Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, & PC)

Can you imagine all of the clever ways developers can integrate vapiric abilities and tendencies into gameplay? The blood thirst, forcing you to go against your humane instincts and feed on anyone unfortunate enough to cross your path? How stronger you become, moving at brisk speed, and your senses heightened, attuned to the slightest sounds around you? Besides physical superhuman abilities, vampires can have supernatural powers, too, from telekinesis to flying, and even shapeshifting. All of these have only been barely explored via popular classics like Neverwinter Nights and the original Vampire: The Masquerade. And visual novels, of course. 

I must say, I got excited at the thought of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 taking a more action-oriented route. That power fantasy of immortality and enhanced senses is something I’ve always wanted to feel in a game. To embody the skin and superhuman abilities of an actual vampire, and actually feel myself transformed. Had to wait nearly six years, during which The Chinese Room took over from Hardsuit Labs, resulting in several delays – no fret, though, the final game is finally here. But has it been worth the wait? Let’s find out in our Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 review below.

Turn Back Time

The ideal route for an action RPG would be to start the protagonist as a newly transformed vampire. So we experience their struggles with bloodthirst and how they hone their newfound power. And the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines game naturally took this route. But the sequel shifts gears, focusing instead on an elder vampire, some hundreds of years old. You can choose the gender, clan, and outfit of the protagonist. However, their name, or nickname, is set to Phyre or the Nomad onward into the story. They have been stuck in nearly 140 years of sleep, awakening to a changed, modern world in 21st-century Seattle. Further, their first instinct is to feed on the first person they see, who’s a vampire detective from 1920s Seattle. 

In yet another intriguing twist of events, feeding on the detective renders their consciousness trapped in Phyre. And so, right off the bat, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s story kicks us off with several compelling mystery threads. It gives us lots of questions beyond the meagre: “Who’s the protagonist? What’s their story?” More than finding out the protagonist’s background and learning about the history and context of the world we’re in, we sink our teeth into a larger looming mystery of why the detective’s consciousness winds up trapped in your head. And even more so, interestingly unravel this mystery via navigating both 1920s and 21st-century Seattle.

Beauty of the Night

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 explores these two vastly different settings in culture and technology in an interesting way. While Phyre busies herself with navigating the political drama of the Camarilla Court, Fabien, the detective, takes over via flashback segments to the 1920s. Camarilla Court’s various factions and political landscape spark curiosity over which leaders to align with, what choices to make, and the consequences they have on the city. Meanwhile, 1920s Seattle unravels via a noir detective setting, where the focus is on solving mysteries, particularly solving the Rebar Killer cold case. It turns out these two settings have surprising connections; the events that happened over a century ago have a relation to the ones you unravel in modern-day Seattle.

More than compelling story threads, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s settings are a sight for sore eyes. The neon lights shimmer across the snowy-covered streets of Seattle. It’s endearing to clamber the walls of city blocks and dash across the rooftops. And possibly find a lone human to dig your fangs into. And the environments are open-ended, though restrictive in exploration. Only a few interior spaces are explorable, and often have just one NPC to talk to. The streets do have NPCs walking on, but recycling their few-sentence dialogue. It’s almost rigid how immersive Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 might feel to the free soul, yet it offers little motivation to actually go out of your way to explore. Whether the side quests or collectibles, they’re all uninteresting, with little relevance to the story, and a lack of any significant reward. 

Punch Power

Let’s not dwell on the side gigs. Besides the story, the action is where Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s other strength lies, to an extent. I find the most fun in combat comes from your movement as an elder vampire. You can dash forward faster, leap higher, and punch stronger than usual. A single punch sends humans flying to their deaths. And your kicks feel powerful, clobbering enemies. Your light and heavy attacks, combined with dodges, make up a fun time, at least for the first few hours in. And then telekinesis kicks in, allowing you to move objects (and enemies) with your mind. And so, picking up melee weapons and guns off the ground and directing them at enemies injects a newfound power play on enemies. 

You can spice these up by grabbing enemies and slamming them on one another. Or dismantling guns from enemies with your mind. Unfortunately, you cannot wield weapons: an odd choice for an action RPG. It would have been cool to experiment with pistols and unsheath slick katanas mid-brawling, helping keep combat refreshing. Instead, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 unlocks powers based on your clan. Four active powers you can wield at a time that let you perform devastating attacks, ranging from teleportation to mind controlling groups of enemies, to jumping off the roof if you feel like it. It’s all so super cool when you unlock these powers at their most powerful, I suppose, because your protagonist is an elder vampire already proficient in being undead.

Upward Climb

But I suppose RPG lovers will be disappointed in there being little reason to upgrade or experiment with skills and powers. When you already have abilities operating at their most powerful, with no stats or upgrades, it leaves little room for character development, which is what makes the backbone of role-playing. Seeing your character evolve in their personality and character. But beyond evolving their personas, evolving their skills and prowess on the battlefield, too. Given Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 puts a lot of its effort and time into combat, it’s a shame that the core systems aren’t as complex or deep as other competent RPGs. There are no swap-outs to speak of here, no loadouts you might want to experiment with and find your favorite. 

Right off the bat, the abilities you unlock within the first few hours of the game prove more than enough to take on enemies. And when you encounter stronger enemies, the ghouls and other elder vampires, the combat gets more challenging. Thankfully so, as you find a new reason to put effort into your playthrough. Without any reward or motivation, though, to level up, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s combat eventually turns numb. It’s here that you rely on the dialogue choices to keep your spirits up. The impactful consequences of making certain decisions render some NPCs allies and even romantic partners. But even these have their limited breadth of execution, with the consequences fazing out as the story progresses. Some impact is felt in the epilogue, but it lacks the huge payoff you’d be waiting for after taking the time to carefully consider your choices. 

Verdict

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 certainly does a lot of things right. But within these enjoyable moments are flaws that are hard to ignore. Mostly disappointing executions that could have been more fully realized. Because, ultimately, the story is a blast to unravel. It carries compelling mysteries that feel enthralling to chase down. The characters do a great job acting out engaging scenes, with humane and, at times, humorous dialogue. And the setting is immersive, leaping and dashing across rooftops to devour the jugulars of your next victim. 

Inherently fun, for sure, is the story and world within which Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set. But while exploring the world, you quickly realize there really isn’t much to do here. Besides the main quest, side stories and collectibles might as well be ignored. Because they never carry any significant reward, not to story progression or your combat prowess. Even more so are the RPG systems that feel desperately lacking in an engaging, replayable playthrough.

Starting off already powerful in an RPG makes no sense –to the story, perhaps, but the RPG genre has to integrate character development and a sense of progress. Perhaps as an interactive visual novel, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 could have been much better enjoyed. A detective story about chasing down cold cases and solving your own murder, tied to political drama and intrigue, a century later. Even the action-oriented section of gameplay could use more fleshing out, allowing you to experiment with varied skillsets and arsenal.