Good fun, if repetitive (Vampire - The Masquerade - Redemption (PC))

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Vampire - The Masquerade - Redemption (PC)
Date:	10/08/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Impressive visuals, good voice acting and soundtack, simple interface, good story, lots of detail

Disadvantages: Gameplay is a little shallow and gets repetitive, modern day combat is not as well implemented

Based on a tabletop role-playing game of the same name, Vampire The Masquerade- Redemption is a mixture of hacking and slashing and spell-casting with role playing elements in which you play as Christof, a medieval knight-turned-vampire who must fight against humans and vampires alike through monasteries, temples, catacombs and gothic castles with a group of vampire comrades that he picks up along the way. The visuals are still impressive today, and the game boasts great animation, solid voice acting and an atmospheric ambient soundtrack, and though fairly complicated the game's interface is accessible and easy to use. Combat is a simple case of clicking repeatedly on the enemies you wish to attack, and your team can also employ myriad magical skills such as healing, casting fireballs and so on. A particularly useful and fun feature is the 'feed' function, which allows your characters to grab hold of their enemies, bite into their necks and drain their blood, healing your characters in the process.

There are some basic control functions for your group as a whole, such as buttons to make your group stand ground and defend or attack aggressively, but there is very little depth to this system and the game basically boils down to some very basic micromanagement with lots and lots of endless clicking. Your characters have their own stats, including those for charisma, strength, dexterity, stamina, perception, intelligence and so on, all of which affect how you behave in combat and can be improved by spending experience points won in battle, which can also be used to develop new spells or upgrade existing ones. The game is heavily story driven, and though linear remains colourful and engaging, if repetitive.

There's a huge range of weapons and items to choose from, including daggers, claymores, broadswords, scimitars, clubs, axes, and bows, as well as shields, chainmail, suits of armour and magic potions, such as vials of holy water which can be smashed over your vampire opponent's heads. The range of enemies is equally varied, and includes Nosferatu-style creatures, wraiths, evil monks, sorcerers, werewolves, heavily armed Teutonic knights and numerous other creatures such as zombies and giant spiders.
The second half of the game takes place in the modern world, with swords and bows being replaced by pistols, uzis, shotguns, assault rifles, miniguns and baseball bats, but sadly these weapons don't work nearly as well as their medieval melee counterparts, with no feeling that they are having any impact on your foes and taking far too long to kill them. This detracts quite a lot from the gameplay, but the levels remain as impressive and varied as ever, with combat taking place in factories, nightclubs, rainy city streets, huge gothic buildings and even in the Tower of London.

Overall Vampire The Masquerade- Redemption is an entertaining if rather shallow game, despite its well-implemented RPG elements, but its lavish visuals, engaging story and considerable attention to detail mean that it remains good for a bit of occasional hack and slash fun.

Summary: A fun mixture of melee combat and rpg elements, but could have been better