The new Vampires: what is known about Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2

I can't believe it, but a long-lasting Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 will be released after all — the release is scheduled for October 21st. The dramatic intricacies of the development and all the known details of the game are described in this Izvestia article.

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The development of the sequel was long, complicated and confusing. Initially, the release from Hardsuit Labs studio was planned for March 2020, but the game was postponed indefinitely. Brian Mitsoda, the original lead screenwriter and one of the main "faces" of the project, was fired, along with the creative director and narrative designer. And the following year, the publishing studio Paradox Interactive completely suspended the developers of Hardsuit Labs from the project. The game was shelved — neither the press nor the players were sure which studio was developing it at all.

Photo: Paradox Interactive

In 2022, Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester wrote on his blog that "the game is in safe hands." It soon became known that The Chinese Room studio, known for the games Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, is now responsible for the development of Bloodlines 2. But the internal difficulties did not end there. In June of this year, cuts began in The Chinese Room. As befits the undead, Bloodlines 2 has survived all the twists and turns — players will be able to play a new adventure in the World of Darkness universe.

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Plot and history

In the previous Bloodlines game, the player started with a "clean slate" as a vampire neophyte. In Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 will play as Fair, an ancient vampire whose memories have been intentionally altered. Fair wakes up in an abandoned apartment building in Seattle (not American, Australian), although he fell asleep in the Middle East, and immediately meets a representative of the local vampire community.

Photo: Paradox Interactive

Fair cannot use his ancient knowledge — he is marked with a magical brand that blocks most of his abilities. He will introduce, that is, teach how to play, a voice in his head belonging to Fabian's companion from the Malkavian clan of madmen, who can later be controlled in flashbacks. Fabian will talk about how things are going in the vampire world of Seattle, so that Fair can immerse himself in intrigue and politics. Despite the fact that Fair is a pre—defined character, you can choose your clan, gender, clothing, and past in the game. Its elements will influence the dialogues with the characters and the development of events.

Clans

Vampire clans are one of the most important and most appreciated elements of Vampire games by fans: The Masquerade. Each clan is unique and gives the vampire belonging to it a special set of abilities. In Bloodlines 2, players will have access to six clans. Some of them are already familiar to those who played the first part, and some will appear in the game for the first time. There is also a pre—release scandal related to them - the developers wanted to release two clans in a paid add-on, but after public outrage they included them in the release.

Photo: Paradox Interactive

• Bruja. A clan of philosophers and anarchists who draw their cadres from among revolutionaries, radicals, and activists. They are considered hooligans and bandits. The Bruja fight with fury and use their strength and speed in battle. Bruch's skills allow you to inflict additional damage on opponents through deadly attacks and provocations.
• Tremers. Unlike most other clans that trace their bloodline back to ancient vampires, the Tremere descended from medieval magicians—they achieved immortality by stealing vampire blood. Tremere are occultists, striving for secret knowledge. They use blood magic: they create daggers from their own blood clots and can make an enemy's blood boil from a distance.
• Banu Hakim. Vampires hungry for the blood of other vampires. They consider themselves self-proclaimed avengers, strictly adhere to the moral code. This is a clan for those who love stealth: Bani Hakim vampires can become invisible and secretly kill their victims.
• Ventrue. The most elite, arrogant and domineering clan, the vampire aristocracy. Ventrue are able to bend someone else's mind to their will, turn opponents into puppets and force them to fight each other or harm themselves.
• Lasombra. They use the power of fear both against enemies and to intimidate allies. Shadowmasters who can control the darkness and turn it into weapons. By manipulating shadows, Lasombra can teleport, immobilize enemies and transport them to the shadow dimension.
• Bullfighters. The charismatic clan. Their charm allows them to attack first, often before the enemy has time to react. Bullfighters can charm and put into a trance, distracting the victim — until it's too late for her.

Gameplay and combat system

The developers focused on the detail of Seattle, not its size. As a result, the player will not be able to move freely throughout the city. Moreover, the magic brand on the protagonist's hand will physically restrict him, not allowing him to leave the map.

According to The Chinese Room, the game will be the perfect balance between RPG and action adventure. New abilities can be upgraded within your clan by completing quests, as well as unlocking the abilities of other clans by hunting the blood of people with different temperament types. To find victims, you will have to use vampire instinct — the main thing is to observe the Masquerade, a special set of vampire rules, and not openly show your magical and special skills on the streets in front of mortals.

Photo: Paradox Interactive

In the pre-release version, the journalists noted that the dialogue system is atmospheric, well-written and offers various emotional responses. But it is still unclear how much they directly affect the passage. There is also no influence of clan features on non-combat gameplay, and this was the main feature of the first part and allowed the game to be played differently for different clans.

One of the innovations is moving around the city in a vertical plane. Now you can not only explore streets, houses and dungeons, but also climb roofs and buildings.

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The fights promise to be intense and dynamic — using hand-to-hand strikes, side lunges, dodges and vampire skills. You will also need a stealth workshop to complete some missions.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 will be available on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.