[Intrepid Homoludens]

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
day of unleashing: 16 Nov. 04

You'll begin the game in the Santa Monica hub, which is similar to the city zones found in the classic role-playing game Deus Ex. In fact, Bloodlines seems to bear more than a passing resemblance to that game since, like in Deus Ex, you start off in your gritty little apartment. Turn on the radio and you can listen to a lengthy, local talk radio show with callers discussing things that may or may not be clues to later events in the game. Then you can sit down at your computer and sort through your e-mail, filtering out the junk mail (yes, spam exists in the virtual world of Bloodlines) and looking for the clues. But some of the spam may be clues as well, as some of it corresponds with businesses and services that are in the game. It's all stuff to file away in your head for later use. You can also search your apartment for useful items, like blood packs that someone thoughtfully stashed in your refrigerator. Blood packs serve as health packs in a way, but they also allow you to recharge your blood meter. Blood powers your vampiric disciplines, which resemble magical powers, such as obfuscate, which makes your character invisible to detection.

The Santa Monica hub seems roughly comparable in size to some of the larger zones in Deus Ex, and it's filled with businesses and other locales that you can't access yet (but they hint at further adventures later on in the game). There's also plenty of foot traffic, with random passersby, prostitutes, and police officers walking around. These people may offer the opportunity to feed, but since the four major hubs are considered masquerade areas, revealing your nature in public or killing someone can have serious repercussions for you. Still, it's possible to lure a prostitute into an alleyway and partially feed on her. All you have to do to feed on a human is get close to her and hit the "f" key, and your vampire will grab victims and bite them on the neck. A blood meter will display how much blood remains in the victim, and you can stop feeding just before it runs out so you avoid killing the human. This is usually the safest method, as killing a victim will just raise potential problems, not the least of which is that you may lose humanity points, or the ability to control your vampiric nature in public.

Gamespot, Near Final Impressions, 5 Nov. 04

Sexy.