10/29/04 UPDATE: Hands-On Preview of Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines

Activision’s upcoming Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines is undoubtedly one of the year’s most anticipated games, partly because of the cult-like following of White Wolf’s vampiric source material and partly because this is the first third-party game built on Valve’s new Source engine that will be driving Half-Life 2.

Even back at E3, Bloodlines impressed the hell out of us and easily snatched three Best of Show Awards (Best RPG, Best PC Game, Best Overall Game) and now five months later (and five months closer to release), I had a chance to sit down and play this epic RPG.

Despite the use of a 3D engine that was built for the FPS genre, Bloodlines is at its core a serious RPG, a fact you quickly realize with one look at the detailed character sheet. A rich stats and skill system is in place to keep you increasingly engaged with your character as he or she develops throughout the game.

Creating your character is a snap, and equally as engaging if you choose the Morrowind-style of psychological profiling used to create your alter ego. If you don’t feel like answering a series of insightful (and often humorous) questions you can use the more traditional create-a-character mode.

My game session took place on and around the Santa Monica Pier. While I’ll refrain from giving away any serious story elements, I did get a chance to explore a club, a clinic, a parking garage, an apartment building, a sewer system, and a portion of the pier and the beach below. Cleverly placed maps at the local bus stops will help you find your way around the complex levels.

The Source engine brings the L.A. cityscape to life with an uncanny and sinister quality that blends realism with a bit of surreal watercolor design. Rather than going for an ultra-realistic texture quality, any given screen could easily be a painting, yet there are a lot of sophisticated special effects going on like reflections, volumetric, and particle effects to create some very special moments. It would have been very easy for Troika to exploit the powerful Source engine, but they have kept the game very stylish and very moody.

You have the ability to play from either a first or third person perspective, which should make the game accessible to both action and adventure fans. The game does force a few camera angles on you. Melee is always handled from a chase camera; an absolute must when you factor in all the amazing special effects of using your vampire abilities.

On the other hand, conversations take place from a fixed first-person view. Some of the dialogue trees can take several minutes to get through, and even with the amazing lip-synch and animated facial muscles I have to admit to getting impatient and wanting to look around while the other characters were talking. This minor annoyance also spills over into specific action animations like lock picking. Not being able to look around while breaking and entering got me in trouble with the cops more often than I care to count, and these cops shoot first and read you your rights later.

In the world of a White Wolf RPG you don’t level up by killing hordes of monsters. You complete quests, and Bloodlines is rife with them. After only 20-30 minutes and a few conversations I had a quest log that scrolled several pages. When killing is required you need to keep it very covert. The rules of the Masquerade prohibit you from doing anything that would publicly reveal the existence of vampires. Waste too many civilians in the middle of the street and you can expect a visit from the vampire hunter and a fiery final death.

Keeping your identity under wraps is tested not only through your actions but also in conversations. Early on I met a guy who “recognized” me as a vampire, or at least he suspected strongly. I was given the choice to confirm or deny his suspicions. Turns out he was a Ghoul eager to meet “another” vampire. A bit further into the game I helped a sick girl in the clinic by letting her feed on some of my blood. When I unwisely told her I was a vampire she freaked out and screamed and security was not far behind.

Bloodlines has a massively complex story and interweaving plotlines that all work to keep the many quests linked together. You never really feel that you are on any one specific mission, or at least you shouldn’t. You quickly get caught up in the atmosphere and everything just happens within that canvas.

The powerful narrative is backed up with an amazing voice cast that turns out an award-winning performance. Considering that each conversation topic has multiple responses, each with their own mood, I can’t imagine the work that went into recording the thousands of lines of dialogue and keep it flowing with this type of cinematic excellence. Just talking with the aforementioned Ghoul and watching and hearing his subtle mood swings based on my demeanor was captivating.

The environmental sound effects are subtle and eerily accurate, and when the disembodied voices start kicking in you’re guaranteed a spinal shiver. It was a bit odd to hear traffic with nary a moving car in sight, but my trip to the pier with the gentle crashing waves and the occasional cry of a seagull was amazing. Going to heavily occupied locations like the diner, club, or clinic all offered great opportunities to hear a diverse selection of conversations and background noises. Even the sickly green sewers delivered a hollow soundscape rich with reverb. Admittedly, my experience was somewhat limited by having to wear headphones, so I can only imagine how vibrant this game will sound on a high-end surround sound system.

In addition to some eerie ambient background music there are plenty of industrial tunes that fit perfectly with the gothic atmosphere this game demands. One trip to the nightclub with its thumping beats and wonderfully animated dancers will send you on your own personal quest for the Bloodlines soundtrack.

Despite the complexity of the game design, the gameplay is fairly straightforward. The guise of “another action game with RPG elements” is quickly swept away when you explore the sophisticated stat system and wonderful vampire special abilities (skills) that will quickly become your favorite tools of the game. Of course you have your standard adventure elements like level exploration and object collection, all mixed with intense combat.

Your vampire abilities are fueled by the blood meter that can be filled by feeding on unsuspecting humans. You also have the ability to stop your feeding before draining your victim totally dry, thus preserving their life and what little humanity you have remaining.

There are so many subtle and not-so-subtle directions this game can go that there is untold potential for replayability, and Bloodlines will be living on your system long after your first trip into the seedy underworld of L.A.

Even though I’ve only had a two-hour taste of what is easily going to be an RPG of epic proportions, I have never been more confident that our choices for E3 Awards were not unfounded. With a comprehensive RPG structure, exciting action elements, and an engrossing story rich with gothic flavor, Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines is on the fast track to becoming the best PC game of 2004, yes, even surpassing Half-Life 2.

While we wait for more details on this awesome new title, check out our growing collection of great screenshots in our Preview Gallery.