If you haven’t heard of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines before, I wouldn’t blame you. The World of Darkness pen-and-paper RPG setting is pretty obscure in that realm, and neither of the Vampire: The Masquerade video game adaptations, while critically well received, got very much press when they were released.
That said, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a phenomenal example of world building that fans of stories in games shouldn’t pass up. It was the third and final project of Troika Games, which was headed by Tim Cain (of Fallout 1 and 2 fame). You are a new vampire, seeking to find your place in the vampire society of LA.
If you’ve never played it before, you’re in luck! Amazon is selling the game for $5 this week. Don’t let any nags about some iffy gameplay and bugs put you off; the story is good enough on its own to more than make up for it, and $5 makes those issues more bearable anyway. Act fast though. This game is rarely on sale, so this could be your last opportunity for a while.
If you do pick it up, be sure to look for the community patch. While the game should run fine on modern hardware, you’ll need the patch for compatibility. Take it from me: when I first bought the game, I had quite a few problems getting it working. The community patch solved all my start up problems.
