‘Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines’ Sequel Announced 15 Years Later
It's been 15 years, but fan love for the original game is undying.
This Friday, video game developer Paradox Interactive revealed their latest project: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, a direct sequel to the cult classic roleplaying video game released in 2004. It’s been 15 years, but fan love for the original game is undying.
According to Paradox, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes place in the aftermath of a night in which many humans were turned into vampires. This “Mass Embrace” throws the faction politics of Seattle’s vampiric underworld into chaos, as siring a vampire typically requires authorisation.
The player is one of these new vampires, caught up in the investigation into who created this horde of fledgling bloodsuckers.
One of the writers on Bloodlines 2 is Brian Mitsoda, who wrote the plot of the first game, and much of the new game’s premise sounds familiar. In Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, you also play as an unauthorised, newly turned vampire caught up in vampire politics.
This similarity is far from a bad thing, though. Bloodlines was widely praised for its writing, but it stumbled when it came to technical issues. Now, 15 years later, it’s possible we’ll finally get that seamless, beautiful blend of sophisticated writing and smooth gameplay that fans wish the original had been. Not to mention some severely upgraded graphics.
LISTEN vampire: the masquerade was THE cult classic rpg. It was buggy as all hell. But GOD it was so good. I can't believe, after 15 years. I'm going to cry.
— òwó ? missing gf hours (@keeperofate) March 23, 2019
Since Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2‘s announcement, the game’s official Twitter account has been dripfeeding more information on what we can expect when it arrives.
The game will be in first person, though some parts of the game will let you see your character in third person, presumably during cutscenes. Customisation is going to be “a big part” of the game, and Bloodlines 2 will also support mods. The original Bloodlines has received a lot of attention from modders, who coded their own patches to fix bugs and add content.
Bloodlines 2‘s character customisation will also allow players to choose their pronouns, and the game will have a deliberately political bent.
I have been waiting 15 years for the day we would get a sequel to Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. It was criminally neglected by fans. Sure it was buggy and could be finicky, but I love this game so much.
— Joseph Haygood (@mclazyj) March 22, 2019
My own playthrough of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines never got past main quest The Ghost Haunts At Midnight, which took place at the infamously spooky Ocean House Hotel. That haunted house was just too dang scary for me, and I noped out after failing to convince myself there weren’t any severed heads in the washing machines.
I fully anticipate the sequel will also cause me to blast peppy ’60s hits with all the lights on.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is scheduled for release in early 2020. It is currently available for preorder on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.