Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

In all, Vampire delivers what few computer RPGs ever could: an engaging story, wonderful graphics and even a full editor. Don't let the vampire angle scare you away from this title. (If however you like vampires, you will be in heaven.) This is THE RPG that most of us have been waiting to play for years. It earns a perfect 5 GiN Gem score, because it is simply the best in its category, and probably will be for some time.

Een bloederige combi tussen aktie en RPG. Zowel singleplayer als multiplayer baanbrekend, sfeervol en bloedmooi. Daar kan menig developer nog een puntje aan 'zuigen'.

As long as you don't come to Vampire with the wrong expectations, you are unlikely to find a more challenging, rewarding or gorgeous RPG. The Masquerade world is so engrossing that you don't want to leave it, its shapes and contours so exquisite you can't keep your eyes off it, its battles so demanding you can't stop rising to the challenge, its dark vampiric powers so alluring you are hypnotised and vulnerable, lost in a trance as it drains your life away. Soon, you too will look like us. Pale, bleary-eyed, afraid of the sunlight, your teeth aching with an insatiable hunger for more.

Vampire is a great game if you're into hack'n'slash (action all around) and especially good for those 3D shooter-lovers that want to try something different for a change

Dass ich an den Nerven manches Kollegen zerre mit meinem Vampirenthusiasmus, ist mir erstens bewusst, aber zweitens gleich. Seit Ewigkeiten hat mich kein Titel mehr so gepackt - da wird Reinsteigern doch erlaubt sein! Vor allem die stilsichere Zweiteilung der Story zwischen Mittelalter und Gegenwart begeistert mich: Aus Orchestermusik werden Industrialbeats, aus Rüschenkostümen Lack- und Lederwaren. Mit allem nötigen Respekt: Das ist geil gemacht! Ebenso die herzstrapazierenden Kämpfe, in denen Blindwut nie zum Ziel führt. Zumindest ein bisschen Denken muss sein. Der Fairness halber seio gesagt, dass Anfänger beim Start aufpassen müssen: Nur wer seine Erfahrungspunkte früh sinnvoll verteilt, gerät später nicht in Schwulitäten. Fehlplanern wird der Schwierigkeitsgrad ab Wien abartig hoch vorkommen. Das Handbuch hilft! Grafik und Mehrspielermodus bestätigen die Klasse nur noch. Mit Patch sollte die 90er Hürde dann deutlich näher rücken.

Vampire is niet het verhoopte RPG meesterwerk maar blijft een leuk en sfeervol spel.

An manchen Stellen ist Vampire fast perfekt: Einige Abschnitte der Story sind so schön, dass ich hätte weinen mögen; an bestimmten Orten habe ich einfach innegehalten und nur die atemberaubende Grafik bewundert. Doch um derart aufbauende Erfahrungen zu machen, musste ich durch die Spielspaßhölle gehen – das Fehlen einer ständigen Speichermöglichkeit, teilweise langweiliges Leveldesign und mangelhafte Kollegen-KI sind nur einige Kritikpunkte. Zudem ist der Schwierigkeitsgrad sehr unausgewogen und schwankt unbegründet zwischen »fast zu leicht« und »superschwer«. Dennoch ist Vampire eines der Spiele, die einen trotz nerviger Details nicht loslassen. Der nächste schöne Ort, der nächste Storyschnipsel sind immer nah genug, damit man nicht aufgibt. Aber stets bleibt die leise Frage im Hinterkopf: Hätten die Designer mit diesem Hintergrund und dieser Engine nicht noch ein viel besseres Spiel machen können?

Ach, manchmal wollte ich diesem Titel am liebsten 90 Punkte geben, und dann, kurz danach, doch wieder nur 50! Wenn wir ihn schließlich doch recht hoch bewerten, dann ist dies vor allem der faszinierenden Story und der tollen Grafik zu danken. Davon abgesehen hat Nihilistic einen umfangreichen Patch angekündigt, der all die Steuerungs-, KI- und sonstigen Probleme beheben soll.

Bottom Line: Based upon the White Wolf pen-and-paper role playing system, Vampire: The Masquerade features nice graphics and an excellent storyline. The interface is laid out well, but AI and pathing are very poor. The save game mechanism is almost non-existent and more than not you will use the game mechanics to force an autosave when you want to exit the game. Multiplayer has decent potential, but the proper tools are not there yet.

Я, будучи в здравом уме и твердой памяти, официально заявляю: Vampire: The Masquerade — Redemption купить и пройти надо. Ибо отличный сюжет, красивая графика и превосходное музыкально-звуковое оформление этого заслужили. Жить игра на вашем винчестере наверняка будет только до 29 июня — 10 июля, но до этого момента вы уже успеете пройти ее до конца, получив удовольствие.

En ce qui concerne le multiplayer, je n’ai pas eu l’occasion de le tester, faute de trouver un coéquipier. Mea culpa… Il n’en reste pas moins que Vampire : the Masquerade est un des jeux les plus envoûtant du moment. Un scénario et une ambiance très saisissants, pour un jeu d’aventure très orienté action. Un jeu qui procure de réelles émotions.

So is Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption a Renaissance for computer RPGs? The solo game probably isn't. While entertaining enough, it's little more than a hack-and-slash adventure with a unique premise. The multiplayer game is plenty innovative, however, and with luck it may forge a future path for computer role-playing games to explore.

Embora Vampire não tenha se mostrado um game impressionante na última E3, a maior e mais importante feira de jogos do mundo, nem, tão pouco, tenha ganho um tratamento especial por parte da acessoria de imprensa no Brasil, levando em consideração que nossa redação ganhou uma estaca de madeira antes da chegada do estranho Drácula, há um enorme número de motivos para passar algumas horas jogando Vampire.

There's no denying the overall premise of Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, it has an almost insatiable appeal. It's by far the best game about Vampires ever made, and Nihilistic has done the White Wolf license proud. The question remains however, can deep characters, a great story, wonderful atmosphere and exquisite graphics overcome a flawed interface and horrible artificial intelligence to make a great game? Not quite, but it still makes for a darn good one. In the end, despite any and all of the problems, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption is still a fine offering and one of the best old-school RPGs released in a long time. Its multiplayer component has as much or more potential than any title ever released, and I'm sure over time its appeal will only gain the product favor.

My final conclusion would be that if you are the type that finds Vampire’s concept interesting, you will probably enjoy it. It may not be a great choice for a fan of twitch games, but all of my friends who have seen it have liked it. Add in the fact that MacSoft has priced Vampire quite reasonably, and any adventure or RPG fan has little to lose by trying it.

Redemption has none of that. In gameplay, it's a poor man's Diablo or Final Fantasy, without either games' redeeming features. The plot and action are all linear, without the possibility of any deviation or even sidequests. The linearity is even more strict than in those games or Planescape: Torment, but unlike Final Fantasy or Torment, Redemption doesn't take advantage of this. Usually the question of linearity vs. free-form is only a question because with a linear game, the story, the characters and indeed, game balance can be better controlled. Redemption is just straight hack and slash for 3 or 4 dungeon levels, followed by a puzzle, or, more often, a boss. The combat isn't even all that great due to the terrible party AI, who are too frivolous with spending blood and bad judgement in general.

With Activision's patch, Vampire provides a reasonable entry point for those wanting to experience the RPG genre. The story is interesting and there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from learning to play with a group of characters. However, the mythology is a bit hard to follow and, as the old adage goes, "when you've cleared one dungeon, you've cleared them all." For those new to RPGs, the art of hack-and-slash may be greatly refined through the use of a strategy guide. For those who are truly action-challenged, several web sites have cheat codes to give your characters a preliminary boost and increase their odds of survival. Despite the single-player limitations, I believe that Vampire will ultimately shine in the multi-player environment. As the kinks are worked out and Story-Tellers build their skills, this game has the potential of providing an unprecedented peek into the World of Darkness.

So, if you like a great story (and especially if you like a great vampire story), definitely give this game a try. The single-player adventure is delightful, and there is real potential for the multiplayer game.

Er valt veel plezier te beleven aan dit game, maar toch hadden we net dat tikkeltje meer verwacht.

For the faithful, buy Vampire and buy into a cultural revolution. For the more casual gamer, this is just another sub-average, flawed RPG. The curse of Caine lives on.

Un jeu splendide mais qui accumule trop d'erreurs dans le gameplay pour offrir un véritable hit. Il est possible que des patches viennent améliorer tout ça mais à l'heure actuelle, le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle.

Vampire renouvelle agréablement le genre du jeu d'aventure mais propose tout de même un curieux mélange entre des fonctions typiques des jeux d'aventure PC, comme la gestion des points d'expérience, et un dirigisme plus proche des jeux sur console, avec une liberté d'action très limitée. Mais une fois patché, en solo comme en multijoueurs, Vampire devient une des références du genre.

Vampire has plenty of moments of pure brilliance, and with some of the patching promised in the coming weeks, the gameplay is already looking up. But overall the game just doesn't provide you with the quick action fun of Diablo, or the in-depth entertainment of Baldur's Gate. It's definitely a hybrid, but a hybrid that doesn't quite succeed on either level.

Een gemiste kans, das duidelijk. Heel erg jammer, want het had prachtig kunnen worden. Net nu ze ook nog een origineel systeem wilden opzetten waarmee zelfs multiplayer mogelijk werd, word het mij duidelijk dat dat voor maximaal vier personen per spel is. En dat is niet genoeg.

It's got a great premise and an ambitious design, but the game is mired by its repetitive and often frustrating combat, ill-fated design decisions, and forgettable characters and story.

Coming from Jedi Knight co-designer Ray Gresko, Vampire is simultaneously satisfying and disappointing. Aside from the multiplayer, it exudes possibilities and then throws them away. When it works, it sucks you right in, and when it doesn't you just end up slogging through, expecting the good stuff around the next corner. Most of the time, though, there's nothing there.

Personally, I prefer this over Diablo II (which I have just started to play), even though the storyline is linear. I cannot pass an absolutely good or bad judgment on the game yet, because I am more of a multiplayer person than singleplayer, but I would give Vampire a score of 6.5 of 10 for its singleplayer mode. And I have a feeling that when the official SDK is out, the score will go up, as this module is definitely a breakthrough for RPG gamers.

I have loved vampires and the vampire genre for many years now, and I really wanted to like this game, but in the end it turns into a straight line, straight through, no imagination disappointment. If you are a true vampire fan and will try anything once, give this game a go. If you are a little more discerning, there are other options out there that you will find far more rewarding.

If you're crazy about vampires, then the depth, replayability and sheer ambitiousness of this game will make it worth your time and (probably) money. Of, if you have a great system you'd like to show off to your friends, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption can probably replace Deus Ex and Unreal Tournament for that "wow factor." If, however, you just enjoy a good RPG with some nice action, a coherent story, and characters you can actually care about, it'd probably be best to look elsewhere and leave the vampire stories to...uh...Jim Carrey?

If the multiplayer game takes off it will be great, but the single player game is irredeemable. Save your cash.