Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2: Awakened From Torpor, But Is It Ready To Bite?
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
After a troubled six-year development, *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* finally has a release date, but initial demos show a mixed bag of promising lore-friendly narrative and frustratingly clunky combat mechanics, leaving this digital wizard cautiously optimistic but genuinely puzzled by some design choices.
Right, so remember *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2*? That elusive beast of a game that's been lurking in the shadows, tantalising us with whispers and then disappearing for, oh, only about six years? Yeah, that one. It's back, apparently with a release date of October 21st, which is just around the corner. But here's the kicker: after a quick jaunt through a demo, I'm left wondering if this elder vampire should’ve just stayed in torpor a bit longer.
Let’s rewind, shall we? This game's development has been wilder than a Malkavian's dream sequence. Announced way back when, it then hit a snag so big it felt like someone cast an Obfuscate spell on the entire project. In 2021, the original writer was apparently fired, publisher Paradox Interactive decided to part ways with then-developer Hardsuit Labs, and the whole thing was delayed indefinitely. Fair dinkum, a proper digital trainwreck, mate.
Enter The Chinese Room (the folks behind *Dear Esther* and *Everybody's Gone to the Rapture*), who swooped in last year to pick up the pieces, apparently with an entirely new plot. Now, that's a bold move, isn't it? Like trying to re-write a ritual mid-incantation. The new premise has you playing as Phyre, aka The Nomad, an ancient vampire who's just woken up in modern-day Seattle. Unlike the original *Bloodlines* where you were a fresh-faced fledgling, here you're an elder. Still, it gives a decent excuse for not knowing a damn thing about the city or its cutthroat vampire politics, which is a neat narrative trick.
Your guide through this neon-drenched undead landscape? Fabien, a Malkavian detective who lives rent-free in your head. Now, if you’re thinking, 'Sounds a bit like Johnny Silverhand from *Cyberpunk 2077*, eh?' you’d be on the money. But here’s where the lore nerds can breathe easy: absorbing another vampire's personality is a perfectly established bit of *V:TM* lore. So, credit where credit's due, they've grounded that particular oddity in the World of Darkness. And frankly, Fabien's got a proper noir vibe and some genuinely funny lines, which is always a plus when you’ve got a voice in your head telling you where to go.
The demo, according to reports, had some genuinely promising narrative bits. Rich dialogue trees that actually impact how NPCs react? Different options based on your chosen clan? Chatting up an arrogant former Prince who's still pulling strings from the shadows? That's the good stuff, the kind of juicy politicking and social manoeuvring that makes *Vampire: The Masquerade* sing. That's the very soul of the TTRPG, isn't it? Getting under people's skin, prying out secrets, building influence. It’s glorious.
But then, oh bloody hell, we get to the combat. And this is where my gentle skepticism morphs into a full-blown eyebrow raise. The original *Bloodlines* combat was, let’s be honest, a bit of a janky mess. And from the sounds of it, the sequel might be honouring that legacy a little too faithfully. The demo's early chapters reportedly have Phyre jumping and crawling through a flop house, avoiding cops and taking down ghouls. Not exactly the elder vampire power fantasy you might imagine, is it?
And here's the real kicker: weapons. You can't just pick up a gun or a baseball bat and swing it. Nope. You have to use telekinesis – a rare Tremere ability in the lore, mind you – to lob it at your enemies. Seriously? An ancient, powerful vampire, reduced to throwing coffee cups and exploding fire extinguishers with their mind because they apparently took an oath against sullying their hands with blunt instruments? My word. It’s like discovering your magic wand only works if you use it to swat flies. What were they thinking? Did someone lose the weapon animation files? The sheer baffling nature of it makes me wonder if there's a hidden layer of genius I'm missing, or if it's just a design choice that flew out of the reality hole and straight into the 'unintuitive' bin.
Playing as a Ventrue, the clan known for charisma and mind control, and finding your abilities are short-duration and largely ineffective against tougher foes, forcing you into clunky telekinetic combat? It just doesn’t make sense for the clan fantasy. It’s like giving a stealth wizard an axe and telling them to go full berserker. And apparently, even trying to be clever, like finding alternative routes or using distractions, often just leads to a dead end until you've cleared out all the enemies. That's a bit of a buzzkill for anyone hoping for a truly immersive, choice-driven experience.
Look, it’s a demo, and things can change. There’s another section of the game to be shown at Gamescom, and I'm genuinely curious to see if it leans more into the intriguing narrative and political scheming, and less into the questionable combat mechanics. Because if *Bloodlines 2* doesn’t find a way to make its action feel less like a chore and more like a vampire power trip, it might just be a case of 'better off left in torpor,' mate. Fingers crossed The Chinese Room can pull off a proper resurrection. For the sake of the World of Darkness, and our precious gaming hours, I certainly hope so.
Tags: VampireTheMasquerade, RPG, GamingNews, ActionRPG, WorldOfDarkness
Original article: Polygon