Middle-class, conservative, white, male, plays female, Malkavian and loves it

User Rating: 8.3 | Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines PC
This game is really good, sure it has problems, but not bad enough to wreck the experience. It reminds me of the first Tomb Raider, Thief II, even a little bit of Myst, and a hint of any good RPG. I'm not one for pen & paper roll/role playing, nor am I into the mystique of Vampires, yet this game, its' plots, and the role playing are accessible anyway. At, $20 bucks for a used copy, it is a great value and it is a shame the developers are out of business. In a way game play is fairly linear, however, the side quests offer enough diversity and travel between locations so that one doesn't feel manipulated down a cattle chute. Too because the side quests are loose from the main plot line one can grapple with them in a variety of ways, stealth, guns blazing, vampire magic, until one finds a way to succeed. This inturn sets one up to handle the main quests more effectively. Because of the various clans, and because of the alternate endings, it has a huge amount of replay value.

I would love to see a big game company like Eidos, pick up the fanchise and produce some sequals. Were it me I'd lock my writers, and developers in a room with copies of Dungeon Seige, Myst, Tomb Raider, and Thief, and this game, and have them play through all of them.

I'd like to see a player start with a vanilla vampire, that has access to all, the vampire magic, all the dialoge options, and so on. Then rather like Dungeon Seige, based on how a person plays, that is how their character develops. For example, the more stealth kills, the more lock picking, the more hacking, the more time squelching about in the sewers, the more twisted and deformed they become until they are Nosufertu. Or again, based on dialog choices and game play choices they become Malkavian, and so on for the different clans. Kind of a two tierd system of awarding expereince points, one for game play choices and one for completing missions. These choices could in turn limit the game ending options as well. Perhaps based on Masqurade violations, and humanity loss, one becomes a Sabbat. Too, I'd like to see more ways to complete a quest, less linear problem solving, and more manipulation of the environment. For one example, being able to shove a box in the way of the overhead door, and then crawling out under it instead of having to go down the stairs.

The fact that I'm imagining a future for the game franchise speaks volumes about its' underrecognized value. Get out of your comfort zone and try this one.