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Excellent game with a few rough edges
Hey, this has got to be one of the best RPG's (maybe the best) to come out recently. Excellent atmosphere and well conceived characters -- especially your vampire avatar (you're given everything you need to build a unique, interesting and powerful character). The NPC's and exteriors of various sections of LA are beautifully done. And what could be hotter than to have your own human female "blood doll" living in your "haven", ready to give money, gifts and her blood anytime you need it (this is the closest thing to sex I've seen in a video game -- humans go into a state of ecstasy when vampires take their blood). You can also pick up girls at nightclubs (or prostitutes on the street) and do the same thing. And if your "seduction" feat is high enough you can have an incredibly erotic friendship (hot dialog, valuable photo+poster, email poems and love letters) with a beautiful stripper/kindred (Velvet "VV" Velour) in Hollywood.
The combat is great (and realistic -- you've got to learn how to shoot a gun with some XP's, lessons from NPC's or even reading books before you can really hit anything -- just like in "real life"). Same thing with melee combat -- you need to build up some strength, moves and skill (and acquire decent weapons) to do much damage. And then, above all, there are your vampiric "powers" or disciplines (different for each clan or "bloodline"). I chose to be a member of the Tremere clan. My Thaumaturgy ("blood magic") discipline is a force to behold.
The quests are usually very involving/interesting -- with some very challenging boss fights against quite unique characters. Bloodlines is a very good game, and, with this in mind, it's truly a shame that a better developer or, perhaps more talented programmers didn't handle it. There are some annoying bugs and some parts simply have a rough, unfinished quality to them. (A minor example: There's an important scene in Santa Monica where two wacked out Malkavian "sisters" in the same body -- a split personality -- argue about killing each other, but the sound keeps stuttering. Very annoying -- especially when your handling this unusual situation just right gives you the most XP's). Other times people arbitrarily wink out and wink back in during cut scenes (or there are other distracting problems). No excuse for this.
The game has generally run quite well on my computer with no crashes or serious problems. This is largely due to an official patch (Version 1.2) which seems to fix most major problems. It's widely available for download (about 15MB); make sure you install it. Scenes load pretty often, but it doesn't take long, and I hardly notice it anymore. And just consider the incredible replay value of this game: There are males and females of several different vampire clans ("bloodlines") -- all with different characteristics and powers. Additionally, I understand there are 4-5 completely different endings (your access to each ending -- or all of them -- depends upon how you played the game). This can keep you busy for a while, so if you want an interesting, involving, truly different ADULT game experience, try Vampire: Bloodlines. It really does rock.
(I've heard that many people are upset about dialog spelling mistakes. I've had no problem with this, probably because I don't have the NPC's portion of the dialog appear on screen -- only my response choices. My hearing's okay, so why do I need to see the text? This also gives most first-person RPG's a more "cinematic" quality -- as recommended by Bioware re KOTOR.) I guess I should add that this is not a game for people who freak easily when everything's not exactly perfect or who are hyper-critical or detail oriented. To me, the overall game experience is what counts, and this one is well worth overlooking a few bugs or working around them -- if it becomes necessary. I was SO into this game, I was truly sorry when it ended (replays are great but never quite as good as the first play-through).
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