"Bloodlines" will astonish you with how rich and atmospheric computer role playing game it is.
The game is licensed by White Wolf and is set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe. Unlike the great "V:tM - Redemption" Troika's game focuses only on modern times and actually is a prequel to White Wolf's Time of Judgment. You play as a newly embraced vampire in L.A. where the sect war hangs by a thread and the end of the world seems to draw near.
But first I have to say about what brings the game's experience down. "Bloodlines" is the first game (alongside HL2) to be powered by Source engine and that's good news. Bad news are that it's badly optimized and the game itself is very buggy. There was one official patch released for the game but it didn't fix all the issues and unfortunately at the time of it's release Troika was practically a history. So in comparison to "Half-life 2" game still suffers major performance issues. But nevermind that, let's look at the bright sides of the game.
Graphics is really great, especially character models which are very detailed, all of them have their own facial animations and lip synch. Discipline effects are usually very nice and so are most of the environments. The game uses the same physics technology as HL2 but it has not much influence on gameplay. As for the sound and music it simply rocks. All the dialogue lines are spoken by pretty good actors and sound very very good. The game's soundtrack is excellent and besides highly atmospheric original music it contains several great tracks by such popular bands as Tiamat, Lacuna Coil or Ministry. It's mostly gothic metal with some electronic stuff.
I could say a few words about combat system but I'll say only that it's fine and this game is not about combat.
Okay, so now the thing that is perhaps the most important in every RPG, the storyline. If you're a fan of vampire-themed stuff this is a game that you were waiting for. The storyline in "Redemption" was amazing, here it's maybe even better. It's non-linear (five possible endings), it's smart, it's interesting, it's intriguing, sometimes thrilling. There are some unexpected turning points and the plot is generally awesome. The game is loaded with cultural references, often very humorous just like in both earlier Troika projects. There is even one quest clearly inspired by Stephen King's "The Shining" which is by the way one hell of a scary sequence, the most frightening in the game.
Concluding "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" is a dark, very atmospheric, fantastic game with a mesmerizing characters and a top-notch story which will keep you in front of computer for long hours.
So Play Obey!