Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

The Good
This game was great. It had tons of weapons as well as many armour items and spells. It was a great game on so many levels that whenever I first play an RPG I say how it wasn't as good as vampire in a certain aspect. The game was very fun to play and extremely addicting.

The Bad
The only thing I didn't like about the game was the part in modern times. It was still good but not as good as the medieval times. Other than that it is in my mind the best RPG I have played.

The Bottom Line
This game is great.

The Good
The game starts with great story-telling and quickly builds up the atmosphere. In the beginning, gameplay is simple enough and very addictive. But the difficulty quickly rises and requires you to use disciplines (spells) properly.

Story is divided into two parts, both are good alone, but together they create nice "twist" in the atmosphere and game itself.

Every game "dungeons" looks differently than another, they are very specific, with great looking graphics, but in single dungeon you will most probably have trouble telling different levels one from another.

Inventory and whole interface is nicely done and works almost perfectly, although it is not exactly suited for quick-enough combat control.

Vampire the Masquerade rules are nicely implemented, though it is necessary to read the manual to understand some disciplines. Manual is also nicely written and helps in understanding the world of darkness for those not familiar with it.

The Bad
While the story is deep enough for RPG, the actual gameplay gets repetitive. You talk to someone, they will send you to nearby dungeon, you battle through four levels of dungeon, kill boss creature, listen to new facts, go back to the quest-giver, talk, clean four level in another dungeon and so on and so on. It is always a small progress in story and then four levels dungeon. Exactly something for those who loved repetitive gameplay of Diablo.

AI of the enemies is nothing special (enemies usually stand at one place until they see you and then approach/shoot/use discipline). Nothing special, but their sheer number makes up for it. What troubles me is the AI of your characters. When you will watch your character walking in circles for three minutes trying to get through the doors or going down the stairs, you will know what I mean. Also character become stuck behind one another far too often, and try to shoot through walls.

Since you play with up to four characters, some sort of quick commands should be implemented, but no, only thing to help you manage your team are selection shortcuts and attitude setting. Everything else is up to your reflexes and clicking skills. Also rearranging your inventory in combat is almost impossible (since you cannot pause the fight). Due to this, some boss fights are really hard and the final one is almost impossible.

The Bottom Line
It may look like I found more bad thing than the good ones, but it is not the case. I really enjoyed playing through the game. I recommend reading the manual, as it will tell you which disciplines are useful and how you should develop your character. If you can get over occasional stupidity of AI, repetitive gameplay (surprisingly mostly in the middle of the game), you will receive good story telling and solid RPG. A must for any RPG or Vampire fan.

The Good
The graphics are incredible to say the least, with more than a few absolutly breathtaking effects included to make this one game that will leave your eyes smiling with satisfaction.

The sound effects, voice acting and music are also excellent, leaving little to be desired short of better hearing when you're trying to pick out all the subtle moans, and hypnotic groans as you traverse one location after the next.

The architecture throughout this wonderment is an example of what true talent can create. Hats off to the designers behind Redemption, every location is another piece of heaven, taking into account detail, beauty, mystique, and gameplay.

For those literary types who love a good story, here's one along with great graphics. The storyline behind Redemption is well written and well told.

The Bad
Pathfinding, Pathfinding, Pathfinding! While the new patch does address this issue to some degree, your characters are susceptible to some ridiculas glitching.

Also, your party members are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, and thus you must be extremely cautious of their mood settings, otherwise you'll find yourself babysitting a bunch of moronic nitwits... or better yet, corpses.

Gameplay is the age old, time told hack n' slash approach. Here's the dungeon, go in, clean it out, get the item, come back. One 'fetch-boo boo-fetch' after another. Tiresome, uninspired.

The Bottom Line
To put it as bluntly as I can: Darkstone on Acid.