2019-05-01+PC+Gamer

BELOW:Bloodlines 2

is setinSeattle.The

firsthubsurrounds

PioneerSquare.

Paradox has shown the game to

anyone outside the company or

Hardsuit Labs, and the production

team is still uncomfortable saying the

game’s name out loud, often referring

to Bloodlines 2 by its codename –

Project Frasier.

BLOODY BACKSTORY

Bloodlines 2 opens with a direct

call-back to the original. Your

character – whose appearance and

backstory can be customised before

the game starts – awakens on the

floor of what appears to be a

courthouse. It transpires you’re both

a witness to and a suspect of a Mass

Embrace – a supernatural terror

attack in which a group of humans,

including you, were assaulted on the

street and illegally turned into

vampires. Representatives from

multiple factions, including the

Camarilla, are present to watch your

trial and execution. After recounting

events from your perspective,

however, a fire rages through the

building, enabling your escape.

Bloodlines 2 is built in Unreal 4,

and plays mostly from a first-person

perspective. The escape from the

burning courthouse doubles as the

tutorial. Unlike the first Bloodlines,

you don’t pick your clan during

character creation. Instead, all

players start-out as a “thin-blood”, a

weaker type of vampire with a

unique set of powers.

Hardsuit explains that this was a

practical choice both narratively and

burial,”Schwarzersays.Instead,

Schwarzerwasthrilledbythe

presentation,tothepointwherethey

immediatelybegandiscussing

pre-production.“Thiswasverymuch

HardsuitLabstakinga tremendous

riskandgettingustothepointwhere

wemadea decisionforthem.

Nothingmore,nothingless.”

It’sa riskParadoxis confidenthas

paidoff.Atthecompany’sHQin

Stockholm,I’mpresenteda

30-minutein-gamedemo,controlled

byBloodlines 2 ’s leadproducer

ChristianSchlütter.It’sthefirsttime

POWERING THROUGH

Levelsaredesignedtobenavigated in multiple ways

1

By transforming into

mist, you can slip

through this vent.

2

Using your

telekinesis, you can

create a new path by

ripping out an industrial

fan from the wall.

3

The most

straightforward

approach. Use your

bat-like wings to fly

over the gap.

1 3

2

• hundreds of stories. There’s always
  more stories to be told.”
  Mitsoda is working with Hardsuit
  Labs, the developer and creative lead
  behind Bloodlines 2. The game is
  being published by Paradox
  Interactive, which acquired White
  Wolf in 2015, and thus owns the
  World of Darkness IP. Indeed, the
  acquisition of White Wolf by Paradox
  was the trigger for Bloodlines 2’s
  development. In an unusual turn of
  events, HSL began working on
  Bloodlines 2 the moment they heard
  about the acquisition, pitching the
  idea directly to Paradox.
  “When we got wind of Paradox
  acquiring the World of Darkness IP,
  within about ten minutes I had my
  creative director Ka’ai Cluney come
  into my office and say ‘We need to
  contact Paradox. Do you know
  anybody there, because we need to
  pitch them a game?’,” says Andy
  Kipling, the CEO and co-founder of
  Hardsuit Labs. “We spent November
  and December and January putting
  together a pitch that we could show
  them at DICE. My assumption, for
  what it’s worth, was Paradox had a
  clear plan in place and that we would
  be coming in from out of the fold to
  try and make a hail-Mary pass.”
  Kipling’s assumption was correct.
  Paradox did have plans for a
  Bloodlines 2. “But it was also
  something we considered quite
  valuable and that we didn’t want to
  give out of our hands too easily,” says
  Florian Schwarzer, product manager
  at Paradox Interactive.
  Unsurprisingly, Paradox was
  sceptical about Hardsuit’s plans. “I
  [went] into that first Skype meeting
  with them expecting to watch a

Bloodlines 2

COVER FEATURE