Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 
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Fresh Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 trailer offers the first proper look at gameplayJan 31, 2024 - VG247Good news, people who were around in 2004, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has finally given you and the rest of us a proper look at what its gameplay looks like. After it was originally announced back in 2019 and reannounced at PAX last year, people who’ve been waiting for a sequel to Troika Games’s classic RPG about dark and gritty vampires doing dark and gritty things in dark and gritty Los Angeles have been chomping at the bit to see more of what The Chinese Room has been cooking. The answer is vampires, in case you were wondering. You can get a look for yourself at what you’ll be in for when you fire the game up in the trailer and extended gameplay reveal that’ve just dropped via the official World of Darkness YouTube channel, which surprisingly isn’t dedicated to My Chemical Romance fancams. If you’re looking for big takeaways, the verdict from our resident enjoyer of the original VTMB, guides writer Rebecca, is roughly as follows. Read more Before Bloodlines 2 sink your teeth into the Steam original, 50% offNov 1, 2023 - PCGamesNWondering what made the original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines so special, so much so that the sequel persisted through development hell? Now's your chance to find out, with the first Bloodlines 50% off on Steam. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Forget Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion, I'm playing the OG vampire RPG Paradox is teasing its new Vampire: The Masquerade game Paradox's new 'dating app' could be the start of a new Vampire: The Masquerade ARG Forget Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion, I'm playing the OG vampire RPGSep 7, 2023 - PCGamesNThere are a thousand and one vampire games out there, yet none have the allure of Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. Sure, by modern standards it's pretty janky and looks its age (and then some), but the game has withstood the test of time and earned its place among the best RPGs. With a potential Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 release date on the horizon after an almost 20-year wait fraught with turbulent changes in developer, numerous lengthy delays, and rumors that the game had actually been canceled, I've asked myself again and again how it can continue VTM's legacy and inject some new (eternal) life into a withering videogame franchise. The answer lies in Bloodlines' roots, and if Bloodlines 2 draws upon them, it could be the best vampire adventure that we've seen in years. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Paradox is teasing its new Vampire: The Masquerade game Paradox's new 'dating app' could be the start of a new Vampire: The Masquerade ARG Will we ever get a Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2? The mod that saves one of the best RPGs ever made quietly added a mini-campaign where you play as the 'good guys'Aug 27, 2023 - PC GamerIt's always a good time to play Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, but especially now—Halloween season is practically upon us, and VTMB's expansive, open-ended roleplaying makes a great follow-up to Baldur's Gate 3... Read more.I've got even more respect for the modders restoring Bloodlines' cut content after watching these videos about the Unofficial PatchJul 29, 2023 - PC GamerWhen I first read about the Unofficial Patch for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, there was division between those who embraced it wholeheartedly for fixing so many of the problems holding back this RPG masterpiece, and those who tempered their praise with complaints about its over-reach. The Unofficial Patch restores cut content as well as fixing bugs, you see, and some of what it resurrects from the grave isn't up to the standard of the rest... Read more.Tim Cain reveals proposed sequels to Vampire – Bloodlines: 'We were planning a trilogy, which I forgot'May 13, 2023 - PC GamerGames industry veteran Tim Cain, the creator of Fallout and co-founder of Troika Games, has a YouTube channel where he reveals never-before-seen RPG history. It's a regular source of fascinating info for those of us who love the games he's worked on, and one of his previous videos discussed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines' cut multiplayer component. In that video, Cain explained he joined Bloodlines late, as a programmer who was mostly responsible for boss AI. That means we have him to thank and/or blame for the fights against the wereshark hengeyokai and the Sheriff... Read more.How to have the best Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines experience todayOct 12, 2022 - PC GamerVampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines was blatantly unfinished when it came out in 2004. Some of the staff at Troika Games scrambled to get a patch together as the studio was closing, but even after that there was still work to be done... Read more.Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has aged like fine wineApr 11, 2022 - PC GamerThe year of 2004 was an auspicious one for videogames. In fact, it was, perhaps, a bit too auspicious for Troika, a small CRPG development house headed by ex-Black Isle veterans... Read more.Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines fan patch has hit version 11.1Mar 6, 2022 - PC GamerPerennially topical cult classic RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has a thriving mod scene, and the one essential addition is the VTMB Unofficial Patch, a community-driven effort that's truly impressive in scope. Just this year it hit version 11.0 and, now, 11.1... Read more.Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong delayed into next yearJul 6, 2021 - EurogamerPublisher Nacon has delayed the release of Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong. Originally scheduled to arrive this year, the narrative RPG is now due to launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC in February 2022. Swansong, which was announced back in 2019, is the work of Big Bad Wolf, the studio behind episodic adventure game The Council, and places players into the shoes of three different vampires, each belonging to a different clan within the vampire sect of The Camarilla. "Weaving between their intertwined tales," Nacon explained at the time of Swansong's reveal, "the player has to confront the different points of view of his characters to unravel fact from fiction. With whispers of conspiracy, murder and power struggles, the player must protect his clan, discover the truth and above all enforce the Masquerade, the vampire law designed to conceal the existence of creatures of the night from humans." Read more It's a shame the new Vampire: The Masquerade battle royale game is so shootyJun 10, 2021 - EurogamerSo there is a big Vampire: The Masquerade video game coming out this year after all. Except, it's not an RPG like Bloodlines 2, it's a free-to-play battle royale. I know that sounds strange but I've played it, and it's better than I expected. It's a pretty impressive production, actually. It has a studio of around 200 people behind it: a newish Swedish studio called Sharkmob, led by Ubisoft Massive (The Division) veterans. And they've made something dark, handsome and atmospheric. Something entirely in keeping with what you expect from a Vampire: The Masquerade game. The game goes like this (and 'this' will be quickly familiar to anyone who's played a battle royale game, which at this point is probably everyone?): you queue solo, or in teams of three, for a big fight in the locked-down city of Prague at night. Exactly how many players can fight together isn't finalised yet. The current rough-count is 45. You start with no weaponry, so you need to loot it, as well as collect armour and blood packs (health refills), pulling them from the back of police vans, or chests and containers, and sometimes shops, that you find around the city. And the playing area in Prague gradually shrinks as a red mist rolls in. Read more Netflix Witcher and Shadow & Bone veterans plotting World Of Darkness shows and moviesApr 28, 2021 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunVarious folks behind Netflix series including The Witcher and Shadow And Bone have plans to develop films or shows set in the World Of Darkness. That's the goth fantasy universe which houses tabletop RPGs like Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, as well as video games including the venerated Bloodlines. They haven't yet announced any specific project yet (nor indicated where they might find homes), but here's my pitch: a mystery show starring a Malkavian private eye. Read more Ex-Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 studio suffers lay-offsMar 2, 2021 - EurogamerUPDATE 3/3/21: The former developer of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has confirmed this week's layoffs, but said it would continue to operate and was developing multiple unannounced projects. In a statement issued to RPS, a spokesperson for Hardsuit Labs stated that redundancies had affected "a small number of individuals", though a specific number of people was not disclosed. "While we worked hard to source some great work opportunities for the studio to move forward with, we were unable to provide work for a small number of individuals and thus made the difficult decision to part ways. This decision was not made lightly and was done so only after we felt we had exhausted the opportunities to avoid such a layoff," Hardsuit said. "We sincerely wish the very best to our former colleagues and thank them for their contributions to the studio and our projects during their time here." Read more Paradox pulls Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 from dev, cans pre-ordersFeb 23, 2021 - EurogamerParadox has pulled development of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs, delayed the game indefinitely and cancelled new pre-orders. In a statement, Paradox said "in order to meet our goals for it, we've come to the conclusion that a change is needed and, as a result, more development time is required". Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will now not release in 2021 as planned. Paradox said it has signed a new developer to pick up development duties, but it sounds like the wait for the game could be a long one. Read more The best RPGs on PC in 2020Nov 11, 2020 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunLast year brought RPG gems like Disco Elysium. Was there an RPG as good released in 2020? We’ve updated our list of the best RPGs of all time to reflect the best of the past year – and there’s still dozens of older classics, too. (more…) Vampire: The Masquerade is spawning a battle royale?Nov 2, 2020 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun While Bloodlines 2 is the big Vampire: The Masquerade game folks are waiting for, it’s far from the only game in the tabletop RPG setting, with the newest and weirdest being… a battle royale? Huh. Sharkmob, a Swedish studio founded by former The Division devs, this weekened announced a yet-unnamed battle royale that’ll see vampires scrapping through the streets and over the rooftops of prague. Huh. A surprising use of the license. It’s due next year, and all they have to show for now is a cinematic trailer. (more…) Damsel returns to cause distress in Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2Jun 13, 2020 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunVampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was bound to have a few familiar faces, wasn’t it? I mean, they’re vampires so they tend to hang around a while. Paradox Interactive have released a new video announcing that yer girl Damsel—who seems much less likely to be in distress than the one causing it—will be making a return in Bloodlines 2. (more…) The best RPGs to play on PCJan 30, 2020 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThe best RPGs have always found their home on PC, but it’s a big genre and it can be difficult to know what you should play next. That’s why we’ve put together this list. (more…) The modders behind Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines' Unofficial Patch are making an unofficial prequelOct 30, 2019 - PC GamerVampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is one of those games that's remembered so fondly, it's easy to forget what a mess it was when it launched. Developer Troika wasn't able to rectify those issues because sales were not good, forcing it to lay off virtually all its employees before closing down a few months later. But the underlying game was so excellent that fans got involved, releasing unofficial patches that fix bugs and restore cut content. As Jody explained earlier this year, the Unofficial Patch is an essential part of playing the game—so essential, in fact, that Paradox, the publisher of the upcoming Bloodlines 2, tweeted an announcement of today's release of a new version. "The Unofficial patch is a must for both new and long time fans of Bloodlines 1," it said. "Highlights in this update include Velvet's lap dance from the Clan Quest Mod and two unused musical pieces from the newly re-released Bloodlines 1 Official Soundtrack." I love that modders are still finding ways to fix and improve a 15-year-old RPG, but what's even more interesting here is the release of Bloodlines Prelude 1. Developed by Werner Spahl, aka Unofficial Patch maker Wesp5, along with modders EntenSchreck and Hareishan, it's the first part of an episodic prequel that will lead into the events of the original game. The opening chapter casts the player as a human member of the Society of Leopold, an ancient organization dedicated to hunting and killing supernatural creatures; Wesp5 said that players will be vampires through the rest of the prequel chapters. I haven't tried the prequel chapter myself, but a couple of people in the comments said they liked it, so that's not a bad place to start. Wesp5 said that the mod makers are currently working on the second chapter of the prequel, and in case there's any doubt, you must have the Unofficial Patch installed to play the prequel—but you should be using it anyway if you're playing Bloodlines. It's cool to see Paradox and Hardsuit getting behind the Unofficial Patch and prequel, and a real feather in Wesp5's cap, but there may be a practical angle to that endorsement too: Bloodlines 2 was initially slated for release in early 2020, but was recently delayed to an unspecified time later in the year. Swansong is the name of the Vampire: The Masquerade game due out 2021Oct 19, 2019 - EurogamerThe Vampire the Masquerade game in development at Big Bad Wolf, creators of the episodic adventure game The Council, now has a subtitle: Swansong. Swansong is a narrative role-playing game set in the Vampire the Masquerade universe and due out at some point in 2021. It was announced as part of publisher Bigben Interactive's May showcase event, and has remained quiet since. But today its official Twitter page piped up with the subtitle and some suitably vampiric prose: And here's the official blurb from the press release: Read more
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