Customer Reviews

Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I am a huge fan of vampire fiction in any form and also enjoy a good RPG. So I was ecstatic when I heard about Vampire being translated from the pen-and-paper sources to the computer. And Vampire is an amazing looking game that I really wanted to like. Unfortunately some bad design choices and poor features prevented it from happening.

I'll start with the good points. The graphics are stunningly amazing. The animation of the characters is fluid and weapons are superbly done. The lighting greatly enhances the dark and sinister atmosphere. I kept going in many places because I wanted to see what area I would visit next. The camera control is also very smooth and easy to manipulate with the mouse. The gameplay is actually fun for the first bit of the game while you are adventuring by yourself and with one other party member. The source material and the manual add a lot to this game. Wandering around towns and seeing people milling about made it feel alive. And it was always oh so fun to feed upon someone to refill your blood level.

The RPG system is also great. There are several positive and detrimenatl traits for the characters. A certain level of blood must be maintained to use the disciplines (spells/skills) and to keep your character from succombing to frenzy. Experience points can be distributed among such traits as strength, dexterity, intelligence, willpower and several others. Very nicely done indeed.

Here is where I have to get in to the demerits of this game. First off, the voice acting is not very good; but it's not the worst I've heard either. And the sequences of dialogue are long and boring. The characters simply stand in place and wave their hands about. NPC interaction is left to a few choices which really have little baring on the outcome of the game. Nothing as rich and detailed as Planescape: Torment.

The combat, while fun and reminiscent of Diablo, only keeps its spark for the first part of the game. Most of it consists of clicking on an enemy and waiting until you've hit them enough times for them to die. A big flaw that becomes noticable during the first few levels is that the enemies wait until you are in range before they attack. They will simply stand idle as you slaughter others in the same room! As the game progresses you will gain party members, and will bemoan similarly incompetant AI. I equipped one with a bow and laughed in disbelief as he continuously fired in to a wall when he should have moved a couple steps to the side before doing so. Also, you can control the other members of your party in combat, but the main character will stop fighting while you are doing so! Aaahhhh! Add to this that you can go through entire areas and clean up with little to no problem, but then come across certain areas that will be nigh impossible to pass. Both enemies and your fellow party members will get hung up on walls, doors and other obstacles in the room.

And here we come to the worst sin of the game, the save system. Saving is automatically handled when you transition between levels are areas. The only other way to save is to be in your haven or safe area. One can get there by using the Walk the Abyss discipline (aka spell/skill). But it takes a while before you have one of these in a given area. So we are left hacking our way back through areas and levels already completed. I found myself abusing the autosave feature by running back and forth between levels to save. But what if more than one person is playing the game as is the case on my computer? It's pretty much tough luck. This is a computer game, not a console. The game should have been balanced so that players could save anywhere at anytime.

The multiplayer sounds enticing with the ability for one person to take control of the NPCs and monsters. But if the gameplay is similar to the single-player then I can't see it being much better.

With great graphics, a rich source material and so much potential. It makes me sad to not be able to like this game. This takes me back to Revenant, another game with a lot of potential but came up flacid. Maybe the patches will fix the problems, I certainly hope so. But much has to be done for the AI to make this game worthy.

I know there are people who gripe about the AI and the pathfinding. I also know that there are those who bitch and moan about the save feature. True, a feature in which you may save anywhere would have been nice, but Nihilistic chose NOT to do that for technical reasons(i do not know whether to believe that or accept it as an excuse). And plus, whenever you walk into a new area, the game saves it for you. But I digress. In short, Vampire is an absolute masterpiece. The sound is absolutely astounding(consisting of "real" orchestrated tracks and VERY well-done voice overs(Goth Chick Serena makes little noises when she's sucking blood! Hehe! I'm such a perv! ), The interface is simple and easy to use, the graphics are among the best I've seen for ANY RPG, and the story is enthralling and immersive. I've read countless reviews stating that this is a terribly flawed game filled with bugs, ect. ect. Which leads to believe that there are many, many people of whom many do not like this style of gaming(which very well could be the case), or, Blizzard has each of these people in their pockets(which also very well could be the case). But please, if you don't like the game, simply don't play it. Because I guarantee you that no one who enjoys playing will give the slightest crap whether you like it or not. I'd be too enthralled in the game to care(and also because everyone has their own opinions). A patch is in the works to correct all of the "mistakes" as well.

Pros:

-great storyline, kept me wanting to learn more and to progress throughout the story. Well-written. -the most beautiful graphics I've seen in a game to date. Shadows! Great, great lighting. -Great adaptation from the pen and paper game.

Cons: - BAD, BAD save game problem. Cannot save at will, must use save points. I downloaded a fix that some person made, allowing me to save everytime I equipped with a torch or a flashlight. And the designers will release a patch that fixes this problem. HOWEVER, it should never have been released like this. - Horrible party AI. Your team members are SO stupid. It's party the problem of the game engine. Most of the time your party will get stuck, and won't help you as you're being attacked by Monster X, Y, or Z. Narrow corridors are enough to cause screaming fits, what with all the stupid AI problems. - Ranged weapons are useless. The stupid party members can't use them right. They either shoot you or they are shooting through a wall. It's very rare, very very rare that they actually hit the enemies. I gave up and equipped everyone with swords. This applies to Dark Ages and Modern weapons. - Little role-playing choices. You have a few dialogue choices that you can make, and some affect your humanity, but overall, the storyline is very rigid.

Vampire is another case of a game being released two weeks too soon. I would have rather waited for those few weeks, than deal with all the problems (that will be fixed in a patch, presumably).

My ideal game? Take the worlds of darkness, and a vampire background, and use the Deus Ex model. I'm not too interested in the Deus Ex story, but the gameplay is superior.

For all of you who love RPG's, like I do, but are sick of the same old theme's Vampire will fulfill all of your dreams. This game rocks! The story is engrossing, and it changes each time you start a new game. Replay galore. The Quests are intriguing, and not too complicated. The combat is not as robust as it could be but that is because there is a plot here, and lots of little goodies to hunt for. The NPC development is great and they make for valuable company. The graphics are very well done, and general play will keep you going. I can only see two improvements that could be made to the game, but they are minor. One is that during combat the mouse moves to give you a wonderful panoramic view of the situation, but during the heat of battle you could get disoriented and lose some HP's because you are looking at the combat from a bad angle. Once you get the hang of it it wont be a big deal. The second thing is that the cinematics are often long and overdone, but they really do make the game more like a movie. One great thing is that this game starts out like a medieval RPG, but progresses to a modern day RPG like Fallout. Be careful sucking blood could be a habit! Buy it and you will be up very late. Have Fun!

I saw a preview of this game and highly recommend it for women. There is a shortage of games that appeal to women but this one has major female characters who are as strong as the male roles. The artwork is stunning and the play is not only challenging but fun. I was impressed with the realistic action and the attention to the authenticity of the locales used for the game. I can't wait to play it at length.

Well, I am a follower of Vampire stories, I have **cough** played Vampire the Masquerade a little bit (there is nothing like being at the Army base in Taszar Hungary to bring you to new frontiers)... I think the game system is accurate to the Vampire the Maquerade role playing game. From aquiring blood points, to soaking sun damage. Alright I am ahead of myself. Here are what I see as the pro's:

1) The game is easy to play. The controls are fairly intuitive and it does look like Diablo a bit with the combat sequences.

2) The graphics are... in a word... Astounding. From the reflections in rooms, to the people milling about in the town. This is about as close as you can get to strolling the streets in old Vienna.

3) The bad guys are really bad guys, and the story is based in love and forbidden passion. The music is very moody and actually gave me the creeps once or twice. I think Activision has outdone themselves. As for the save, you can now download a patch from Activison's web site that allows you to save at will.

4) I have heard **cough** that there are an extensive number of cheat codes available if you just want to read the story and see the ending, all of them can be turned on and off again... so I hear.. if you just need a spot of help getting past a boss character. All you need... They say... is to add -console to the command line of the shortcut that starts the game...

Downsides:

1) Video is a little laggy, even on my Diamond Viper 2... 2) The AI is retarded. Point blank. 3) I thought that the bosses were disproportionately difficult compared to the regular bad guys.

I think this game is really pretty and the pros far outway the cons.

The deep inner horror of what it must be to become a creature of the night is truly unveiled in this erotic and intriguing game and I was fascinated to watch this passion play unfold. You feel the utter tragedy of Christof's life as he is turned into a vampire against his will, destroying his life, his dreams and desires. I am somewhat loathe to discuss it in the normal terms of video games: it feels far more than your basic hack and slash/ Kill the monster/cool graphics game. It is the story that is most intriguing. On that note: the game is wonderful, allowing you to play a vampire and get caught up in the moment without dealing with the often hard to follow rules of the original paper & pen V:TM RPGs. The graphics are great: you see reflections, and shadows! The "monsters" that you must fight and destroy are drawn in gruesome detail -- the war ghouls and nosferatu are practically worth the price of the game alone! Two thumbs up.

Ok, here's the scoop. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay, while it does get repetative, is saved by the graphics, music, and overall ambiance created by the NOD gaming engine.

Dynamic shadowing and lighting, varying opponents.... this game has it all.

And as for that "you can only save at certain points" bull, if you look on the web there is an official patch that fixes this problem!

I was not a fan of the WoD series, in fact i had never even heard of it. I bought the game and was instantly pulled in.

Yes it takes a LOT of space to install (i did the full 1.2 gig install) but if you've got the system for it, BUY THIS GAME! If you like gothic stuff, like vampires, want to be able to do action AND rpg? this is it!

It's best point is that it's not all dumb blind killing like quake (which i also love!), and it's not all over-geeky RPG, but it's a perfect mix of both.

As for the faulty AI in which yer allies don't attack people? Try setting the party stance to "OFFENSE" and watch em "loose thy wrath"... NO, the AI isn't perfect, but if it was then the programmers wouldn't be doing games, they'd be doing some serious nasa stuff or something, eh?

Bottom line, if you take the time and INVESTIGATE things, you'll find most of the rumors and reported problems are either not true or solvable problems.

If you've got the time and computing power for it, this game is for you!

If this were a review purely about content, then Redemption would get a well deserved 5 stars. Unfortunately, the technical problems drag the entire game down.

The bad:

Horrible pathing! Your party members block you all t he time and walls trap you sometimes. In Neverwinter Nights, party members would just scoot out of the way when you needed to get by them. In Redemption, you need to move around your party. I can deal with that, except you're constantly put in scenarios where your 4 party group is traveling through a tight corridor, and needing to go backwards is a nightmare. I finally gave up and switched control to the lagging member and used that character to move back.

In most other games I've played, you could just 'shove' characters other characters out of your way. That's the best way about it, because when you're mid-fight, the last thing you want to do is reposition a stubborn party member who just won't get out of your way. Absolutely abismal pathing in this game.

There's not much pizazz to the weapons and armor available, either. Guns and ranged weapons are pretty useless in the game, and I've found sticking with the good old shield and sword works better. Again, I blame the developers.

There is little to none available as far as support, and I've only found one patch so far.

The Good:

This game contains THE MOST engaging, engrossing and interesting plotlines I've seen in a game. The story content is unparalleled. You follow Cristof Romuald, a crusader knight of the dark ages who fights in the crusades. He is wounded and nursed back to health in medeival Prague by the beautiful nun, Anezka. You begin the game playing Cristof as a human, and you follow the character through his Embrace and change into vampiric state.

The game is based on White Wolf's 'Vampire: the Masquerade' and 'Vampire: the Dark Ages' tabletop RPG books. The designers of Redemption did a good job of bringing WW's material into the game, and do so in a way that is pleasing to a V:tM fan yet still easy for a beginner to digest. As the plot continues in the game, Christof's sire and friends explain to him about the vampire clans, vampire origins, etc. etc. I had my doubts about getting this game because I doubted a game could do justice to WW's publications, but after playing it, you really can't help but enjoy the story.

Basically, you play Christof through the ages and travel through Prague, Vienna, London, and modern day New York. He's basically on a path to redemption (thus the name of the game is Redemption), and depending on how humanely you act throughout the game, you may or may not receive redemption. (A humanity score is kept.)

With the gaining of experience points, you can buy skill points, and with enough skill points (strength, dexterity, intelligence, charisma, etc.), you can buy discipline points. That's where the real fun is at- the disciplines (vampire powers).

Multiplayer is ok. I heard Redemption's multiplayer capabilities referred to as "Neverwinter Nights Lite." There's not much by way of video-gaming you can do on multiplayer, but you can hold campaigns and assign a storyteller. The storyteller holds GM powers and can access each player's advancement menu to grant exp, control players, speak through players, spawn items, and kill or revive players. So if you'd like an alternative to tabletop and currently play V:tM, you can definitely check this out.

This game is definitely roleplay heavy, and they speak in Ye Olde English (at least Christof and Anezka do). It's not to say it's corny, though. They may say "thee," "thou," "thy," and "hath," but the dialogue and voice acting is *fantastic*.

Despite the (inexcusable) technical problems, Redemption offers the richest content and voice acting I've seen in a game.

I truly hope that game developers will pick up V:tM to base another game on, and hopefully, they'll do justice to all the fabulous content they put in it by making it sufficiently playable.

It's really worth picking up if you're like me and are more an RPG fan than a hack and slash powergamer. If you want a game with a rich story, this one won't disappoint in that aspect. But be warned of the pathing, lack of support, and other gameplay issues.

Thanks to Nihilistic and Activision, PC gamers can finally play the game that has mesmerized tabletop RPG fans for years. Those who have a thirst for creative freedom will want to sink their teeth in to Vampire

While Vampire's presentation is as good as it gets for an RPG, it's a little clunky for the intense action Vampire tries to provide. Highly detailed characters spout purple prose in the one-player story, while point-and-click controls don't work that well with the clingy camera, making retreat and precision attacks nearly imossile. Plus, the one-player game seems under-designed; You may waste hours on an implied quest just to learn later on that you could've won earlier by simply hitting the bad guy with a stick. That's disappointing in a game based on an RPG system that emphasizes social role-playing ovr constant combat. Redemption's innovative multiplayer mode, however, easily sets the standard for all future RPG's. Vampire's Storyteller mode allow you to create your own stories and play as game master while three friends roam your world. Powerful editing tools enable you to create entire cities and script your own events, while an enthusiastic online community exists to support your fledgling chronicles.

Because there are better hack-n-slash games on the market (from Diablo II to Darkstone), Vamire's frail one player game offers little reason for purchase. Still, its multiplayer mode saves Vampire from eternal extinction. If you're a budding storyteller and want to create custom worlds, then you should seek Redemption.