The latest entry in the Masquerade series does better than it's previous installment, but manages to keep what worked.
Gameplay - Right from the start there's one thing about this game that it actually does better than almost any other game I've seen out there. The game just carries itself authentically in everyway. There's nothing about the story in this game that comes off as cheesy or unrealistic. Somehow everything just comes off as so....plausible. Which is odd considering this IS a game about Vampires living amongst humans.
The character development is good enough for a single character RPG and is even easier to understand if you're familiar with the White Wolf RPG system. If you're not familiar with the system the wording will take a little getting used to but it's pretty self explanatory.
The quests are amazingly open ended and once again written spectacularly. Seriously, I felt like Stephen King or Dean Koontz was hired to write the dialogue in this game. Sometimes just simply conversating with the insanely wicked characters is a guilty pleasure all of its own.
Sound - The music get's the mood exactly, and the sound effects did their job pretty well. Nothing spectacular though.
Graphics - This game may be running on the source engine but their textures aren't as good. The game doesn't look ugly by any means. It's just not as expertly detailed as Half-Life 2. There is a noticeable amount of clutter and mess though. And you'd be surprised how much of a difference that makes.
Story - This game makes you feel like you're in it. All the decisions and actions you take have consequences. And unlike in other games, these choices and consequences aren't so one sided. Just being the good guy isn't really going to get you anywhere unless you're actually doing it for a reason. The same would be true if it were the opposite idea. If you were to just try and be a badass without any reason you'd probably get into more trouble than gain anything out of it. This game will immerse you if you look past it's flaws. Trust me...
Replayability - Creating a new character and starting from scratch in this game would be a rewarding experience. This is definitely one of the best aspects of the game.
Overall - Bloodlines delivers an experience I've secretly been waiting on for years when I didn't think it would. If they create one more Masquerade game I think they could damn well create a masterpiece.