Post by Deviancy on Jan 21, 2021 4:06:22 GMT
I mentioned this game in the favorite video game thread but felt it deserved to have its own thread. Why? Because one of the big quests in the game pays total homage to Stephen King's The Shining, and I guess one can say, Doctor Sleep (even though DS hadn't been written or a film when the game came out).
To start off with, the game is based on the old pen and paper game that was very popular with vampire addicts, especially goths. It involves numerous vampire clans, and each clan has its own personality, some are snobs, some are power hungry, some anarchists, some are crazy, and then there's the Nosferatu, they're just creepy. The reason its called the Masquerade is because its about living among mortals and never allowing them find out vampires exist, unless their human enemies and there are no witnesses, then its a different story. In Bloodlines one gets to pick the gender and clan of their player, and then of course earn XP and set skill levels. It isn't a huge open world RPG like Skyrim, but it still a lot of areas to explore and each city looks like the city its supposed, especially Santa Monica and Hollywood. After one starts the game they go on their mission to complete a main quest but along the way there are numerous side quests, the main quest involves finding an ancient relic that the head vampire of LA wants, and of course the other clans don't want him to really have it, and the player is left deciding if he should have it.
As for quests, it would take eons to go on about each quest so I'll touch on the ones that should interest horror fans the most, and of course the Shining quest. Early into the game the player comes across a power hungry female club owner, she wants something special from an old haunted hotel. The player takes the quest and heads to this hotel that's on the outskirts of Santa Monica. The old hotel just happens to look identical to the Overlook Hotel, and inside the hotel there's the furnace room, the tricycles the girls rode, the big wheel Danny rode around on, numerous newspapers that have articles about a man who went insane who stayed there, and there's a ghost, well two actually. Inside the hotel one will also find little easter eggs that pay homage to Elm Street, Psycho, and a few other films. It was considered the most popular quest in the game because it showed such a deep love for the horror genre, and it was just creepy in a great way. Another side quest, which is pretty big for just a side quest involves a serial killer, the quest pays homage to the Howling and a few other franchises, and its a lot of fun. Part of the main quest involves pleasing the leader of Hollywood and that involves tracking down certain things and one of his sires, who is an awful lot like River Phoenix, which I'm pretty sure was intentional, it also involves strippers, snuff films, and a side quest that totally pays homage to Night Of The Living Dead. Those are just a few of of the things Bloodlines taps into, if one does most of the quests and takes their time, it can take about 15 hours to clear the game, maybe longer if one doesn't use their experience points for the right skills.
As for the Masquerade, what does happen if innocent people witness the player breaking the masquerade? The player gets one strike when they violate the masquerade, once they do they can go on a rampage and not get anymore but after ten minutes it resets and one can get another strike. If one gets five or six strikes, no matter what point they're at in the game, it cuts to a game over ending because in the Masquerade, violating it results in being executed by ones fellow vampires, kind of like how Lestat was given a death sentence for exposing himself as a vampire to the world.
Sounds like a fun game, right? There's one catch. It was released in 2004 and Activision rushed the developers to put it out before some of the quests were finished, and while it had a lot of bugs, I mean a lot. They released two patches officially but then the company that made it went belly up because Activision killed their rep. But soon after a guy decided to put out an unofficial patch, if one buys the game on GOG, they get the basic patch he made for the game, it fixes all of the bugs and finishes the quests that the company didn't get a chance to. However, if one clicks on the second link I provided, that'll take them to the plus patch that he made, it has everything the basic patch and tons of extra options like new appearances for the cops, some bonus quests, and a lot more. The game is usually 19.99 but GOG usually drops it down to 5.99 to 9.99 several times during the year, its worth 20 however despite the fact its nearly 17 years old now.
Bloodlines 2 is out now or should be out soon, its strictly first person however, Bloodlines is first or third, up to the player and one can switch at anytime just in Skyrim. If one really likes a challenge, they should pick the Nosferatu clan, why the Nosferatu? As I said, innocent humans can't witness the player doing anything vampire wise, that means no letting the innocent see one feed or use their special powers. But the Nosferatu, they look like Nosferatu, so humans right away know they're monsters and its an instant masquerade strike if they're even seen. However, there's a huge sewer system underneath every city, and lots of back alley ways, so one just has to be sneaky. Personally, I've had the game since it was released, never played as a Nosferatu, I usually play as a Malkavian or Brujah, but I've used every clan except for Nosferatu and the Tremere.
I'm providing the links to the GoG version, which is DRM free, and the link to the plus patch. Gog is cool, one can use their third party client which isn't unlike Steam's but they don't have to since all the games on their site are DRM free. They also have some of the older Tomb Raider games and various other old school games, they rarely get new games unless their indie games since the major companies like DRM until the game gets old and they figure, whatever.
Purchase here: www.gog.com/game/vampire_the_masquerade_bloodlines
Download the latest patch here: www.moddb.com/mods/vtmb-unofficial-patch
The game could have used more werewolves... poor werewolves, Morrowind and Skyrim are really the only games that have given them love.
To start off with, the game is based on the old pen and paper game that was very popular with vampire addicts, especially goths. It involves numerous vampire clans, and each clan has its own personality, some are snobs, some are power hungry, some anarchists, some are crazy, and then there's the Nosferatu, they're just creepy. The reason its called the Masquerade is because its about living among mortals and never allowing them find out vampires exist, unless their human enemies and there are no witnesses, then its a different story. In Bloodlines one gets to pick the gender and clan of their player, and then of course earn XP and set skill levels. It isn't a huge open world RPG like Skyrim, but it still a lot of areas to explore and each city looks like the city its supposed, especially Santa Monica and Hollywood. After one starts the game they go on their mission to complete a main quest but along the way there are numerous side quests, the main quest involves finding an ancient relic that the head vampire of LA wants, and of course the other clans don't want him to really have it, and the player is left deciding if he should have it.
As for quests, it would take eons to go on about each quest so I'll touch on the ones that should interest horror fans the most, and of course the Shining quest. Early into the game the player comes across a power hungry female club owner, she wants something special from an old haunted hotel. The player takes the quest and heads to this hotel that's on the outskirts of Santa Monica. The old hotel just happens to look identical to the Overlook Hotel, and inside the hotel there's the furnace room, the tricycles the girls rode, the big wheel Danny rode around on, numerous newspapers that have articles about a man who went insane who stayed there, and there's a ghost, well two actually. Inside the hotel one will also find little easter eggs that pay homage to Elm Street, Psycho, and a few other films. It was considered the most popular quest in the game because it showed such a deep love for the horror genre, and it was just creepy in a great way. Another side quest, which is pretty big for just a side quest involves a serial killer, the quest pays homage to the Howling and a few other franchises, and its a lot of fun. Part of the main quest involves pleasing the leader of Hollywood and that involves tracking down certain things and one of his sires, who is an awful lot like River Phoenix, which I'm pretty sure was intentional, it also involves strippers, snuff films, and a side quest that totally pays homage to Night Of The Living Dead. Those are just a few of of the things Bloodlines taps into, if one does most of the quests and takes their time, it can take about 15 hours to clear the game, maybe longer if one doesn't use their experience points for the right skills.
As for the Masquerade, what does happen if innocent people witness the player breaking the masquerade? The player gets one strike when they violate the masquerade, once they do they can go on a rampage and not get anymore but after ten minutes it resets and one can get another strike. If one gets five or six strikes, no matter what point they're at in the game, it cuts to a game over ending because in the Masquerade, violating it results in being executed by ones fellow vampires, kind of like how Lestat was given a death sentence for exposing himself as a vampire to the world.
Sounds like a fun game, right? There's one catch. It was released in 2004 and Activision rushed the developers to put it out before some of the quests were finished, and while it had a lot of bugs, I mean a lot. They released two patches officially but then the company that made it went belly up because Activision killed their rep. But soon after a guy decided to put out an unofficial patch, if one buys the game on GOG, they get the basic patch he made for the game, it fixes all of the bugs and finishes the quests that the company didn't get a chance to. However, if one clicks on the second link I provided, that'll take them to the plus patch that he made, it has everything the basic patch and tons of extra options like new appearances for the cops, some bonus quests, and a lot more. The game is usually 19.99 but GOG usually drops it down to 5.99 to 9.99 several times during the year, its worth 20 however despite the fact its nearly 17 years old now.
Bloodlines 2 is out now or should be out soon, its strictly first person however, Bloodlines is first or third, up to the player and one can switch at anytime just in Skyrim. If one really likes a challenge, they should pick the Nosferatu clan, why the Nosferatu? As I said, innocent humans can't witness the player doing anything vampire wise, that means no letting the innocent see one feed or use their special powers. But the Nosferatu, they look like Nosferatu, so humans right away know they're monsters and its an instant masquerade strike if they're even seen. However, there's a huge sewer system underneath every city, and lots of back alley ways, so one just has to be sneaky. Personally, I've had the game since it was released, never played as a Nosferatu, I usually play as a Malkavian or Brujah, but I've used every clan except for Nosferatu and the Tremere.
I'm providing the links to the GoG version, which is DRM free, and the link to the plus patch. Gog is cool, one can use their third party client which isn't unlike Steam's but they don't have to since all the games on their site are DRM free. They also have some of the older Tomb Raider games and various other old school games, they rarely get new games unless their indie games since the major companies like DRM until the game gets old and they figure, whatever.
Purchase here: www.gog.com/game/vampire_the_masquerade_bloodlines
Download the latest patch here: www.moddb.com/mods/vtmb-unofficial-patch
The game could have used more werewolves... poor werewolves, Morrowind and Skyrim are really the only games that have given them love.
AiAkOrkWFthFsVgFMISE smilie_girl_freude