Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Preview

The sequel to the 2004 cult classic is finally almost upon us, and I had a chance to sink my teeth into a pre-release build of it. That’s right, the open-world, first-person Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 finally has a release date; if you caught its gamescom trailer, then I’m sure you’re preparing to succumb to the Embrace on 21st of October 2025.

Put in the newly reawakened shoes of Phyre, you’re set on a quest to discover why you were roused from your slumber after 100 years, and why you’re unable to regain your full powers. You’re aided by a voice in your head, guiding you in the new millennium and throughout the city of Seattle. You quickly learn who the voice is, but not why it’s your new companion.

I’ll admit that I don’t do well with horror-tinged games. For instance, I played the previous title in the 2010s and got too spooked out, never to return. What might be upsetting to fans of the original, and The World of Darkness in general, is that I played about three hours’ worth of Bloodlines 2 and never felt a tingle on my spine.

Of course, there are jump scares to be had, but those don’t give the same feeling of dread that the original title had. There’s obviously tons of gore, but that isn't scary, it's upsetting. There's plenty of game which might prove to be absolutely terrifying, I just didn't have access to it; I can only comment on the hours that I played.

You get to customise Phyre's gender and aspects of their look, as well as choose the clan they belong to, but it's not a comprehensive affair. Nosferatu, for instance, is completely off the table, as are altering Phyre's ethnicity and voice (outside of masculine or feminine, which is tied to their features).

Being an elder vampire, they have certain abilities from the get-go, such as being able to glide and run super fast. Both of these make traversal around Seattle a joy. You can climb up drain pipes and fire escapes, so reaching the rooftops is a simple matter, and you can get around the city easily enough if using the asphalt is too slow for you.

However, all of your traversal options attract the attention of ordinary humans. There is an eye icon at the top of the screen, and if the eye is open, then a human is looking your way. If they see you doing too much, then you've broken the titular Masquerade — the agreement that humans can't know of vampire-kind. The moment that the “eye” gauge fills, you get a wooden stake in the chest.

Admittedly, breaking the Masquerade was the very first thing I did when I was given access to the city, just to see what would happen — went and slapped some cops and sucked some blood in the middle of the road. Combat is actually something I've not enjoyed, as you have a weak and strong attack, and a kick. You can dodge a short distance, but that's more for escaping or to enable the kick, and Phyre can use telekinesis but that does barely any damage. Unless you pull someone off of a roof, or telekinetically hold a gun and empty the magazine into someone.

As you gain levels, you will unlock new abilities, each clan having their own. These require blood points to use, however, which makes them more frustrating than fun or useful. Sure, I can slice a couple of heads off in a single motion, or appear behind someone in their shadow, but then I can't use any more abilities unless I drink a tonic or feed. Even on Easy, it takes several attacks to kill an enemy, which feels unfair when you're being ganged up on with just your claws and the ability to dodge.

One aspect of Bloodlines 2 that I've been absolutely loving is the open world of Seattle. Traversing around the place, I encountered no loading times. Most games will have some kind of sequence to disguise the fact that it's loading, say, a hotel lobby, but in this, it takes such a short amount of time that I was actually bewildered by it. There's the animation of opening the door and going inside, and that's all — it's not even a long sequence! It takes maybe two seconds between pressing the button and being able to move around, no black screens and nothing fancy — for comparison, Kratos took five or six seconds.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is looking great so far. I had some issues with textures and text, as well as some frame rate drops, but as I said, this was an early build. The minute-to-minute gameplay was solid, and apart from combat, I enjoyed it immensely. The writing is solid, the voice acting is enjoyable, the music is great, and it's fun to play. After its many delays, it looks like it's finally time to become a childe of the night once again.