Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Narrated Demo, Previews
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During this year's Gamescom we were able to check out a fairly meaty gameplay demo for Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Presented by IGN, the demo focused purely on gameplay, but now we can watch it again, only this time with some insightful developer commentary on top of all the action. Have a look:
Then, you might also be interested in this Shacknews interview with a Paradox Interactive product manager where he talks about the Gamescom demo, Hardsuit Labs' approach to adapting a pen and paper ruleset for a video game, and more:
Then, there's also a couple of text previews based on an extended version of the above demo. Let's start with WCCFTech:
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 seems to be all about choice and that’s what appeals to me the most, after getting the setting right. The setting of Seattle seems like an ideal choice, not least because developers Hardsuit Labs are based there, but simply due to the fact it’s thought of as a fairly dark, cloudy and wet place. Ideal for those who avoid the sun. The way it’s set out here is also very similar to the first game, not being an open world, but with hub areas where other areas come off as spokes of a sort. This should allow for a more focused and detailed approach to the areas.
Paradox has released a video of a shortened, less meandering version of the demo I was shown during Gamescom, so you are more than free to see what you think of it yourself. The fact that this is still in a pre-alpha stage, with something that looks this good and with the ability to wander around the hub as they were, leaves me with good thoughts about the final product. That final product is scheduled to be released on the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sometime in March 2020.
And then check out what TheSixthAxis has to say:
A key side to the vampiric life is deciding just how much to embrace and enable the blood lust within you. Feeding regularly will make you more powerful in combat, but the brutality of this and other choices you make can cause you to gradually lose your humanity – this in and of itself will open up new story paths and dialogue options to explore. On the other side of things, you can avoid feeding the beast within, at the risk of losing control and slipping into a frenzy.
If the full game can live up to the promise of the demo, with its intimate depiction of a more historic Seattle, the messy sprawl of different clans and a world that adapts to your actions and meaningful choices, this will easily be one of the games of next year. I can’t wait to see more.
