Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Retrospective
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In anticipation of this year's Halloween, RPG Codex's "Deuce Traveler" has published a retrospective review for the less well remembered of the two Vampire: The Masquerade computer RPGs, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. The reviewer recommends steering clear from this title, though some good qualities are acknowledged:
Despite not enjoying the combat, I do have a guilty confession. I must admit, there was something undeniably fun about playing a woken vampire dressed in crusader armor and wielding a two-handed, blood-draining sword, hacking at unarmored scientists in the modern era. It was a small joy in an otherwise joyless experience. By the way, this game won the 1999 Game Critics Awards at E3 for its genre. Which is amazing since it wasn't released until midway into 2000, and 1999 saw the release of CRPGs such as Jagged Alliance 2, System Shock 2 and Planescape: Torment. The mind boggles.
Myself, I would say avoid this title, or just watch a Let's Play of it on YouTube. Christof and Anezka are interesting characters, as is their romantic subplot. But the game's interface is poorly conceived, the combat is clunky, the scenery is bland, and the Masquerade mythos misused and butchered. I can't even get too angry about this game because it's actually too bland and boring to elicit emotion. I've never played Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines, but I'm hoping it's better than this dreck. Honestly, I can't see how it could be worse. Don't waste your time here, folks. There are better games out there to play this Halloween.
