In case you’ve somehow managed to dodge every ounce of controversy surrounding this game’s hellish development cycle and release, allow me to be the official bearer of bad news. The Chinese Room’s Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is an altogether significantly different beast from the original 2004 Troika Games cult classic. While many may already be screaming doom and gloom from the rooftops, there is some good to be found here amidst the multitude of puzzling design decisions, questionable title choice, and glaring gameplay issues. Bloodlines 2 is a title with high niche appeal, sadly bereft of any true RPG mechanics whatsoever (although if you’ve been following the marketing campaign, this will hardly come as a surprise) – settling instead on a linear, heavily narrative-driven experience with combat sections sprinkled in here and there for variety.



Let’s start with what the game gets right, namely the story, writing, and overall atmosphere of the world. Players control an Elder vampire going by the name of Phyre (named after a word seen on a nearby poster, sounding dangerously close to your 14-year-old cousin’s first Dungeons & Dragons character), awakening from torpor in 2024 Seattle - now bearing a mysterious mark on their hand and somehow sharing a mind with Malkavian detective Fabien.



Together, the two explore the vampiric politics at the heart of the city, contacting various prominent figures as they search for answers – pertaining not only to Phyre’s current situation, but also to Fabien’s prior life, a string of gruesome murders, as well as the recent death of Seattle prince JJ Campbell. The overarching plotline might not be the most meticulously constructed masterpiece, but it is quite enjoyable and managed to consistently grab my interest (despite a few pacing problems I’ll get into in a bit).

The overarching plotline might not be the most meticulously constructed masterpiece, but it is quite enjoyable...

Players control both Phyre and Fabien throughout the storyline – with the latter’s gameplay sections revolving around collecting clues and interrogating witnesses (inanimate objects included, like a sassy pool table or flirtatious filing cabinet). Our Malkavian private eye has a few extra powers up his sleeves, too, used to deceive NPCs into believing he is somebody else or erasing memories altogether. These story chapters appropriately contain quite a bit of back-and-forth dialogue, often delivered in ways not unlike a good old-fashioned cheesy noir flick.



Writing, and vocal performances in general, are another set of high points for Bloodlines 2. Many conversations are quite lengthy in nature, doubly so if you probe each topic further through the multitude of optional dialogue choices given (tagged with question mark icons) before selecting a line that moves things along. Both main and side characters all deliver their lines believably, and the game does a decent job of balancing natural-sounding exchanges while slowly feeding the player necessary exposition and relevant backstory information.

Environmental lore drops and storytelling, typically delivered through the medium of notes lying around or interactable objects, also do a good job of tracking crucial info and filling out the game’s surprisingly extensive codex. There isn’t a massive amount of these to be found, but the contextual reticule (expanding or contracting based on how close the player is to an important object, collectable, or location) is a neat feature, nonetheless. This ensures that while roaming around the sparsely populated snow-covered Seattle streets (mainly set dressing, frustratingly), it’s almost impossible to miss out on any hidden goodies.



Another side of gameplay Bloodlines 2 pleasantly impressed me with lies in its simple yet satisfying combat system. It’s visceral, spectacularly bloody, and heavy-hitting, and I always found myself welcoming any chance to throw down with some Anarch fools. Mixing basic (or charged) strikes, dashing around with your vampire sprint, and effectively activating your abilities feels great – although you’ll probably want to up your controller sensitivity quite a bit. Some enemies are insanely erratic in their movement patterns and the ability to turn around quickly is absolutely essential here. Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that, until you begin expanding your offensive toolkit, combat will likely feel slightly underwhelming. Gunplay is also limited to telekinetically firing weapons found throughout the map, instead of traditional handheld usage.

Many conversations are quite lengthy in nature, doubly so if you probe each topic further through the multitude of optional dialogue choices given (tagged with question mark icons) before selecting a line that moves things along.

Each vampire clan has their own series of unique unlockable abilities (like the Banu Haqim’s set of silent-but-deadly skills), and your initial clan choice doesn’t limit you from utilising the talents found in others. In fact, this multi-clan playstyle is very much encouraged – as you’ll have likely exhausted your base clan ability tree quite early on. To unlock more powers, you’ll have to drain some resonant blood from the mortals of the city.



These come in three varieties, reflecting the individual’s mood at the time (Melancholic, Choleric, and Sanguine). Once enough blood of a given type is obtained, Phyre can head on over to a relevant local clan contact and unlock their desired ability, plus an outfit linked to the associated clan. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I actually quite enjoy this system – turning random NPCs into something resembling sentient resource nodes. Unlocking more abilities also ends up feeling less like a steady climb to reclaim your long-lost power, and more of a way to mix and match combat styles to your liking.

Now that we’ve taken a gander at the lighter side of this game, it’s time to dive into decidedly less pleasant territory – the list of issues dragging the user experience down. Right off the bat, performance is not good on PlayStation 5. There’s no real way to sugarcoat it. An inconsistent framerate, frequent stutters (feels like it might be a result of chunks of the city loading in, but who’s to say), and at least two crashes during side quests are not exactly healthy stability indicators in my book – and these hiccups sure as hell drag the frenetic flow of combat down as a result.



Speaking of side quests, a term that might be giving these activities more credit than they’re due, don’t hold your breath for anything remotely resembling what you’d find in your average action/adventure or RPG title. Parcel retrieval/delivery, combat encounters, and target elimination are the sorts of tasks requested of you – with barely any fleshing out save for a few lines of establishing dialogue. At least the ability point completion rewards are decent enough.

There’s no real way to sugarcoat it. An inconsistent framerate, frequent stutters, and at least two crashes during side quests are not exactly healthy stability indicators in my book.

Fabien’s story chapters, while certainly entertaining and crucial to understanding core parts of the narrative, tend to ever-so-slightly outstay their welcome. On the plus side, at least he can speed up time – replacing Phyre’s sprint button while zipping from one point of interest to another. Our protagonist, on the other hand, boasts no such ability, and constantly travelling from one end of the map to the other can start to become a chore after a while. Yes, Phyre can glide from building to building and sprint at great speeds – but doing so in the presence of mere mortals is discouraged as it may lead to a Masquerade breach, and an instant death by extension.



Admittedly, this punishment for exposing the world of the supernatural sounds worse than it actually is. It comes off as more of a slight inconvenience, as opposed to something genuinely worth avoiding, which is a letdown to say the least. Running up a nearby building and waiting for the “alertness” bar to drop back down to zero usually solves the problem, anyway. Additionally, Bloodlines 2 exclusively supports autosaving – effectively forcing you to quit only when the game allows you to. Why a manual save system wasn’t implemented, I have no idea, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you just how much of a pain this can be (and how it removes any sense of caution on the part of the player).

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 sheds the RPG skin of its ancestor in favour of a more action-focused, linear narrative. Even if you’re able to ignore the “Bloodlines” in the title and treat this game as its own thing, with its own identity and gameplay philosophy, the end product is still flawed enough to warrant some degree of disappointment. Beyond an interesting story and enjoyable combat system, Bloodlines 2’s empty (but very pretty) map, mostly hollow side content, as well as the lack of technical polish make it an extremely difficult sell to the average gamer. Like I said at the start, there is some good to be found here, blemished as it is - but I’d highly suggest waiting for either a discount or the inevitable string of polish patches to arrive before taking that plunge into the night.

PS5 Review code provided by Paradox Interactive | Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is available to purchase at Nexus Hub for R1,399