It was almost surreal awakening as an ancient monster in Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and getting my first taste of blood. Phyre the Nomad, a semi-customizable character with a fixed backstory, has been asleep for 100 years when she wakes up in modern Seattle – and I feel like I've been thinking about this game almost as long. From its announcement in 2019 through multiple delays, development woes, a sort-of soft cancellation, and an almost complete reboot under The Chinese Room, finally playing it allowed me to start to answer my big question: was it worth waking up from an eternal slumber for? So far, I'm cautiously optimistic.
First things first: The Chinese Room is not the studio I would have drafted to make a sequel to one of the most beloved cult hit RPGs of the early 2000s. They made a name for themselves with what are sometimes disparagingly called "walking simulators" and linear first-person horror games like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Still Wakes the Deep. But this is genuinely a free-roaming open-world spectacle, albeit on a modest-sized map, once you get out onto the city streets. It's not just smoke and mirrors.
I was impressed with the level of freedom my vampire had to climb up utility ducts and fire escapes, leap from rooftop to rooftop, glide down moody alleyways, and of course engage in the time-honored vampire tradition of dropping a very long way without taking any fall damage. It's not safe to do all of these things in front of Seattle's many mortal citizens, though, as it will start to fill up a Masquerade meter that can result in a game over if you hang around or leave too many witnesses.
I found that system to be a bit too forgiving in the demo – you can chow down on someone in the middle of the street and as long as you run away fast enough, you’ll suffer no consequences – but it's nice to see a nod to one of the setting's most fundamental rules: humans can't be allowed to know that vampires exist.
THIS BITES
Dropping in for a nice, sticky hemoglobin smoothie has two main purposes in Bloodlines 2: humans serve as mobile healing potions and recharge your vampiric disciplines – special abilities tied to each vampiric clan. This isn't really a survival game in the sense that your bloodthirst won't naturally increase over time. But I felt like I needed to feed often enough that it never became something I could ignore, which is good.
There's an interesting blood resonance system in which characters feeling a certain emotion – fear, anger, or lust – can be encouraged to indulge in it depending on your clan, which gives you currency for unlocking certain disciplines when you feed on them in that elevated state. As a Toreador, I loved seducing someone into a dark alley before taking a bite, and it creates a feeling that your vampire has a favored type of mortal to prey on. You can also feed in combat on enemies that are near death, which is a bit on the forgiving side due to how fast it is. I didn't feel like I was putting myself at serious risk by pausing for a snack.
The combat is probably the weak link here, at least from the handful of hours I've been able to play. I'll allow for the possibility that I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet. But I ran through the whole thing as a blood mage Tremere, a brawling Brujah, and a seductive Toreador – that last one, along with the Lasombra, being part of a day-one DLC that comes with the Premium Edition. And in each case it felt like melee combat in particular was a bit imprecise and chaotic. I tried it out with mouse and keyboard as well as a controller, and the latter was definitely better. But I found myself really wishing for more of a "hard" lock-on. It's also a little disappointing that you can only use weapons, including guns, by way of telekinesis. I get that Phyre is older than modern firearms, but being a vampire with sweet-ass dual pistols is an iconic vibe that just isn't featured in Bloodlines 2. Kate Beckinsale would weep.
In fairness, combat was by far the weakest part of the original Bloodlines, so I won't hold that against it too much. Things do start to pick up as you unlock more disciplines, with your core clan line being the cheapest in terms of skill points, and cross-clan disciplines with a keyword like Celerity that your clan specializes in getting a moderate discount. But there's nothing stopping you from learning any discipline you want other than out-of-clan, non-affinity disciplines being very expensive.
As a Tremere, I could lure enemies into a group by boiling a target's blood, placing a curse on him to turn him into a volatile blood bomb, then hitting him with a telekinetically-thrown bottle to make him explode and take out an entire room at once. This is absolutely sick nasty amazing the first couple times, but it does get a little repetitive. It feels more like a gimmick than a playstyle. The Brujah and the Toreador are a bit more like traditional melee fighters, which I ended up vibing with better in the long run. Toreadors also get a neat blink ability, and the power to temporarily turn an enemy to your side with a kiss.
WORLD OF DARKNESS
Where The Chinese Room has always excelled, though, is in atmosphere, and there's no exception here. Neon-lit alleys, spooky warehouses, and decadent hotel suites are dripping with small details. I really applaud the way the reticle changes when exploring as well, letting you know there are undiscovered secrets nearby without simply telling you where they are. That way, searching the dark corners is still a fun challenge, but I can also satisfy my inner obsessive completionist that when the circle turns back into a dot, I've found everything there is to find.
The story is compelling and filled with memorable characters, as well as top-notch voice acting for the main cast. We don't know at the start why Phyre has suddenly been awakened or what's up with the mysterious symbol on her hand limiting her powers. But the Prince of Seattle has recently been assassinated, there's a loose canon vampire Sheriff ripping out spines, and, oh yeah, a Malkavian police detective living inside our head.
Fabien, who is every part the hard-boiled film noir hero until you notice the fangs, somehow ended up sharing Phyre's brain meat. Certain flashback sequences are played from his perspective, technically making Malkavian the final playable clan. So far, these segments don't include combat. All of his disciplines are geared toward solving mysteries, like the ability to compel someone to tell him what they're leaving out of their testimony. I found him to be an interesting change-of-pace.I didn't really know what to expect from Bloodlines 2 given the long, shadowed path it took to finally rest in my undead talons. But leading with a well-written and well-voiced mystery story that lets me explore my urban hunting ground with cool movement abilities has me intrigued to say the least. I don't love the combat so far, and the Masquerade system seems a bit too forgiving. But I'm thirsty to spend more time with it. It's a very different sort of game from the original, but I dare to hope it may be something genuinely special. Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be released to stalk the night on October 21.