Final Verdict

On the one hand, I'm relieved to not have to wonder "what might have been". This is Deus Ex again, it's been done before and I don't have to worry about a lost gem. At its best, Vampire could have turned out to be a really solid first-person RPG title, but it lacks that hint of brilliance that Troika's first game, Arcanum, had.


Where the developers chose to, they pulled off a great first-person RPG complete with sneaking, combat, dialogue, an interesting story and of course role-playing elements. Vampire: Bloodlines also features some creative levels like the haunted mansion and the abandoned hospital. On the other hand, its combat is not that strong and yet for some reason someone at Troika or Activision saw fit to include multiple prolonged sequences of it. Furthermore, the balance of the game is really thrown off by those fights - it swings it in favor of a Brujah or Gangrel than Ventrue or Malkavian. There are also times where some side-quests seem impossible without the proper stats, and a few of the main quests make me wonder if the "wrong" kind of character could ever get past it - and I mean the puzzles, not the combat.

At least though, there's Jack. Gotta love him.