It will be a long conversation. Before you captivate you, the venerable reader, the history of my posthumous achievements as a vampire outfit, you should stipulate a couple of points:
1. I love many old video games, but I have no goal of achieving an authentic experience of acquaintance with them – to reproduce the release state of such projects, to achieve native visualization and sound, and otherwise. In the past, where every new video game was an event, and the emotions were sincere, none of us will return in any case, and the most important quality of the video game was and is the opportunity to play in them, preferably without pain. Hearing on the deplorable state of Vampire: The Masquarade – Bloodlines at the time of release of the game, I did not hesitate to turn to a fan modification from Wesp5 (Patch 11.5 RC2 Plus), and even if such a decision had its own harmful consequences, I did not have to regret the choice.
2. Compilation of stationery nomenclatures never replenished the list of my skills. In my works, I pursue the goal to convey personal sensory experience – observation, associations, conclusions – often sacrificing the informativeness and accuracy of my observations. This approach is not likely to everyone, but in my eyes it is much more attractive in comparison with a dry presentation of facts and documents regarding the game of 20 years ago-this has long been done for me and much more pedantic. Well, it should be said that this essay was written based on the results of only one passage of Bloodlines, which can also affect the fullness of information, although I sought to study the space of the game with special care. Also in my narrative, spoilers are inevitable, this risk should be aware of.
Now that we have agreed around the nature of the subsequent conversation, I propose to immediately go to him.
Adventure
The game, unlike me, prefers to go to business as soon as possible, and therefore, barely deciding his virtual embodiment, the player discovers himself in the middle of a mild hostel, where he arrived to perform a feast in a certain unkind person. The sexual intercourse ends in the neck and subsequent awakening already in the new status. But before I even managed to think about everything that happened, the team bursts into the room for lovers to seriously configured and stunes us without ceremony.
A moment later I find myself in the court of the Vampire Brotherhood. His leader, or rather, the prince, with the Snobsky surname Lacrois declares the death sentence to the vampire to the subject. The prince would have sentenced me without hesitation, but the politician in the person of a non-man named Rodriguez, whose will I remained with my head, intervened in the question.
Who has all these persons and what just happened will become clear later. It is still important to understand that my previous life has been selected, offering in return the being of a vampire, the ruler of the night. However, not so simple.
Turned into a vampire, I simultaneously took into account the Kamarilla – vampire quasi -state, which determines the orders and rules that are binding on all bloodsuckers under fear of death. True death, as it is called here. These rules serve not only to withholding power by personalities like Lacrois, but also to conceal the existence of vampires from mortal minds. Such a precaution is called the "Masquerade", not least because many of the children of the night – those that have retained the human appearance after circulation – hide in sight, secretly coexisting with people in the same society. From now on, my life is subordinated to the observance of the "masquerade", since the survival of their entire family depends on the actions of every non-treasure, and in which case the punishment will not be long in coming to wait.
One of the advantages of Bloodlines, unlike myself, lies in its laconicism and abstinence from long introductions and excess descriptions. Everything I told in the game itself fits in just a couple of minutes, not counting the training. Of course, as a young product of darkness, I have not a chance to realize in such a short time where I found myself and who I faced – but this is not required, and I can answer many of my questions already, communicating, listening, collecting information on pieces. For many, but not for everything – for example, Bloodlines does not explain the principle of human circulation to the vampire. This is definitely not a bite, because I bit and drank blood I have a huge number of people. From what is known, in the world of the game there is the concept of a ghoul – this is a person who has tasted the blood of a vampire and thereby gaining some power, but falling dependent on his master.
If Kamarila punishes death for an unauthorized transformation of a person into a vampire, then regarding the propagation of Bloodlines ghouls. What did not stop me, barely gaining vampire nature, coupled with freedom, sharing their blood with a woman who was crushing with pain, which for some reason there was no care. At the same time, I got into the hospital where she was, I was with a completely different intention – to steal morphine for another young man who discovered himself a little broken. The first quest in the game is the largest and richest of events and impressions – you should not be deceived, nothing like this will meet in the game, and we will talk about the ending separately. But it will be later-now Bloodlines present himself from the best side, presenting the player to the wrong side of the night Los Angeles.
Lacrox spared me, as noted, not out of generosity, and now asks him to provide one service, namely to undermine the warehouse of the enemies of Kamarilia, a shabash. Bloodlines does not say too well what a shabash is, making them somewhat caricatured geeks, what live in mud, profess wild beliefs, exploit people and consider themselves to be in the right to command them, they are properly multiplying, while, of course, they do not seek to observe the “masquerade”. It is amazing how, with all these introductory, the Sabbath has not yet exposed himself in the eyes of the living and did not pour this same "masquerade". They head this unreliable formation of the creature quite ancient and fulfilled high goals, as you might think. However, who is not.
Essentially, the Sabbath is our main opponent throughout the game. But if febble geeks are subject to exceptional destruction as peremptory enemies of Kamarilla and Masquerade, then with other vampire communities you have to agree.
In Los Angeles, Kamarila recently settled again, before her from these places was already expelled by the Anarchkh community. And anarchy, to which the same Rodriguez belongs to the main political competitor of Lacrox, not wanting to admit a anyone’s authority. Moreover, they, sort of like, are even guys, the "masquerade" do not translate, the weak do not offend-literally the right anarchists-hippari for democracy and personal freedoms of vampires, u know. And with all my liberal views, I can say that in the human world anarchy is the ideology of maximalists weak on the head of maximalists who are unable to think about what form their ideas can ultimately, and what consequences this will lead. I have even more stringent complaints to the anarchs from Bloodlines, because no one will ever guarantee that one of the multi-hundredth crowd of these ping-mobs will not commit something forbidden, whether it is hunger, a feeling of intoxicating permissiveness or personal resentment. No counteraction measures and even more regulates the anarchist model of society, of course, provides for. In a word, such a community is spelled out very unconvincing.
Moreover, even without Kamarilia and its princes, some areas of Los Angeles already have their nominal rulers, it is unclear
With the orders of the Kamarila, you can be disagreed ten times, you can not love or even despise Lacrox itself or standing behind it, but where the vampire KGB is at least trying to protect the interests of the entire community, the anarchs will simply not do anything. Because freedom, we are not fascists to control the population, u know. And the moral guidelines of the social group of street ink is not to say that they are reliable. I dwell on this in such detail, because around the intrigues between Lacrox and Rodriguez, including the plot of the game is built. And although Bloodlines immerses his player into a rather detailed and rich world of supernatural entities, the political background, which stands here at the forefront, was given to the scriptwriters worst. Already based on the quality of study of the parties to the conflict, one can guess that the final opponent of the player will be exactly what is Kamarila, or rather Lacrois himself, but yes I am in a hurry.
However, we were distracted by the unfortunate policy. So far, all that is required of us is to kill a couple of human sessile Sabbath and cause some material damage to the latter. It would seem a simple assignment is twisted into a spiral of the necessary conditions for the fulfillment of a paramount mission. So, the ghoul that was supposed to provide us with a bomb for the execution of the will of Lacrois, wanted to buy this very bomb from the gang of sales, but was beaten and robbed by the last. And then it plaintively asked me for the same morphine, well, not to give it to the authorities. And now I will have to do it at the same time and part of the work.
Here, for the first time, the variability of the passage is presented for the first time, more or less accompanying in all instructions that are obtained by the protagonist. I must say that I am completely not surprised that Bloodlines on the release came out of a funny piece of code on the release, since the ambitions of the team of developers to saturate their magnesom Opus for everyone and all were truly impressive-now you can almost find the release, which would equally represent the action and stealth-corps with a slope in the dialogical component, and then, in 2004, in 2004, in 2004. And of course, in Bloodlines, not everything is fine with this very variability, and these are the problems that no patches will be corrected, however, the existing spaces for decisions are able to please. But even by the standards of the unfinished Bloodlines, the first quest presents us with a strongly crippled original plan.
The introductory is as follows: there is a gangster den, surrounded by a fence, at the entrance there is a muzzle. The player, that is, me, has three options for actions – to approach a respected person and politely talk to him about the “goods”, then he will take me to his boss for further discussion; The second option allows you to carefully break off the board in the fence and get into the territory of the house unnoticed; Well, the third option is classic – we pick up the witch’s dial and go to give out to the freaks.
It sounds wonderful, but this is the problem-only the last option with Dryn is really applicable here. Why? – You ask. And I will answer: if you get an audience with the leader of the gang, he will offer to buy the same bomb from him. The problem is that this is the first quest in the game and I simply do not have the money that he expects. And therefore they ask me to go out. The second option, perhaps, is not as hopeless as I might have thought at first, not yet knowing how the stealth is arranged in the game, however, to make your way through the tight rooms, in which there are one or two guys at once, trying to find something here, the idea is also quite dubious.
In general, I interrupted everyone in open battle. The combat system in Bloodlines today would look bizarre even work as it is planned, but in the current state it is a rather entertaining process. The most important thing in the local battleship is to accept now that Bloodlines, despite the entire Fleur of the plot-dialopian adventure, is an action-RPG with a bias in close combat. And no matter how hard you try to avoid open confrontations, ultimately the game will force you to come to face with the enemy and you will regret it that you have not prepared as required. The good news is that if you honestly explore the game and complete side tasks, then you will have the opportunity to realize it and reorient your character in the right direction with relatively painlessly.
For example, I seemed to reasonably suggest that the game is quite old, and a bad shooter, in which case, is easier to transfer than a bad bitemap, so I began to pump the hero towards shooting. This was a mistake, since the shooting at Bloodlines is disgusting – the initial revolver gives exactly the same damage as the banal knife, while the weapon is realized so that the crossbar of the sight needs time to converge on the enemy, and this takes away a lot of time and in itself does not yet guarantee an accurate hit. In other words, slowly, low -power, unreliable. The shotgun is a little better, but I tried not to resort to them, but the “ultrasound” is just some kind of joke-with such a return only at God to shoot.
In addition, the vampire nature and the supernatural abilities granted to it fully reveal themselves only in fierce contractions face to face. In particular, on a clan, my character possessed two very useful forces, “presence” and “swiftness” – the first reduced the physical capabilities of the opponents, making them weaker next to me, but the second allowed me to move with a supernatural speed, and was much less universal, but still in demand. Abilities at the disposal of vampires, in fact, there are many, from the clan to the clan they differ, but there are common, quite situational. And all of them require the blood that the player, that is, is free to make up with different methods.
The “presence”, in particular, allowed me not to suffer with rifle weapons and get superiority over opponents even without the necessary pumping, immediately turning me from a pampered milk maniac with a knife gutting muzzle from a half -dozen at a time. By the way, it is with a knife that the game has a decent number of different weapons, but for some reason it is the clinic that shows itself in the most effective way. Knives are effective against other vampires – the game speaks this in direct text, but in relation to people this choice seems to be non -alternative due to its effectiveness. The knife is fast, moderately powerful, requires a small level of pumping to deliver critical blows and is generally good in everything. Until that time, until you find a katana, and then another katana.
But I will not lie – I have no idea how to read the characteristics of weapons in this game. I went through it entirely, but I did not understand what was meant by all these "adjustment to the skill", "mortality" and other. I just took Valyna in my hand and very quickly understood whether I would use it or not. Once it seemed to me that the bat was a good tool, but in the future it did not justify herself. Only blades.
As you can see, with all the monosyllables of the local combat system, telling a difficult occupation about it. Most of all, the battle in Bloodlines reminded me of such a Jedi Academy, especially related to the use of "swiftness" – the character also circulates between the targets, cutting his way forward, or converges in a waltz of death with vampires equal to himself, trying to go around their backs to strike for unpretentious strokes. By the way, the game has passive blocking, or evasion – as in the same Jedi Academy – and there is an active protective stand and this is completely useless mechanics that protects you from a blow in only one of the ten cases. Moreover, you can’t even integrate it into your Move-List normally, the hero with an insufficient pumping level for too long uses the block for too long, and releases it for too long. But even without this garbage option, the fights on the knives are very satisfactory – since I had enough tools for that.
If most of the fights https://milyon88casino.co.uk/mobile-app/ in the game can be circumvented, then the battle with the bosses cannot be avoided. Other vampires are mainly opposed to us, and in such battles there are regrettures of a little variety, because the enemies do not demonstrate any skills and do not require other tactics except by plugging with a knife. However, to the second half of the passage, the situation is changing markedly, and memorable contractions appear in the game, moreover, difficult, but the potential seems to be more missed.
Thus, having cut a couple of idiots on which no one will miss, I received the necessary. What next, go to the warehouse? But no. At first I have to taste not political squabbles and bloody strives, but that special mood of Bloodlines, which can only be found here-I say that another reviewer was called Gothic Pancom before me. Vampires are not only wicked creatures by default, but mortal vices are also not alien to them-almost every bar, a stash or night club that will meet in Los Angeles belongs to any vampire that takes part in the expansion of public morality. Not deliberately, but out of your pleasure. And what can be a more loud manifestation of eternal youth, if not departure to the gun or alternative rock, surrendering to forbidden passion in the neon light of lamps, suppressing doubts and thoughts of the pressing dose of psychoactive substances. The ephemeral and euphoria of the night life of a modern metropolis is an eternal joy for those who are always young, longing for blood and pleasure.
However, that there is a vampire life without intrigues. To finish my mission, I have to get acquainted with two sisters-a brutal and business teresa and a frivolous switch Jeanette, which they have a couple of nightclubs off the coast of Los Angeles. It is very difficult for girls to get along not only because of the differences in characters and mutual grievances, but also because this is one person with a bifurcation of personality – and let it be a spoiler, but you will guess about it much earlier than the secret becomes clear. From the dialogue with "sisters" it can be assumed that the cause of the woman’s mental disorder was to grow by her father and, as a result, an ambivalent attitude towards him. It’s funny that the depraved Jeanette cannot stand his daddy, while the right and “decent” Teresa believes that her father loved her, and her sister took him from them. Or maybe everything was not at all the case, because the Malkavian clan is crazy from nature.
In such quests, Bloodlines reveals himself in the best quality, offering the player not only vampire power and relative permissiveness, but immersing him on the habitat of blood -sucking, presenting their world and its rules, finally the nights, finally. Teresa/Jeanette Nature is certainly unique, but how many like her bizarre creatures are hiding in the shadows of this big human city and is waiting to tell her story. Not so much, alas. Vampire: The Masquarade – Bloodlines The game is relatively small, although I spent 40 hours here. However, miniature is only in favor of the game, allowing you to remain laconic, to alternate gameplay and narratives without smearing the accents of the narrative. The acquaintance of the protagonist with the "sisters" was one of the brightest but few events of this wonderful game, and I will be tactfully silent about how it ended for them.
The long -awaited showdown in the warehouse does not represent anything remarkable, except that I again did not manage with the local stealth and was forced to enter into a non -simple battle with the lower vampires, still amid the hope of using the firearm. Here I have only one time in the whole game, not counting the finals, I had to use a bag of donated blood – the Sabbath underdovmpires used my unreasonable pumping and so far they have prevailed over me.
It’s time to talk about this very pumping. I must say, I believe for one of the best in RPG for one of Bloodlines for one of Bloodlines. It affects a huge number of skills, while stimulates the uniform development of the hero, at the same time not allowing to cover all disciplines and demanding that they do not always make a simple choice. But the most important thing is that the pumping glasses are awarded for the completion of tasks – no experience for killing, no farm and other diseases of the genre. This approach makes it more appropriate to pass through stealth or by negotiations, because the player will not only lose anything, avoiding the fight, but also retain resources, receiving the same reward. But as already noted, the proposed system does not always fit well on the device of the game directly, and no matter how secretive and dexterous in the tongue the hero, for example, with bosses without combat skills, risk becoming irresistible for him.
It is worth talking about stealth as a mechanic in this wonderful game, because it is a very funny thing, in fact. Opponents patrol the area, have an angle of view, hearing, they can be distracted, throwing bottles-well-known things that were such in 2004. But with all this, the stealth in Bloodlines is purely rpgish – somehow in your "Skyrim", where you either do not see point blank, or by smell feel that you will steal behind the wall, and this depends primarily on the degree of pumping the skill. So it is here, with the only difference being that you are pumping the skill yourself. And the circumstance of how high the development of your secrecy is radically transforms overcoming the test.
The prince, clearly not expecting that I would return with a triumph, nevertheless satisfied and sends me to another thing, much more important for him. A ship arrived in the city, on board which is an ancient sarcophagus. The catch is that the entire crew from the barge mysteriously disappeared. Lacrox does not really explain anything to us, but asks to inspect the sarcophagus and steal some documents. The situation is complicated by the fact that investigative actions are held on the ship and they are urgently asking me to do everything quietly.
And, I will say, to do everything quietly with two glasses of "invisibility" was damn problematic. It seemed that the detectives who were shot at the field work noticed me without looking, regardless of whether I am sitting in the shadow of a lifting crane or crawling along the containers above their heads. And there is no special space for maneuvers, any shelters, and there are more than a dozen detectives on deck. Do you really have to grab the knife contrary to Lacrox’s requests? However, however, I found unspented bumps with me, which I immediately stuffed it into "invisibility", raising the skill to the 3rd stage. And a completely different game opened before me.
Only one point of pumping turns vigilant ministers of the law into blind disabled people. I can literally put my hand in the ass and he won’t even notice it. Even those who are looking at us at this moment will not notice. And you can’t say that this is a bug – the level cannot be passed otherwise, that’s the only way. A delightful conceptual stealth.
Another ridiculous feature that I wasted and which was clearly not thought out by the developers is related to the observance of the same "masquerade". You see, the world in the game is divided into conditional two zones (in fact there are three, but it doesn’t matter) – the Masquerade zone, where the use of supernatural forces is prohibited by law, and the conflict zone, where any methods are resolved. All quest levels belong to the second type, even those in which the passage of stealth is supposed. So this is that you are free to demonstrate to the derivatives all your vampire power, but at the same time leave them to live with the awareness of this fact.
Returning to the details of the passage, even the opportunity to put my hand in the ass with impunity did not protect me from the failure of Stlas, and instead of throwing away progress, I just pressed “swift” and ran between amazed guards to the end of the level to the end of the level. No violation of the "masquerade", all according to the rules of the game. By the way, opponents very quickly forget about your existence, so the secrets of Kamarilla are most likely safe.
Most of the plot tasks are just focused on the stealth process, which I adhered to, although I found battles with a much more interesting thing. Especially once the prince asked to do without casualties. In general, Masquerade prohibits the release of vampire secrets, but does not prohibit killing people as such. But there is a reason not to do this – it is the so -called "humanity". Vampires, in general, understand to themselves that they are cruel predators, but, striving for order and organization, suppress the so -called beast by self -restraint, will, ethical norms. Any unreasonable murder, even in a victim accidentally committed as a result, is an immoral act and reduces the indicator of humanity, thereby the vampire turns out to be closer to the uncontrolled insanity. I went through the game with a high indicator of humanity and ran into madness only once, when I returned from the mission without a drop of blood in my mouth. Then my character rushed to the nearest citizen to dig it in the neck. Having barely drank it, I had already come to my senses and was forced to run away from the police, which was usually simple, even though the officer kept closely, not wanting to lag behind, due to which he had to nail him, having lost a little more in humanity.
The issue of blood nutrition, in fact, is quite important, since you resort to supercances regularly, and blood deficiency turns you into an uncontrolled monster. There are several ways to satisfy this need. The simplest is to buy a bag of donated blood in a hospital in a dubious type, which knows too much about the world of vampires, and does not mind earn on this. But even for nothing else, count the money in the game is not needed, but the finished blood is noticeably hit. It is possible, like a predator, to catch the lonely passers -by who came out of sight of the other onlookers, but such are not always found. By the way, to be saturated with a wealthy American is completely not the same as a decrepit homeless – the latter ends too quickly, so my hero also rushed with this contagious blood. I’m too gentle vampire.
It’s time to talk about who we actually play. Bloodlines offers a choice of several vampire clans, which differ from each other in both culture and community, and abilities and advantages. In addition, the representative of each clan can choose his backstory, which will additionally improve some attributes of the character, but to the detriment of others. From the start, I was invited to undergo a survey to generate a character automatically. I agreed. The game offered me Nosferata – the most ugly from the vampire fraternity clan. I hold a bet, exactly one question influenced this, in which I preferred to quietly leave the house to which the husband of the woman with whom I slept returned. But one way or another, you don’t choose who bit you, right?
By the way, in the game there is a female refractor who was once a model of dirty magazines for men, and who is somewhat worried about the fact that now she is a bustling offspring and is forced to hide underground, but worries in a peculiar way-wanting to take the other short-lived stars of the same magazines, in which she can help her.
And I was going to take on the fate of physical ugliness, already imagined how I use the clan skill of invisibility to hide from prying eyes, but then I thought that it was a monster in the world of people, in the game that I do not know, this is some kind of hard mode. Yes, and I did not want to watch the whole subsequent game at this chupacabra. Therefore, I decided to take fate into my own hands and went from the opposite, choosing a Toreador – a clan of pezons and aesthetes, becoming a kind of Dorian Gray. Accordingly, I invested starting points in attractiveness, not being sure that this will have some kind of practical benefit.
The attribute was not at all universal, but useful. Natural beauty and charm allowed me to captivate the ladies in nightclubs and unconsciously absorb their vitality in the passionate kiss of night permissions. The only question is how a clan culture can affect a convert, if it is an adult with their values and tastes. Unless every clan selects certain candidates for himself, but these are my guesses – the game does not clarify.
Well, by the way, prostitutes roam in crowds in crowds, who can be taken to a secluded place to drink. And if you are beautiful, it will cost you five times cheaper, like this. However, I had enough fans from nightclubs only so as not to experience any problems with the blood until the very end of the game – the benefit of their metabolism allowed them to always wait for me to complete strength.
In fact, because of this solution with clans, the narrative of the game itself suffers very much. We do not have a holistic character, there is only his workpiece, which has just been bitten and who happily accepted her new nature, going to bite whores and beat the scum, rejecting all the previous identity. Despite the fact that Bloodlines are RPG, no person, an individual-defined hero, you will not see here-our character is a function and only. The system of dialogs also does not strongly ennoble the situation – within the framework of the storyline, instead of choosing, there is only its imitation. Of course, you can refuse to fulfill the next instructions of the impudent prince and slam the door loudly, only the game will stop then, because there is no alternative, and you will go apologize.
Still, of course, you can send to the devil Kamaril with her old-fashioned orders and go to the-anarhas friends, but Rodriguez will say, "Bra, you are close to Lacrois and must follow him, so continue to do what he wants". The context is already a little different, yes, but in the rest of the game absolutely nothing will change – you still dutifully go in a direct plot. Therefore, the role of dialogs in the framework of the main story is only reduced to learn more about the world, well, that’s all. Against this background, side tasks are an outlet, where the player often give the right to dispose of someone’s life. True, good deeds are obviously rewarded with the growth of humanity, and its bad, on the contrary, underestimate, but this is a personal choice, space for wagging.
Love Bloodlines is clearly not for the main plot, quite mediocre, but for those small stories that revive this world. For example, the virtuous Prince of Lacroix, the defender of the Masquerade and the guardian of mankind, once looked at the simple fact that a sluggish pandemic of an unknown disease occurs in Los Angeles, although one of the senior members of the Camarilia, Tremeier, in turn, is convinced that this disease is of vampire origin. And, obviously dislike of Lacroix – there is no complete unity in Kamarila itself, – Tremere as asking me for help. And this is a rather exciting investigation, during which you will have to make your way into a prestigious hotel and dive under the arches of the sewer, and the result of these searches is the truth that in addition to the shabash, another evil vampire sect is operating in the city. But if the Sabbath for some reason is afraid of the advance of the promised Armageddon, then these shortcomings, on the contrary, fill the other way with an other way, and then spread it among mortals, thereby approaching the last days of the world. You have to give them true death.
It will not recall the abandoned ghost boarding house sinful, where Teresa also sent us and which is a high video game art from the beginning of the century. This, of course, is not a cradle of a Shelbridge from Thief: Deadly Shadows, where I almost gave my soul to God, but even as an immortal vampire I was truly terribly wandering along the dilapidated floors of this damned place, which only dragged on my grip on me, throwing my gloomy secrets into the very heart of my gloomy time. Excellent work with the material showing the true potential of the game and the developers themselves, who invested in the project everything that were capable of. What, nevertheless, was not enough for the embodiment of their game of dreams.
There are small annoying flaws even in such grandiose episodes. The same Teresa and Jeanette, the dialogue with which, upon returning from the boarding house, looks naturally broken, because the game brazenly ignores all your choice, and even ascribes you things that you did not make, moving the story as originally conceived. But damn it, let it be a completely linear game, I have no objections – vampires have other advantages, the character does not belong to them.
In fact, additional tasks in Bloodlines are not only fascinating than the main narrative, but, in general, are mandatory if you want to go through the game, and not suffocate, trying. Since the complexity of the plot tasks is growing in a spasmodic and clearly implies the availability of the necessary preparation. However, I have an assumption that if you pump only a close battle and protection, the game can still be passed by ignoring all sorts of side activities, but of course I will not check.
So the gameplay is systematically and flows to the end of the third act of four, where it suddenly changes the paradigm. Schabash flooded the sewer with disgusting cadre, small and large. If a small extinguisher does not pose a threat, then a fight with each giant fruitor is a test of resistance, and there are hordes there. And if previously Stlass as an option was everywhere inferior to faster and more fun bloodshed, then here I already preferred to be very careful without any lacraa. And also exactly from that moment Bloodlines unexpectedly rehabilitates shooting-by analogy with cold weapons, new types of firearms are opened by the player throughout the passage, and the execution of the abstions from the distance finally becomes a much more pleasant and safe business, if something to compete with them in close combat.
In fact, the sewage between the 3rd and 4th act is the most nasty place in the whole game-endless tunnels and manholes of the same type, which only the linear structure of the game does not allow you to get confused in which only the linear structure of the game does not allow. In addition, it is here that the developers recall that they bear their masterpiece in the distant 2004, which means they cannot do without examples of left-design schizofasy with unobvious routes.
Here, in sewers, the creators of the game finally found space for-what would you think? – Riddles with physics. It was so unexpected that it took me some time only to understand that there is such an option in the game. Although that jacket of soda in a computer club foreshadowed something like that.
Physics reveals itself in Bloodlines quite embarrassing, I must say. I am still not sure about the tower of pallets I have built-whether it was so conceived, or I missed something resolutely. Since, although the construction of the springboard looks like a relevant solution to the proposed problem, I additionally had to fight the game and its conflicts in order to fully use it. My croaking around this shaky structure turned out to be too stray, and this is without taking into account the fact that this tower completely fell apart under me, as soon as I overcome the high -altitude barrier. In short, not Half-Life 2. The presence of physics in Bloodlines is dictated, by greater account, the desire of enthusiasts-developers to again prove themselves. I can’t say that it was necessary.
Sewerage is an experiment and, at the same time, the peak of copyright ambitions, where new and previously illiquid mechanics and solutions were reflected. It is unlikely that I will be very mistaken if I say that after this milestone the game is rapidly compressed, trying to achieve the finale in a more or less proper form. The last act is very rich in events, but, due to the lack of sound directing and the proper exposure, the last tasks in the game look simply torn and crumpled.
Let’s finally briefly discuss what the story of the game all this time told us. The enmity of the Kamarila with the Sabbath and the intense coexistence with the anarchs is, by a greater account, the disposition, the background on which a more compact story arch unfolds. Do you see, Kamarila from some hell does not believe in the legends and omen of the vampire family. On the one hand, they can be understood, because whoever wants to believe in many thousands of years of fairy tales about the end of the world, told incomprehensible by whom. On the other hand, the vampires themselves are supernatural creatures, and Bloodlines emphasized the mystical nature of these creatures. Therefore, in matters of the entire esoteric vampire government, it would be nice to behave more insightfully, but not.
Vampire legends foresee hell – the end of the world, in which the most ancient, original vampires will return to life and will eat both humanity and their offspring. There is an opinion that the same sarcophagus that was brought to the city and which I inspected for Lacrox is not just the subject of antiques, but a receptacle of such a vampire-patriarch, whose awakening can potentially marked the beginning of hell. It is funny that of all the fractions of the city, only the Sabbath really opposes that the sarcophagus is open-but they are stupid fanatics, while we are civilized men, and we are not looking for the myths of truth in the myths of truth.
The prince, following the party lines, does not recognize the existence of any patriarchs, but zealously seeks to take the sarcophagus to his hands. Why? The answer is quite prosaic. Among other things, in the vampire environment there is practice when a young individual sucks the blood of a more ancient relative and thereby adopts its strength. This practice is prohibited in Kamaril, which does not prevent Lacrox from dreaming of giving up his diets from the depths of centuries, thereby undergoing the Ascension.
This is a good plot canvas in itself, but there are a number of claims to it, both subjective and very clear. My personal nit -picks are such that in the game, it is expected, there is no hint of a choice, the result of which could be, for example, the opening of a sarcophagus. The game ends, but we do not even know how real the threat was that all this time poured on the heads of the characters. It remains to be content only with the unreliable testimonies that can be found during the game, and the previously skeptical scientist, whose last words sound like "do not open it". What a huge number of meanings the game did not read, not providing for such options for the outcome of the game. Sometimes it is better to remain unnecessary secrets, yes, but as if not this time.
Objective criticism consists in the thesis previously expressed-this is a very hasty finale, very rude, going the simplest way, allowing you to somehow complete this story. What is happening: during the fulfillment of Lacrox instructions, I plunged too deeply into his secrets, and therefore the prince weaves the intrigue, accuses me of a desire to quarrel with each other by Kamaril and Anarchkhov, and says to death. And although the prince demonstrates himself to a truly insidious puppeteer, turning the same situation several times in a convenient way – he was looking for an occasion to war with the anarchs – but the game reality looks much more primitive and one -dimensional – I just kill everyone.
A vampire without a year for a week, I turn out to be so strong as to destroy the Sabbath cell in the city alone with its millennia lord, then I equally successfully cut out the diaspora of the Chinese vampires under the root – yes, there are such ones here – well, I am breaking through the battle in the tower of Lacro. Thus, I, a jerk and Chegol, who recently tried blood for the first time, single-handedly turn the entire disposition of forces in Los Angeles, solely crushing all those that should be a hundred times more experienced and more older than me.
If you somehow summarize what happened-I killed all the enemies of Kamarilla, and then interrupted everyone inside the Kamarila herself to get to the prince who dared to betray me to say that now he would not receive sarcophagus and the desired Ascension. What a man, a.
Rodriguez, being one of the main characters, generally disappears from the plot to his epilogue-he is seized by giant Werewolf, which lives near the city, and simply takes away somewhere beyond the frame. He is alive, he is dead – the devil knows him at all. And there is no difference. As it makes no difference if I will turn to the Tremer as an opposition inside the Kamarila herself, or I will decide to overthrow the prince himself – the option to request help, the main thing is, but there is no result. No. Some kind of policy there, intrigues-no, why? I just came and dared everyone who got in my way. I’m a car.
Nominally in the game there are several endings – you can overthrow Lacrox by joining the anarchs, remain a member of the Kamarilla or remain on its own. Honestly, I did not work out, but I am convinced that in the game it will not tremble from such a choice and the landfill. But I remained a member of the Kamarila, because at least the statesman, but also the statesman, and not once or twice, was forced to defend the “masquerade”, executing the right and to the left of those who were too vague or careless in his observance. And the game ends on this, leaving me in several devastated feelings, which received the final to which I was promised at all. In this regard, Bloodlines greatly reminds me of Rogue Trader, which also recreated a huge world around me with many storylines, only then so that all this collapsed in a hasty attempt to finish the journey.
Before letting you go, I will talk about a couple of things regarding the game. The last act of the game accounts for a lot of funny things – for example, shooting becomes not only a full part of the game, but also a mandatory part. You will be forced to take up firearms, because, otherwise, you will die before you have time to kill everyone who shoots you.
Unlike miserable revolvers from the start of the game, the semi -automatic pistols of Anaconda and Desert Eagle confidently make large holes both in my enemies and in me. The game, it turns out, is to the face of a shooter, which means the complete illiquacy of this path at first is completely guilty on the developers. It was possible to somehow balance all this system.
Before getting to Lacrox, I had to destroy Chinese vampires – they have a slightly different nature and etiology, not so much a curse as a spiritual search, but it does not matter. Their lady is one of the bosses of the game and I, so that he is not ready for this. Madame turns into a huge Lovecraft monster, who is just right to be in Dark Souls and not here, but not here.
This is the strongest boss in the game and damn difficult attack, especially at first, when you still do not understand what you have encountered. This creature of the depths shines you through the entire arena with its immensely large tentacles. These tentacles can be cut off, but in this case they begin to behave as an independent organism and crawl as far away from the player as possible. If you allow this to happen, the tentacles grow into another creature that is in no way inferior to the original, and I did not find any other opposition to such a state of affairs, except not to bring it to it, throw everything and run to freeze the quick processes. After all, otherwise the already difficult enemy becomes completely invincible.
Even with the acquired understanding of tactics, I was tortured to kill this creature. She is unusually strong – probably, the combined health of all enemies in the game is not enough to compare with her own. The blows are screeched and cruel, I never learned to confidently dodge them, and it is hardly possible. During the battle, I devoured all the bags of blood that I dragged me throughout the game, and I was afraid that I would not be enough. The monster adopted all my ammunition on Desert Eagle and half of the Anaconda – yes, this is another case when the shooting was preferred by the near battle. The battle took me at least an hour, and also that I mercilessly used quick conservations. What, by the way, was a hitch, because the game loads a little earlier than the loading screen disappears, which promises you an extra portion of damage and you have to lead the run button somewhere to the side.
In a word, it was hard. It’s even too hard for this game, because I had to maneuver so carefully and switch between weapons and abilities as promptly as ever before. You can only condolen those who came here without proper pumping at least shooting, at least a struggle, at least something.
In the prince’s tower, a boss is also waiting for us – the so -called “sheriff”, which is the main sender of the will of his master. The battle with him is not more likely to be easier and more boring than with a squabble creature, although at one point a sheriff turns a huge inaccum, which looks interesting, but he is still incapable of competing with me. In vain only dumped a whole fortune, scoring pockets with packaged blood. I expected more.
During the cleaning of the shelter, the shabash also happened to fight with the boss, and this was also moderately an interesting opponent, but he did not even affect the final perception of the game like these two.
In fact, I have to leave a huge field of increditedness, taking care that the already long narrative does not lose any structure and harmony. Although Bloodlines lies in a huge set of things worthy of discussion. There is, for example, a semi-patho segment, where we are in the company of a Japanese girl with a katana grunt fish-Demon that destroyed her parents.
In addition to all these wonderful people in Los Angeles there was a place-who would, you thought? – Yes, pasta. A whole vampire-mafious family of pasta. The player finds himself in their mansion only for a short time, but you can take part in the internal intrigues of the family and inform one applicants for compromising evidence for others. To whom and to whom to convey, I did not understand, but this was not required. It was entertaining that a huge crypt was extended under the house, filled with nonsense. If I understood correctly, then the older members of the house devoured younger vampires. For some reason.
I missed many less details, for example, that belief is one of the most useful attributes in the game. There are options such as intimidation and suggestion, but in fact these are options about the same thing – to solve the problem without bloodshed. However, the “search” seemed to me the most dubious attribute for pumping – all that he does is highlighting all sorts of small garbage for collecting and selling. Another “collection” highlights the places in which the player must climb, which saved me at the end of the game from the need to once again climb on “YouTube”, especially with his current distress.
Our red-haired girl, a little girl, by the end of the game, brutally kill the henchmen of the Sabbath, and the hero cannot say the word. The civilian also closed me with a passage to her with his own body – this sometimes happens and it annoys.
Many of the subtleties and oddities found their place in this seemingly miniature game. Do not list everything, and do not try. I will limit myself to the fact that the game is not completed by the larger account, which is noticeably and greatly affects the final impression, but I did not regret at all about meeting the Vampire Masquerade, with pleasure, enduring for the next game session. Bloodlines is a very remarkable modernist project, which displays many ideas that are known for industries, but the embodiment of which is not often found today due to the difficulty of their implementation. Bloodlines is also an object of culture that prescribes picturesque and grotesque images of the inhabitants of the night. Bloodlines is, ultimately, a video game, unfinished by the developer, but the community forces brought to a valid state and offering a fascinating comprehensive adventure with amendment and incorrigible gamemerying miscalculations.
Considering what work was carried out on the game after its release, only then, so that it could be comfortable to play it, to plunge into Bloodlines, everyone who is attracted to the setting of urban mysticism and who likes to feel like the center of a great unknown world, albeit admired in four small city quarters. Regardless of what will be the final impression of acquaintance with the game, we can confidently say that this will be a new, unusual experience, because something modern video games inevitable have lost in comparison with the past. And this is something in Bloodlines.