Background and Story

Straight as an Arrow

The gameplay is (well, up to the point we've gotten to) as linear as can be. Even Squaresoft hasn't ever pulled off the "we lead you by the nose" stunt to this extreme. We're still in the early parts of the game as of this writing but things don't look good. Walk into area, kill anything that moves, find the boss, slay it, move on. No real freedom or sidequests exist and you can't even go hunting for random encounters like you could in the Final Fantasies. Every last tidbit along the way is planned out. For crying out loud, there are adventure games that give players more room to explore and goof around in.

The blacksmith

The Archbishop 'blesses'

This isn't to say that the game is bad by any reason - we spent an entire night playing Vampire right up until dawn, whereupon it was time to enter a crypt and sleep through the day. The fighting is rather fast and furious and what seems like an easy fight one time can quickly turn into a disaster the next. That's a little too random for our tastes. Strategy while fighting is rather minimal - barely above Diablo levels - and after playing Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment and the Final Fantasy games recently, it becomes apparent that a pause-system or maybe turn-based combat would be welcome.

Wow, what a view

A gypsy witch!

Wipe that Drool Off!

What will really blow you away, however, are the graphics. Vampire is the best-looking RPG we've seen and manages to hold its own with quite a few shooters. The texturing is absolutely amazing, the levels are designed well and have varied and interesting settings. Character models are superb, being detailed and smooth. Human characters are realistic and monsters are definitely horrific.

Colored Lighting Good!

Kickass architecture

Shadows and lighting are just an amazing aspect of the game. Should you choose to go into custom settings and turn everything up, expect to be totally blown away. Multiple independent light sources will cause every character to cast multiple shadows that move, darken and dim in a realistic fashion.

Sound and speech are impressive and anybody can get surround sound thanks to just about every single API being supported (including the Miles sound system.) In short, Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption is absolutely tops in the technological department.

We'll have a full review up in a matter of days. For now, check out some more screenshots!