For those who don't know of this, It basically takes White Wolf's roleplaying system of the same name (sans 'Bloodlines') and mixes it into the Source engine (yes, the same engine that is used by HL2).

The first attempt at making a game from this series (VTM - Redemption) was mediocre at best, but this time around it's much much better. Although it's not quite up to par with what it should have been with the Source engine under the hood, I'm enjoying it.

The game stays pretty true to the pen-and-paper game, giving you an actual character sheet that matches up closely with the original (only taking off that which doesn't belong in this game) and lets you choose from any of the Camarilla clans (which essentially act as your class, from hideous-looking masters of stealth to insane masterminds). Each clan feels unique in play, from varying dialogue, to the differing disciplines (read: vampire powers).

Dialogue and storyline in this game is outstanding. Each NPC, be they vampire or not, react based on your gender and clan. You get different choices of what to say (for example, if you're of the insane vampire clan, you will talk like it, and those you converse with will be wierded out). There's loads of sidequests, and everything falls together nicely.

This game isn't without flaws, unfortunately. Combat is a little rough around the edges, and the Source engine's physics, although present, aren't used as extensively as HL2. I, however, don't mind this. This game isn't HL2, and doesn't neccecarily need to act like it. The main emphasis here is storyline, roleplaying and problem solving. In those respective areas, there's more than enough to make up for this game's downfalls.

So far I've played about 8-ish hours into the game and have enjoyed every moment of it. I can't help but share this pic of my character
CLICKY
A cookie to the person who can guess which clan he belongs to.

So anyone else out there try this game? Thoughts?

He would be a malkavian, that's my guess.

VTM - Bloodlines is a very amusing game.

If you want replay value, though, don't play a Malkavian on your first playthrough. I did and I tried to play another clan. Their conversations are just so boring. Malkavians are just off the wall, especially if you level up their Dementation ability.

The game is more than just rough around the edges. There are several major flaws in the game. Like how the game crashes every time when leaving the Society of Leopold. Or how the barred door in the Kuei-Jin temple sometimes can't be opened (which you would think would be easy since you're on the side with the bar holding it shut). I've also killed Jezebel easily since for some reason she got stuck in the ceiling.

But overall, I enjoy playing the game. I just wish they finished it before they shipped it.

yes, Dementation is sweet... I really enjoyed convincing that girl from my past that I was her childhood turtle. But I'll keep that replayability thought in mind and perhaps start going through with a Gangriel as well.

As for bugginess, I haven't run into anything major yet, just the occasional twitch/jump during cutscenes and one convo that got stuck (the guy kept going "psst over here" "hey you, commere" and never got to the dialogue, a reload fixed it). Still, any game that's released should be thouroughly tested for stuff like you described.

I've also noticed it's somewhat more demanding than HL2. HL2 ran on medium-ish settings, no hiccups. VTM - Bloodlines, I've got running on the absolute lowest settings (but still looks great) and yet I experiance some annoying slowdown. (I've got an A64 3200+, 512 ram, 128mb FX5200.)

buy a better a graphics card and that will solve your problem with toning things down.
As for what I played.... I beat the first time with a Gangrel...now I'm going through as a Tremre. The First time around I stayed loyal to the head vampire that had my sire executed(don't worry no spoiler it happens in the first 5min of the game), but lately I've been trying to find ways to takes sides with the other factions. Any suggestions?

Only thing I've run into (so far) were the Anarchs in Downtown, but I didn't go with it...

damn... It appears as if I can proceed no further in the game. I too am experiencing that crash right after the society of leopold. How would one get around that?

are you talking about the when you have to escape the cave after killing the vampire slayer? If so, I had the same problem and used console commands to get past it.

It's a known bug about the game.

The official solution is to enter the following codes into the console:

If you've saved Johansen:
SaveJohansen()

Then type:
changelevel2 la_hub_1 taxi_landmark

Be sure to use these as close to the boat as you can. If you're too far away when you use these codes, you'll end up in Downtown with none of your equipment. Just reload and try again if that happens.

If you haven't activated the console add -console to the end of the shortcut address outside of the quotes.

Mine, for example, looks like this:
"C:\Program Files\Activision\Vampire - Bloodlines\vampire.exe" -console

The console can be accessed by pressing the ` key.

And just for the record, I told you so. Just reference my first post about the game crashing when leaving the Society of Leopold.

There is another bug in the game in which you can max out a lot of your stats right from the beginning. After you pick your race and your sex, go to the stats page and select the stats that you want, then hit back, reselect the same race and sex and go forward, all the points you put in are still there and you have more points to add. I wouldn't recommend doing this the first time through its more for getting a little bit more out of the game.