Vampires are Boring, but the Game Isn't

Blame for this week's entry is solely placed upon CaraEllison's head, as her S.EXE articles on Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (which is a stupidly long title that I'm only going to type out the once) had me thinking about the fact that once upon a time I both paid money for the game, but had enjoyed it a fair amount and wound up booting it up to see what my character was up to. What I'd not realized was that a hard drive problem earlier in the year had rendered the game completely nonfunctional. So it goes.

I had Steam repair the installation, and then grabbed the community patch and fired it back up, believing foolishly that my save would somehow remain functional. It did not, of course, turn out that way, so I had to roll a new character. I was initially peevish about this fact, as I’d made some not-insignificant progress (including going through the haunted hotel, which scared the shit out of me, I don’t mind telling you) and for me, at least, a fair amount of fighting had been involved in that progress (I would say if you wanted the worst thing in VtMB, it would be the fighting). Still, it allowed me the opportunity to attempt a different sort of playthrough, and so I went with something completely different:

It has taken me a while to get back into the swing of things with this particular game, as some of the controls take some getting used to, and the game’s insistence that melee combat must take place in third person is… unfortunate, but I finished up the initial quest and took the first steps in hitching my wagon to the locomotive of insanity that is Jeanette, so there’s that.

Unlike so many before me, I’m not going to bother going into the stunning fact that this janky, broken game’s got something to it—for starters, you probably already know that, and the community patches have done a crazy-good job of solving most of the major problems—I mean they added entire paths to the storyline, showing the same sort of devotion that KOTOR II saw (another game I need to go back and fiddle around with more). That there is something to this game goes without saying, but that it is the only really compelling portrayal of vampires I’ve run across in games (I never managed to get into the Legacy of Kain series).

Vampires are not my monster of choice—I’m more of a werewolf fan, when it comes down to it (is there a good game about being a werewolf and going crazy every 28 days? That would be badass. Hit me up, programmers, I’ve got ideas. Maybe do something along the lines of James Urbaniak’s portrayal of werewolfing in the latest episode of Getting On with James Urbaniak). As monsters, the over-the-top gothiness very rarely does much to attract my attention—I’m not the target market, I suppose, and that’s okay. Tell me there’s a game where you get the sort of freedom of choice that VtMB presents, however, and I’m going to show up regardless of its gothier trappings (including, yes, the Asylum and its absolutely excellent portrayal of dancing). There are a ton of interesting things the game does with sex (indeed, Cara Ellison’s articles are about just that, and I should say that I agree with her that VtMB is the only game that’s used sex with any sort of effectiveness), of course, but it’s the ability to be a liar (and to be lied to in return!) that always intrigued me. The dialogue trees give you so many options on how to get information on a level that makes Deus Ex weep; I dumped some points into hacking and discovered that you can actually social engineer your way into most situations (or just use domination).

As for the first proper mission (i.e. the bit where you get your explosives back), I had previously elected to go in hard, using bullets and a baseball bat do the negotiations. This time around, however, I not only went in without a fight, I talked the fellow into selling me the explosives in exchange for a romp between the sheets (which never happened, because I got distracted while feeding on him and killed him—whoops). I left the house and waved to its inhabitants on the way out, stifling my own laughter as I did so. I had no idea any of this was possible the first time (although Cara Ellison’s articles indicated it was in fact a possibility, I never made the connection between her account and the mission I was on, because sometimes I am slow to draw connections between things), and had in fact already made a disastrous run on the house before I decided to see whether or not I could sneak in and steal the explosives without being seen. It was only when I was pulled into conversation that I decided to attempt to talk my way out of it. That the game allowed me to talk my way out of it was incredible, and something which games released in the last year wouldn’t account for, much less a game that’s been out for a decade.

It’s not the setting that makes me keep returning to the game—although the game’s sense of humor does earn the odd chuckle from me, and the hotel remains scary as shit forever, the wide swath of possibilities (like taking a job as a bounty hunter! Okay, bail bondsman. Whatever) available to you, and the surprising feeling that the world is alive (there are people wandering around doing their own things, and listening in to the conversations the police have is always interesting) in spite of the game’s age is still refreshing even now. I don’t think I will ever really finish the game—even the community’s immense dedication to patching and cleaning up the game does not make me sanguine as to the coherence of the game’s ending—but it will probably remain something that I fire up now and again, if only to wander around the city, beat a man to death with another man’s arm (or merely bewitch him in this case, as my new vampire is much less of a melee fighter), or pop into the club and look at some ridiculous fucking dance animations some more.

I don't know why games in the style of this or Deus Ex fell out of favor. The mix of a heavy emphasis on dialog and first person gameplay is as immersive as anything out there.

I think a big part of it is that games of that sort of complexity are super-difficult to program and even more difficult to get to work properly (both Deus Ex and VtMB have their issues when it comes to that sort of thing, VtMB especially). There was an article over on Rock Paper Shotgun years ago that went into detail about it (and was responsible for my checking the game out in the first place, come to think of it) which kind of explains the situation. It's far easier and less risky to put something out that's still a fun game, but more restrictive.

@veektarius: yeah, it's kind of sad that so many devs take RPG elements to mean leveling up stats and collecting loot.

Deus ex and this are one of the few action games to actually feel like rpgs I think.

Eh this is one of the most over hyped games to ever exist. It doesn't suck (well it does, you are a vampire) but it isn't some messiah of open world freedom and RPG's. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is still best game in this "vein" in my opinion. It is slightly more limited than this or the original Deus Ex but it is a helluva lot less janky, plays a ton better, and has a better story/plot too.

Human Revolution may be the better game, it's true, but I don't know that I'd call Bloodlines over-hyped. It was a bold (albeit failed) experiment from which other games could take quite a bit of inspiration. I'll have to reserve judgment as far as the story/plot goes, if only because I've never actually finished either game. I would say, however, that Bloodlines has stronger characterization than Human Revolution, where everyone is stereotypically dour and dystopic (something I like in a Deus Ex game, don't get me wrong, but I would hesitate to call it well done). Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Agreed. Although it should be said even Bloodlines becomes something of a combat-heavy chore by the end of it. I feel like we've yet to see a game where you can actually avoid combat the whole way through (perhaps, if we are lucky, the new Torment will be the first).

That's never really been a priority of mine, being able to totally avoid combat. VtM's combat (and to a lesser degree, Deus Ex's) isn't good, which is why it's a chore. The only reason I would have liked it in that game is because combat was godawful, but if it had played to the standards of a typical FPS, I doubt I would have cared.

Combat isn't that terrible you just have to learn to play to your strengths and game the system. For example as a Tremere they have that one skill that lets them paralyze dudes by frying their blood. You do that, run in with a good melee weapon, and most enemies will be down before they can fight back. It would have been nice if they had bothered actually having legitimately good combat though yes.