Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 Preview from gamescom 2025. It Looks Like We're in for a Great Game, But Not a Sequel to the Cult RPG

It’s alive! After several delays, the firing of the mastermind and author of the first game, dropping writer Chris Avellone, changing developers, and a complete overhaul of the concept and game design, the development of Bloodlines 2 is finally coming to an end. Six years after its announcement and almost ten years since development began, the sequel to one of the most iconic RPG's has turned into a troubled long-term project that in its final iteration has little in common with the original. We were lucky enough to get a look at the first hours of Bloodlines 2 and to get an answer to the most important question: will the Vampire: The Masquerade franchise get another cult classic in its portfolio, or was all the time spent on development wasted? The answer is in our preview.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines is among my top five favorite games. It’s one of those projects you want to replay over and over, always getting a unique and unrepeatable experience. The main story, side mini-stories, characters, thick noir atmosphere, music, and immersive game design helped Bloodlines achieve cult status, even despite a disastrous launch plagued by technical issues. Without this game, I wouldn’t have become interested in the World of Darkness universe or bought the third and fifth editions of the tabletop RPG.

Naturally, the announcement of a sequel in 2019 was a real celebration for me. Not only was the original’s lead writer among the developers, but composer Rik Schaffer also returned to recreate the atmosphere of that early 2000's game. However, years later, there’s not a trace left of the Bloodlines 2 that Paradox Interactive initially presented to the public. The project followed in its predecessor’s footsteps and fell straight into a pit, much like the one Troika Games barely managed to climb out of when developing the first game. After a series of delays, writer Brian Mitsoda unexpectedly disappeared from the Bloodlines 2 team, and then Paradox broke off relations with the developer studio entirely and later introduced a new team.

Even before Paradox officially announced The Chinese Room (TCR for short) as the new developers of Bloodlines 2, the fan community was still hoping that the publisher would find a suitable studio to finish the game that Hardsuit Labs had been developing for years and release it soon. However, TCR not only started creating the «Vampires» sequel from scratch, but also abandoned Mitsoda’s script and the original vision for the project. Yes, the new version retains some assets and work from the previous studio, including character models and the design of Seattle, but in terms of core gameplay and the main story, it’s an entirely different game. At this point, it’s impossible to say whether that’s good or bad. We’ve only seen footage of the previous version, and our hands-on experience with the current one was limited to a short demo, so we’ll only be able to draw a definitive conclusion after release. In any case, we’ve been waiting for a good game set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, and judging by what we’ve seen, that day is coming soon.

After checking out the prologue of Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, it’s safe to say that we’re not getting a traditional role-playing game in the usual sense. Character creation is limited to choosing your character’s gender, since the main story is focused on a pre-written and fully voiced protagonist. However, during the game you’ll have the opportunity to select your character’s backstory, which already played a role in one of the dialogues in the prologue.

You’ll only be able to choose your clan after completing the prologue, where you’ll get a chance to learn the basic mechanics. In the demo, we were offered a choice of four clans, but the most significant ones for Vampire: The Masquerade — Malkavian and Nosferatu — were missing. In the original Bloodlines, your clan selection not only determined your playstyle, but also offered unique opportunities that fundamentally changed how you experienced the game. Judging by what we saw, in the sequel, your clan affects your set of abilities, which in turn shapes your combat style. In story missions, our choice didn’t play much of a role, and only occasionally did someone mention it in dialogue. Maybe later in the story we’ll see more branching and clan influence on the narrative, but for now it looks like a standard class selection from Redfall (sorry for the comparison, it’s just the first game that came to mind).

Later on, players will be able to change the main character’s appearance, though again with certain limitations. You can choose from several hairstyles, piercings, tattoos, and other little details to add a touch of individuality. Costumes are only unlocked after certain abilities are acquired and don’t offer any real advantage in terms of armor or stat boosts. However, your fashion choices can be referenced in dialogues, and may give you an easier time luring a victim away for a quick drink.

The Chinese Room has reworked the game design from Hardsuit Labs’ original version, removing the role-playing system, inventory, and even a dedicated quest log. Everything that formed the foundation of the first game has been simplified, and in its current state, it resembles the aforementioned Redfall. For exploring locations thoroughly, finding symbols, and completing quests, you earn experience points, which are then converted into levels. These levels can be used to purchase active skills for use in combat.

Moreover, we spent over four hours in the game and didn’t encounter a single side quest that could distract from the main storyline. And if there are no side quests, experience is only awarded for progressing through the key story. Yes, you can wander around the city collecting notes and looking for hidden symbols to earn a minimal amount of experience points, but that’s not really what you want to be doing in a game titled Bloodlines 2.

Again, there’s a chance that the full version will offer side quests and more open-world activities, but at this point we didn’t see even a hint of that kind of content. By cutting out the role-playing system, The Chinese Room has simplified most of the game mechanics that previously contributed to the immersive atmosphere. There’s no inventory or active items. You don’t need to buy blood either, since all your «food» is conveniently wandering around the area in sufficient numbers. Overall, in the first hours, the city of Seattle feels like a large set piece that you can freely explore outside of the main quest.

If you approach Bloodlines 2 as an RPG and a direct continuation of the first game, you’ll most likely be disappointed. However, if you look at the project from a different angle and set aside the standards established by Troika Games, Bloodlines 2 is an excellent action game with nonlinear storytelling. The fact is, The Chinese Room has managed to deliver spectacular combat, responsive movement, and functional stealth in Vampire: The Masquerade—something that looked awkward in Hardsuit Labs’ version and especially in the original.

Combat in Bloodlines 2 is focused on actively using melee techniques and vampiric abilities. Every blow feels impactful, and the spectacle and brutality make each fight dynamic and engaging. Dodges, parries, and a mix of strong and weak attacks are all present. Enemies don’t just stand around — they actually show some AI liveliness. The main thing is to keep an eye on your health bar, which can melt away quickly if you don’t block incoming damage in time. Fortunately, you always have the option to drain an enemy dry when they’re low on health, which helps you stay in the fight.

The set of clan abilities is quite interesting. You can decapitate enemies with a single blow, slow down time, or turn ghouls into a bloody mess. These skills add variety to the combat system, allowing you to approach battles in different ways. The Brujah clan’s abilities stand out in particular. True to their rebellious, brawler nature, they dive headfirst into the action, grabbing the nearest enemy and using them as a shield, smashing through everything in their path.

The developers have scrapped firearms, which were originally supposed to be in Bloodlines 2. But that doesn’t mean the protagonist can’t use an enemy’s weapon. Phyre has a telekinesis ability, letting you pick up a gun and empty the magazine into the nearest opponent. Overall, telekinesis plays a significant role in combat, allowing you to hurl objects and pull distant ghouls toward you.

If you’re a fan of stealth tactics, you’ll be pleased to know that in Bloodlines 2, sneaking works just as well as open combat. The Chinese Room has seriously reworked movement and polished the animations, which looked overly clunky in the Hardsuit Labs version. You can easily sneak up behind enemies or use abilities to quietly reach story objectives.

The gameplay feels very satisfying. It’s clear the developers took inspiration from Arkane Studios games, so at times Bloodlines 2 faintly resembles Dishonored. Yes, the demo didn’t feature large, nonlinear locations, but judging by gameplay presentations and developer diaries, they’re sure to appear in the full version. During the first hour of gameplay, we tried to compare the sequel to the original, but after a while, we simply gave up and accepted Bloodlines 2 for what it is. If the first game felt like Deus Ex with vampire fangs, the second is Dishonored in a snowy Seattle. Both are immersive sims, sharing similar game design principles but radically different in mechanical depth. On one hand, you can see Bloodlines 2 as evolutionary progress, with action and stealth taking center stage. On the other, it’s a serious step backward and a simplification for the sake of faster development.

Snowy Seattle turned out atmospheric and unique in its own way. Jumping across rooftops and gliding between streets feels both pleasant and convenient. Yes, in the demo, the city seemed empty and non-interactive. As mentioned earlier, the developers cut a huge chunk of gameplay mechanics related to interactivity simply because they weren’t needed. In the demo, you could only hunt pedestrians with a specific blood resonance determined by temperament. Drinking the blood of melancholics, cholerics, or sanguines gives the protagonist special points, which can be used to unlock abilities from other clans. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to fully try out this mechanic, as it unlocks a bit later in the story.

There are also invisible symbols hidden throughout the city, which Phyre can spot using vampire vision. For now, they act like standard collectibles, granting a few experience points when collected. As you approach a symbol, your crosshair expands, hinting at a hidden item. In practice, this is a very annoying mechanic, as the crosshair turns into a circle at every opportunity. If there’s an interactive object, note, or potion nearby, the crosshair won’t return to its normal state. Remember how Dying Light 2: Stay Human’s notification system worked for hidden inhibitors? Then you’ll immediately understand why this mechanic in Vampire is so irritating. Hopefully, it will be possible to disable it in the full version.

The interface in Bloodlines 2 looks overly simplified. The ability to change your character’s appearance at any moment from the menu is fun, but it seems like this mechanic could have been implemented through an interactive object in the protagonist’s apartment. Collected notes and information about the «World of Darkness» are instantly sent to the codex, right next to tabs with tutorial materials. Against the backdrop of modern visuals, the interface looks very schematic. The same goes for the map of Seattle, which lacks artistic flair. The HUD is informative and simple, as befits an action game with RPG elements.

And now it’s time to talk about the most important thing that set the original Bloodlines apart from other RPG's — the story and dialogue content. By abandoning the original writer’s script, The Chinese Room has presented its own story, in which a vampire awakens after a century-long slumber, receives a mysterious mark, and gains a Malkavian detective named Fabian living in his head (it’s funny how, after Cyberpunk 2077, writers everywhere started adding a “chatty commentator” inside the protagonist’s mind). Now Phyre needs to investigate the reason for his sudden awakening and find out where the mark on his hand came from.

Unlike the first game, immersion into the «World of Darkness» doesn’t happen in an organic way. All the important rules of the Masquerade, political intrigue, and the balance of power between clans are explained by Fabian while the player learns to fight and sneaks past yawning police officers in an abandoned building. The narrative is more cohesive and cinematic than before. The quests in the demo are mostly linear and don’t offer alternative ways to complete them.

The dialogues in Bloodlines 2 are overly stylized and theatrical. The characters in the preview version are fairly distinctive, but compared to the first game, they lack that special spark that grabs you from the very first seconds. Thanks to good voice acting and facial animations, quest characters don’t feel like talking heads. However, the actual dialogue text is excessively bland. Most characters simply state directly what’s happening at the moment and what your next quest objective will be. Compared to other immersive sims, the dialogues are fine, but when measured against RPGs, they feel lifeless and somewhat artificial.

There is nonlinearity, but we couldn’t fully appreciate it in the demo. Much like in Telltale games, a hint appears in the upper corner of the screen showing a character’s reaction to your chosen line, suggesting it will matter later. Still, it’s hard to say much about the depth of the dialogue system for now. One thing is clear: most conversations with characters follow a carefully scripted structure. We know about alternative paths and political intrigue only from the developers’ diaries. In the game itself — at least in the first four hours — nonlinearity and variability felt mostly decorative.

The atmosphere of Bloodlines 2 is strikingly different from the first game. Gothic and counterculture have been replaced by neo-noir and aristocracy. Pre-New Year’s Seattle is flooded with neon and has far less darkness than Los Angeles in the original. The locations are indeed detailed, but most of those we saw didn’t match the spirit of the original Bloodlines. The change in tone is obvious, especially if you compare the current build to early alpha footage from the previous developers. Whether this is good or bad is up to each player to decide. We hope that as the story progresses, the game will become much darker and more mysterious. At the very least, the final twist of the demo clearly hints at this.

The developers also tried to recreate the atmosphere of the first game with Rik Schaffer’s music, which plays when you first step out onto the street from your new haven. But then the melody fades, and you’re left alone with the sounds of the city. This is perhaps the most controversial decision made by The Chinese Room, as the lack of background music strips away much of the authenticity that defined Bloodlines. Meanwhile, the ambient music in story missions is too ordinary and doesn’t stand out. The new composers, whose tracks replaced most of Schaffer’s melodies, simply failed to capture the vibe of the Vampire: The Masquerade universe.

Visually, everything is done at a decent level. The environments are nicely detailed, the character design is good, and the facial animations are excellent. Compared to all previous Vampire: The Masquerade games, the Bloodlines sequel clearly stands out for its graphics and lighting. It’s too early to talk about optimization. We did encounter some stuttering and real-time loading, but that will likely be fixed in the release version.

After experiencing the preview version of Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2, I was left with a whirlwind of emotions — both excitement and disappointment. As a fan of the original, I was saddened by many of the developers’ decisions: abandoning the RPG system for the sake of simplification, changing the tone, and removing numerous mechanics that once played a significant role in immersing players in the world. On the other hand, I saw a well-crafted immersive sim with a thoughtful combat system, an intriguing plot, and a different approach to clan differentiation. It’s clear that The Chinese Room wanted to make a great Vampire: The Masquerade game, and in some ways, they succeeded. It’s just not the project we were shown back in 2019, and that’s something we have to accept.

I hope that one day Paradox Interactive will decide to bring the originally planned game to release — with Mitsoda’s story, a dark atmosphere, and the spirit of the first Bloodlines. At the very least, what we saw had clear potential. For now, though, I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel from The Chinese Room, to finally return to the world of the Masquerade and drink my fill of blood. At least now, there’s confidence that Bloodlines 2 shouldn’t disappoint.