getting points into stealth also is hampered by having lockpick and computer, since like I said there's Imsim stuff and you need those too. If you got XP from combat this wouldn't be so bad but they took it away likely because stealth/social people need a lot of XP to do things, and yet still need combat as a baseline.

Just, whoever says Bloodlines 1 wasn't a goofy tryhard mess writing-wise are just flat out wrong. There's tentacle hentai jokes, bad Chinese impressions, flippant murder, male-gaze female characterizations, leet-speak and on-the-nose commentary. It's what RPG nerds would write about at this time. It's no writing masterpiece but it has its moments.

Also buggy, I played without the patch, and I don't regret that but the patch-guy does know what he's doing even if he does change the game and thus all documentation on the game has been systematically altered historically. The game is beatable without it tho (but I lost out on one questline, gah).

I played this game back in 2004 when it first came out. I found it to be incredibly immersive (especially if you play it at night and with all lights off). Although it's not perfect (I found the combat easier to handle in 3rd person, and even then, it takes a little time to get used to); however, it has a great story which is paramount for an RPG.

Although I've played this game in its Vanilla state, I HIGHLY recommend getting the unofficial patch immediately after installing this game. The original game was buggy to the point where it was virtually impossible to finish the game. Along with fixing these bugs and restoring content originally cut out, it also provides a thorough walkthrough (which always matches the unofficial patch version you have).

As of writing this, the game is 50% off, but even if it wasn't, I would still recommend the game as $20 is a pretty decent price for this game, especially if you install the unofficial patch, which is easy to fine between a google search and Community Hub here as the patch is very popular and is still actively worked on by fans to this day.

Easily one of the BEST games I ever played. I softlocked my self at the final boss by building my character based on melee, apart from that I never had any problems in the gameplay, enjoying every second of it. The atmosphere, graphics, characters, quests they were all so original and I couldnt find any other game that drove me in the way Vampire: Masquerade-Bloodlines did. İf anyone is up to recommending me games similiar, please do. I would love to play games especially Vampire games with similar vibes. The Asylum was my favorite place to visit so any game that has places similar to it also works. (I miss Jeanette so much)

manages to be one of the best games i've ever played despite completely falling apart towards the end
i'm in love with the best of it and what the rest of it could have been

So, this was my first ever game I bought on Steam and according to how old my Steam account is, that was real freaking long ago!

Before I began this recent playthrough, I already had a little over 2 hours of playtime on it, but that was well before I became more computer literate and had an understanding on seeking fan patches and various fixes to issues with older games. This game doesn't work on modern systems and is notoriously buggy which requires a fan patch to even get the game running as of writing this review.

There are two variants of the fan patch, one that just fixes the bugs and another that is called the "plus patch" that restores most of the cut content to the game but also apparently takes some creative liberty of making changes that may or may not really keep to the original vision of the game, supposedly anyway.

I opted to play the base patch so I could experience the game as it was as close as possible, and you can definitely tell there was a lot of cut stuff. Buildings that names and show up on the local map but is never made accessible. About half way though the game it stops having more alternative ways to finish quests and just relies on combat, so social characters end up suffering late game. Luckily I made sure to invest in melee and maxed out dodge on my social character and didn't end up having too much trouble.

I wasn't planning on returning for a second playthrough but after experiencing the game, I've decided to add this game back onto my backlog to return to later and play the plus patch. I just loved my time with it so much that I really want to return to it again.

The gameplay isn't great, particular the combat, and it became a major slog towards the end, I just wanted it to be over. But the world, the ambience, the characters was just such a great vampire experience. I really did feel like a vampire blending in with society and I loved having my own apartment that I could occasionally return to and check my emails, my mail in my own mailbox. I loved the reactivity of some quests telling me to leave items in my mailbox for it to be picked up later and replaced with rewards.

Now, all of that stuff is honestly a little half-baked. I wish there was a lot more to do with your apartment and checking the emails, you can get your own ghoul but you only get a few unique interactions with her every once in a while after finishing a main story beat. Then it's just over.

This game suffered from lack of time and funding to finish, and you can tell, but I'm happy with what I've played and experienced. I played a Toreador, but apparently you get more unique experiences with the Malkavian that has its own unique set of game text throughout all the dialogue.

After experiencing this game, I also now think that many fans are being a little too harsh with the Bloodlines 2 development, particularly The Chinese Room. I think they definitely have valid criticisms against them for certain design choices and mood conflicts with this game and what they've showed so far, but I also don't think they're doing as a terrible job as many people like to say they are.

I personally found the dialogue choices in this game to be very lacking. There wasn't very much consistency to them all and you'd usually get just three options that usually all amounted to the same thing.

Now, I want character customisation in Bloodlines 2, and people regularly complain about that but that is something this game does not have. But people use the lack of character customisation as some valid point against Bloodlines 2, which... it isn't.

Bloodlines 2 doesn't have to do too hard to beat the writing or dialogue options in this game in my opinion, especially for today's standards. Some of the options for this game came across quite silly a juvenile.

But I'm disgressing now, overall: I really enjoyed this game. I loved its atmosphere and being a seductive vampire. I have a more reasonable and somewhat level expectation for Bloodlines 2 now.

An old, jank, broken, crusty work of art with so much character and love baked into it. it's an IP notorious for liquidating any studio who dares touch it, so don't take this game's existence for granted.

HIGHLY recommend either the Unofficial Patch or CQM for the best experience :D

It's hard to put into words how much I love this game. The atmosphere, the characters, the dialogues, the humor, the completely unhinged, uncensored nature... Bloodlines is a truly special game. Yes, the gameplay hasn't aged particularly well; even back then, it was clunky. But if you can look past that, you'll find pure gold in this game. There’s no other game quite like it.

Make sure to install Wesp5's fan patch for a significantly better gaming experience.

Can't believe I waited 20 years to revisit this game

Definitely rough around the edges and virtually unplayable without fan patches, but once everything is working... 9/10

Very underrated. Probably top 10 rpgs ever made. Would have been the best one if they actually finished it. Bush-era satire is funny. Most other things pertaining to the time period have either aged badly or really badly. Lovingly kitsch. Buy it, patch it, play it. Just insanely good.

From my Backloggd:

This game is now 20 years old. This game is also fucked.

Janky / buggy all over. This game is a teenage boys edgy dream. This game is batshit crazy. It's so unfinished and broken, you absolutely need the unofficial patch to get through it. Hell, the plus patch that adds skips to sections that should absolutely have them based around the character you roleplay. It's a game that's just generally a mess.

...and it's in my top10 games ever made.

VTM:B brawls through every flaw. A game that is equally hilariously edgy and smart and also has some of the coolest horror set-pieces in the medium. I've played every one of the 7 playable clans and I enjoy each one for different reasons (I promise you, Tremere isn't the only clan worth playing lol). VTM:B is an RPG-Immersive Sim in the vein of Deus Ex/System Shock 2; There's a variety of ways to build a character and handle various situations with them. It's also a game that feels like a time capsule that dates it very much to a particular era of goth culture that I find myself just cracking up so much on re-plays because it's just so incredibly edgy and nostalgic for me. The soundtrack (which totally fucking RULES) contributes heavily to that too.

It's a game that's absolutely ready to burst and come apart at the seams. It's held together by duct tape and string. It also manages to be better than 'most' games I have ever played. For fuck sakes, you can talk to a god damn stop sign!

This is a classic, cult-status game. Multiple ways to finish the main storylines, and plenty of side-quests to gain more experience. Different clans mean completely different ways to play the game, from the stealth, hands-on Nosferatu who needs to always use the sewers, passing through the more noticeable, brute-force prone Brujah, up to the non-violent, manipulative Ventrue. And well, the Malchavians are an experience on its own.
Hours of fun in an intriguing, mysterious, highly replayable storyline, in which each decision can, and will, affect the game.

I played the game once back then and re-played now, and it's still pretty good and engaging, which is also helped by vampires being one of my favourite topics in media in general.

Graphically it looks OK, though obviously dated. What I really want to highlight is the overall aesthetic, which is superb. All the locations are moody, gloomy, and depressing (with the exceptions of night clubs, they rock).

This is further supported by the amazing soundtrack, especially the background themes for each hub, Downtown being my favourite out of them. The voice acting is top-notch as well, though I must mention the sound mixing itself can be a bit weird e.g. a specific sentence can be suddenly way louder within the same dialogue.
An honourable mention goes to the TV and radio. I don't know how to describe it, but they sound authentic and cozy in a way. They also change as the game progresses, at least the TV does.

When it comes to gameplay, there isn't anything outstanding, you wouldn't really play Vampire for its gameplay. There are a couple of tedious and repetitive levels, and some of the things you have to do are extremely unintuitive. Other than that, you mainly spam your blood powers and left click enemies to death.

Where the game truly shines is the narrative and quests. In addition to the main quest, the game offers dozens of side-quests with interesting stories and characters. What really elevates them is a myriad of different options you have when it comes to dialogue. You can persuade, intimidate, mind control, etc.
Moreover, the game keeps track of what your vampire clan is and offers clan-specific options. Malkavian is the favourite here, with hundreds and hundreds of changes in comparison to other clans, going as far as introducing entirely new side characters, such as a talking street sign. Nosferatu is an interesting one too, albeit with a less enjoyable gameplay.

All is not well, sadly, and the game's technical state is quite dismal. The unofficial patch is a must-have, and I still encountered a couple of glitches and a game-breaking crash I had to bypass with noclip in console. It's nothing terrible, just quite janky at times.

Overall, despite its flaws, I still recommend the game. I can definitely see some people not enjoying it and being thrown away by the lacklustre gameplay, but I personally really loved the atmosphere, the setting, and the vibe.

It would be a miracle to get a proper sequel with the same level of narrative quality, but with less issues and better gameplay, but I would not get my hopes high.

My steam account doesn't take into consideration the hundreds of hours I dumped into the game before I bought it on steam. One of the best RPG's of all time tbh. You NEED to install the unofficial patch if you want anything to work right, but once you do that it's one of the best games and it aged like wine.

Genuinely one of my favorite games of all time. If you love branching dialogue trees, TTRPG-style skill checks, and the irresistible charm of a slightly buggy mid-aughts game (much buggier without the unofficial patch; buyer beware), you will definitely enjoy this one.

A game ahead of it's time, make sure to use the Unofficial Patch form Wesp5.
It can be easily installed even in your steam deck; you can find tutorials in YouTube in how to do this.

A lot of bugs even with the unofficial patch installed. Buyer beware that a lot of tinkering is needed to make this game run properly, and you will encounter a lot of bugs.

They'll never make games like this anymore. Fun, unapologetic, intriguing, and immersive. If you want to experience an old school RPG at it's finest, this is the game for you.

I really like it so far, but man the crashes. i have to save before i open into any new location because it crashed half the time.

Great game. Definitely worth playing even today (with a patch ofc, without it the game just won't run).

I was recommended this title, not thinking much of it because the store pictures and gameplay don't seem to convey what it actually feels like to play the game, but behind that and the engine's jank, I can now say that I'm glad I got to play it. While this game needs patches in order to function, there is genuine beaty and deep ambience in the world this game presents. It's weird to think how modern RPGs haven't taken more inspiration from this game.

YES YOU SHOULD PLAY THIS GAME! BUT BEWARE.....
1- This game is full of bugs.
2- The game play and physics are frustratingly poor at times.
3- The 3D graphics are very old and dated.
OK so why should you play it?
It is a truly iconic early open world horror game where you play a vampire. Unlike most vampire genre games, V:TM-B holds nothing back. E.g. when you need to feed you actually have to find a human victim and, on screen, drink their blood. The music, the scenery, the maps, the characters, the enemies, they all make you feel like you really have joined White Wolf's old World of Darkness. It is an incredible experience.
As I have made clear above the game does have serious issues. There is apparently an unofficial patch that cures some of the problems, but I did not try it. It ran 1st time under Windows 11. The V:TM-B character info page was just like the Vampire rpg character sheet - spots and all.
Best advice: Wait till the Steam Summer/Winter sale and get it cheep. Its worth a try!

It doesnt run correctly, it never has, a lot of code issues that were never resolved. figured a better com might help but it still crashes a lot or wont let you go to certain areas that you have to. Im praying bloodlines 2 comes out and they nail it being this one tanked and they are taking forever to finish 2.

Pros:
- A foundational brick in the modern RPG genre (maybe not a fun factor but i played this partially out of historical (?) interest)
- Pretty good facial animation
- Decent voice acting, your mileage might vary per character though
- The background music is really well picked
- I felt really immersed as being in my characters position
- Excellent set design. The hub worlds are great, it's a shining example of how the limitations in map size in older games forced the developers to make engaging and compact worlds.
- Really good sidequests.
- I feel like a good RPG will have you want to come and see what you could've done differently, and I really want to try that.
- Honestly just a great atmosphere
Neutrals
- The combat is in an odd middle ground where I can't tell if I like it or dislike it. The melee combat feels really good, but the ranged combat feels clunky, and near the endgame melee starts getting really weak and impractical to use, forcing you to engage with the inferior ranged system.
- I wish I could've killed LaCroix sooner, but I understand that the story wouldn't work without him.
Cons:
- A few bullshit puzzles & areas where the next place you should go is really unclear
- An amount of sexual content that makes me somewhat uncomfortable. (you might find it tolerable tho)
- Weird depiction of chinese which I don't feel like I'm educated enough to comment on
- The game can't start without the unofficial patch because my computer is 20 years in the future and has more ram than this game comprehends.

Overall:
I'm not sure. This game is very much a game for a smaller audience which was produced in 2004. i would recommend this game:
- If it's on sale. Anything under 20 is for sure worth it.
- If you're a freak like me and want to observe how the RPG genre has evolved throughout time.
- If you're already interested in WOD/VTM
However, it's hard for me to recommend this game wholeheartedly. Despite the excellent atmosphere and engaging writing, the game literally doesn't work on modern computers without the patch. They're basically charging $20 for a broken product. So I do recommend this game, but with a tentative recommendation. It's a great experience despite a few bad elements, I just really wish that they fixed it to work on modern machines.

“Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines” is an excellent game, if perhaps a bit rough around the edges. But to get the most out of it, I’d recommend getting the unofficial patch. While it might still act up even when you use the patch, at least then you can play the game from start to finish without too much hassle.

When VTMB first came out, I finished it countless time, and for many years, it was my favorite game. Indeed, I bought the steam version just to replay it for the memories. As such, I can’t help but rate it quite high. And if you decide to get it, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have over the years. (9/10)

A Great game, holds up 20 years later

7.8/10

The Good

• Immersive environment
  
• Great writing, and dialogue
  
• Easy to grasp lore, (story hooks you from the start)
  
• Characters are likeable
  
• 2004 NPC models (nostalgic look and feel)
  
• Solid sound design
  

The Bad

• You must run the patch for the game, or else it wont work
  
• Suffers from old game design (2004 duh), some areas seem badly paced, environments can cause npcs to get stuck in your way, combat encounters can go for too long, etc.
  
• Combat mechanics are clunky (melee is solid, gun-play is not great)
  
• After patch bugs, may still be present (nothing too crazy, but could sometimes ruin immersion)
  
[*]Certain skills don't feel important to put skill-points into

This game rocks, it lives in 2000s era and it really shows. The dialogue, the music, the gameplay, its all good. This game is a lot of fun. Its not quite the same as an Immersive sim as Deus Ex and System Shock 2 are, but it still does its own thing really well. Just make sure you get the unofficial patch to run the game.

This game has aged beautifully, with dialogue that perfectly captures edginess of a late '90s or early 2000s Blade LARPER. What more can I say? Its a RPG classic from a more civilised age of gaming.

Remember to download the patch and adjust the launcher
It's a fun atmospheric RPG 1st/3rd person shooter with a great story
Playing again as I enjoyed it when it first came out
Looking forward to the sequel that is currently scheduled to be released in 2025

Game crashes on loading, so save often. Quick save also crashes the game, so don't save with it.

Pretty good though.

Grab the unofficial patch. Download the soundtrack. Skip the sewer level. Enjoy one of the best, most immersive, RPGs ever made, even if it does turn into a combat slog near the end. Make a new character and do it all over again when you're finished. And make sure to stay away from that sorry excuse for a sequel they're making when it comes out, because that abomination is NOT Bloodlines.

Only played a few hours so far and am quite impressed with it particularily the dialogue and writing which is exceptional. Tutorials are often boring, tedius and either overwhelm a new player with so much new information they're left confused and intimidated OR so obvious and monotonous and drawn out that they might feel designed for someone who had never played a video game! Fortunately in VTMB's case its neither striking that rare balance of familiarizing the player with most of what they need to know while also feeling immersive and part of the world. The first thing you'll notice is the strength of the script and voice acting which are both above average especially for the time. If you've never played this game before and know nothing about it- I'd compare it in some ways to a bethesda style RPG with a unique setting and art direction. This is a bit of a hidden gem and came out probably at the wrong time when this style of game was less common. I've not quite played enough of it to comment on everything, but I thought the games intro was well designed enough to warrant a thumbs up. Also you'll need the community patch to get this thing working at all especially on steam (gog comes bundled with it- the only reason i picked steam over GOG here was so that I could use steam input for an xbox controller- some might wonder how that plays and i found actually quite well the only exception is you must use your keyboard for computer hacking, but otherwise everything else translates nicely to a controller- in a way it makes the hacking feel quite immersive haha)

It's an actual RPG from 2004, the gameplay is a bit dated and last part of the game becomes a straight up shooter.
But lore, locations, characters and aesthetic makes up for it.
Must be played with Unofficial Patch.

Found this game by happenstance- cant remember where but it finally went on sale. Im not finished, but 22 hours in I can say this is an absolutely incredible RPG, and I may be delving into the rest of the series when I am finished.

My key takeaway is how rich the story is, not often I get enveloped in such a world.

Word of advice though, know that you will need to patch this game before playing it.

some engaging moments in branching story but overall its an old game and its charm wore off after 20 hours, felt i would have been a lot happier if it stopped earlier, i get why people love it, I love and have multiple play throughs of both kotor games, but it just didnt have the charm for me

I can not get this to launch, it used to work when I first bought it but it only played that one time and never launched again. It just wont work, and i have no idea why. If anyone can help please do because the game is pretty awesome

Ignore my playtime, I use mods and they don't track playtime.
One of my favorite games, and that isn't even influenced by nostalgia. When I started playing this game a few years ago I had heard of VTM but not really looked into it. After playing this a little I wanted to find a series and found Sounds of Silence by Roll4It. Long story short, I am now a VTM fan, own most of the 5th edition Vampire content, and am running a VTM game.

I am reserved about Bloodlines 2 for obvious reasons, but hiring Strange Adventures has kept my excitement from completely abating.

Great game and one of the best RPGs that I've played. This game really puts in a skin of a creature of the night. Great quests, characters and dialogs.

FYI: Game can't be completed without fighting skills, talking your way out of fight is not always possible.
If you want to play this game then installing unofficial patch is a must. If you're not ready for that then don't even start.
And the last, the game is bugged hard. I really recommend saving a lot. Also using console command noclip was really helpful to me when I was stuck.

Still all the bugs were not enough to fall in love with this game. Without bugs it would be probably 10/10, but with bugs 9 out of 10.

This game is absolutely phenomenal. Yes its old, yeah it came out in 2004 but surprisingly still insanely good.

Recently bought the game again. Had it on cd way back when it was new and played it start to finish several times. There are still a few bugs but for the most part the game is solid. I really enjoy this game that being said don't expect 1024 quality if you can get past that you will likely enjoy the game.

This game is now constantly in the back of my mind, and I want to repeatedly replay it. But I don't because the end game combat is about as fun as wanking with sand paper.

Definitely get the fanmade update mod. There's one that does a lot of qaulity of life stuff. It's an excellent game, but it needs that update to play well

This games is addictive, very deep vampire lore, various supernatural creatures, fun missions, witty dialogues, dramatic scenes, and a ton of little bugs that you can use to your advantage at times. The character customization is limited, but the impact your choices make is what truly sucks you into the story and makes you want to keep playing.
The actual graphics aren´t the best compared to modern games, but it has it´s own charm once you get used to the bug eyed vampires and ugly NPCs.
Give it a chance!

Classic game, definitely use mods to fix bugs/enhance the gameplay and get rid of the grindy ending sewer maze (unless you really want to grind)

This game is my Deus Ex. It starts out so flexible and reactive that I remain in awe of it to this day. Santa Monica remains a highlight of video games history. However, it falls off slowly over time and finally collapses right at the end of the Hollywood segment. This isn't to say the whole game is bad after that point, especially not with the Plus Patch, and in fact I had a lot of fun with the end game. The Anarch ending is my favorite.

But this game, like all of Troika's offerings, is unfinished. It's buggy as hell. There's a reason folks don't typically talk about Chinatown except to bring up the racism inherent to its writing and character performances. Yukie the Demon Hunter is straight up and down the most cringe thing I've encountered in a video game.

And yet... My disappointments with this game don't define my feelings for it. I can't help but love it. It sparked a lifelong obsession with vampire myth and the Vampire: the Masquerade roleplaying game. I'm constantly on the look out for something that does it better, but this and Nihilistic Software's Redemption are as good as it gets for now. (Choice of Games's stuff is preddy good but it's just not the same.) If dumb fun, one of the best voice casts in history, and a big personality are enough to get you through a story, you'll love this. It is so charismatic and funny and a surprising amount of it holds up extremely well. But it lacks depth. It lacks the emotional and philosophical appeal of its literary inspirations. It's a pretty good action movie. It has left me hungry for someone to do it better for a full two decades. The game itself is worth less to me than the dreams it inspired. But oh, what dreams they are.

One of the best classic games out there. The unofficial patch is a must.

Patrolling Los Angeles makes you wish it really was infested by gothic vampires. Hugs for Heather Poe [9.5/10]