You can even boogie down on the dance floor. It's fun to be in the clubs especially, because there's always some good stuff playing. Although the song that plays in the main menu took more than a few cues from Massive Attack, the rest of it is original and generally appropriate. Since I mentioned visuals, I shouldn't neglect sound, either. In-game, animation is fine, aside from a overhead-reducing effect that makes people look a little robotic at a distance. What can put a kink in things is the occasionally kludgy animation, particularly during the cutscenes.

It's something that only sticks out every once in a while, though, and doesn't detract from the overall experience. Besides the owner of the LA nightclub, though, hair doesn't get quite the same treatment, and clothing doesn't look as good when viewed up close during the numerous conversations. The faces of the characters can be awesomely realistic, particularly with The Sheriff, Skelter, VV, and the Baron of Santa Monica. This doesn't include physics, animation, or character models, but you get lighting, water effects, some great shader capabilities, and those eerily realistic eyes that follow you as you walk past. Most of you know by now that Bloodlines uses Valve Software's Source engine. But I haven't said a word about the visuals. You won't be able to talk your way through the game, but you'll get plenty of amusement from the imaginative threats and cheesy come-ons. If you didn't have high enough intimidation, you'd never know that you could shake him down for cash and even convince him to give you his fancy watch. Just outside your apartment in Santa Monica, for example, is a well-dressed guy who has no quests to give you or things to sell you. You'll have separate abilities for intimidation, seduction, haggling, and so forth, allowing additional dialogue options. Suffice to say you have a ton of options for character development.ДЄnd what's great about having all of these options is that it can become a very different game depending on what you choose. You'll also want to consider lockpicking, which can give you a shortcut around some tough areas, or computer hacking, which you can use to open doors, unlock safes, and disable various security measures, thus making your life a little easier. system, there's no way to become good at everything, although I would recommend putting points into combat, as it is unavoidable. You'll get a few points to distribute among your favored stats, and believe me, you'll spend more than a few moments pondering your choice. The Gangrel and Brujah, however, are beefy warriors but not so good at a cocktail party.Д®xperience is gained not through killing beasts but from completing a quest, although the two may coincide.

The Toreadors and Ventrue are very good socially, but are similarly handicapped in combat. The Tremere, who stole the secrets of vampirism ages ago, are very good with blood magic but have a cap on their physical combat abilities. You'll get to pick what looks to be any of the Camarilla clans, and each one has a very different inherent skillset. Or, of course, you can choose to ignore it and just do your thing.ДЄnd herein lies the beauty of Bloodlines: choice. The bulk of your understanding will come from in-depth conversations with the other characters in the game. During the fairly frequent but reasonably short loading screens, you'll be treated to bits and pieces which, by the end of the game, help to give you a sense of the big picture. I'm probably getting some details wrong, but the point is that the Masquerade universe has a complex backstory and the game does a great job of easing you into the role of a Fledgeling. In this universe, the Camarilla officially position Cain as a myth, while the Sabbat, the bad guys, believe he was their forefather but violently oppose the near-mythical group immediately descended from Cain-the Antediluvians. You'll start out as a member of the Camarilla, which comprises approximately half of the 13 clans purportedly descended from Cain. Not only that, but these creatures are responsible for molding the history of the world, the public part of which is just a tip of the iceberg of their centuries-long machinations. Bloodlines is set in White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade universe, where vamps, werewolves, demons, and other fantastical creatures are alive and well but keep their profiles below the public eye.

Vv vampire the masquerade