While I've not played any game taking place within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, I was pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail this game in particular had. It was a unique experience, giving me a more contemporary feel of vampires in modern settings, even ones as ugly as the Nosferatu. Hell, even finding vampires of Asian descent was an interesting thing to find out. Not to mention how long the game is and how extensive some maps could be, Bloodlines proved to be an adventure worth finishing. That being said, there were some parts of the game that just felt either...off or just broken. While it didn't detract from the overall experience, they were buggersome to have to deal with. Let's break this down into two lists: Pros and cons.

Pros:

• Intriguing story. The ability to mold your path by the choices you make and the factions you choose to aid make the game replayable quite a few times.
  
• Multiple paths. As stated above, you can go a completely different route the next time you play just to see how things would've ended.
  
• Playstyles. While some types excel in some fields, you're completely capable of being any build you desire, which is a nice bonus to have when figuring out what you wish to be good at. Unfortunately some builds just don't work as the game progresses, which I'll cover below.
  
• Theme and enviroments. The world is pretty well done. I didn't expect source to be capable of this kind of detail, major props to the devs. When you walk into the different maps, the different atmosphere feels refreshing too.
  
• Characters. I was impressed by the characters and the people voicing them. They were really aggressive and sold their roles enough to make me wish they had more to say. Honestly, I feel this is the biggest selling point of this game.

Cons:

• Combat. Gotta say, the combat in this did not age well. It just didn't feel very engaging to shoot jerkfaces from a distance, nor was it fun to engage in melee combat against things that could very well kill you. The weapons were fun, sure, but it felt somewhat boring.
  
• Builds. You can pidgeon-hole yourself if you do not build your character correctly. If you go mostly charisma, you will melt later on. Buffs don't seem to make much of a difference if you don't focus your points into boosting them, which can either interfere and flatout make your build a mess. Imagine having to fisticuff a boss but doing almost no damage. Argh.
  
• Story and ending. While interesting, the story felt like it tossed elements at you without really explaining much. Like the werewolf attack . And while multiple endings exists, only one is worth bothering for, and even that can strain the nerves.
  
• Bugs. There are some game-busting bugs that were never fixed in the official release and either need a third-party tool to fix or flatout cheat to get past some triggers that just do not function anymore, which was a big detractor for me.
  
  That said, the game is pretty solid and still fun to play, even today. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking to play a game involving vampires and guns.

While I've not played any game taking place within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, I was pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail this game in particular had. It was a unique experience, giving me a more contemporary feel of vampires in modern settings, even ones as ugly as the Nosferatu. Hell, even [spoiler] finding vampires of Asian descent [/spoiler] was an interesting thing to find out. Not to mention how long the game is and how extensive some maps could be, Bloodlines proved to be an adventure worth finishing. That being said, there were some parts of the game that just felt either...off or just broken. While it didn't detract from the overall experience, they were buggersome to have to deal with. Let's break this down into two lists: Pros and cons. Pros: [list] [*]Intriguing story. The ability to mold your path by the choices you make and the factions you choose to aid make the game replayable quite a few times. [*]Multiple paths. As stated above, you can go a completely different route the next time you play just to see how things would've ended. [*]Playstyles. While some types excel in some fields, you're completely capable of being any build you desire, which is a nice bonus to have when figuring out what you wish to be good at. Unfortunately some builds just don't work as the game progresses, which I'll cover below. [*]Theme and enviroments. The world is pretty well done. I didn't expect source to be capable of this kind of detail, major props to the devs. When you walk into the different maps, the different atmosphere feels refreshing too. [*]Characters. I was impressed by the characters and the people voicing them. They were really aggressive and sold their roles enough to make me wish they had more to say. Honestly, I feel this is the biggest selling point of this game. [/list] Cons: [list] [*]Combat. Gotta say, the combat in this did not age well. It just didn't feel very engaging to shoot jerkfaces from a distance, nor was it fun to engage in melee combat against things that could very well kill you. The weapons were fun, sure, but it felt somewhat boring. [*]Builds. You [i]can[/i] pidgeon-hole yourself if you do not build your character correctly. If you go mostly charisma, you will melt later on. Buffs don't seem to make much of a difference if you don't focus your points into boosting them, which can either interfere and flatout make your build a mess. Imagine having to fisticuff a boss but doing almost no damage. Argh. [*]Story and ending. While interesting, the story felt like it tossed elements at you without really explaining much. Like [spoiler] the werewolf attack [/spoiler]. And while multiple endings exists, only one is worth bothering for, and even that can strain the nerves. [*]Bugs. There are some game-busting bugs that were never fixed in the official release and either need a third-party tool to fix or flatout cheat to get past some triggers that just do not function anymore, which was a big detractor for me. That said, the game is pretty solid and still fun to play, even today. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking to play a game involving vampires and guns.