Paradox hints that amongst those
characters will be familiar faces
from Bloodlines 1.
After giving us the basics, Dale lets
us into the apartment. Inside is a
pinboard covered with notes and
documents, put up by the fledgling
vamp we just saw murdered as he
tried to figure out who was
responsible for his transformation.
Bloodlines 2’s approach to quest
design is closer in spirit to the
original than more modern RPGs, in
the sense that quests won’t be flagged
by NPCs with exclamations marks
floating above their heads. You’ll
need to explore to uncover new
stories and adventures.
Among the documentation,
for example, is a missing cat poster.
As you explore Seattle, you’ll find
greater concentrations of missing cat
posters in certain areas and, if you
take the time to investigate the
phenomenon, you can eventually
discover where all the cats have gone,
and why they have disappeared...
While some quest lines can be
stumbled upon, others may arise
depending on how you play
Bloodlines 2. Unlike the first game,
there are multiple factions alongside
the Camarilla that you can work for.
“You’ll have a different experience
based on who you’re working with,
and you can even, you know, insult
factions to the point where they
won’t work with you anymore,” he
says. “You can really do a number on
your reputation in this game,”
Mitsoda explains.CODE OF CONDUCT
A crucial part of this reputation is the
Masquerade, the code of conduct to
which all vampires are expected to
adhere. The key word here is
‘expected’. You can violate theMasquerade in small ways, such as
being spotted feeding by another
human, or bigger ways, like going on
a public rampage. Both will have
ramifications for you and the city.
People will be less likely to go out at
night, meaning you’ll have fewer
bodies to feed on, while repeated
violations may cause Seattle’s chief
vampire, Prince Cross, to send
supernatural enforcers after you.
Schlütter demonstrates this at the
end of the demo by venturing into
the first of the game’s multiple
city-hubs, Pioneer Square (Bloodlines
2 follows the hub-and-spoke design
of the original). He drops from a
rooftop and publicly feeds on a
civilian, which causes the police to
start chasing him and triggers a
Masquerade violation.
Importantly, the Masquerade
isn’t a one-way descent into chaos.You can restore your Masquerade
rating to a certain extent. One way
to do this is to join Prince Cross’
clean-up crew, which clears up the
messes left behind by Masquerade-
violating vampires.
The clean-up crew exemplifies
the weirdness Mitsoda and Hardsuit
are hoping to carry over from
Bloodlines to the sequel. The
organisation is run by a man named
Bart, who has seen every kind of
horror imaginable and is completely
numb to it. An early quest involves
clearing the mess left behind after a
disastrous romantic entanglement
between a vampire and a human.
“If someone exploded in a small
hotel room, that’s what that would
look like,” Schlütter explains. “You’re
there to just pick up the pieces.
Literally, the pieces. And Bart just
comments on whatever is there,
eating his noodle-soup.”
Hardsuit Labs want players to
explore Bloodlines organically. This
extends beyond how players find
quests, to how they solve them. In
the early game, your choice of
character background will impact
upon your experience. If you choose
Police Officer, for example, then
should you need to visit the police
station, you don’t have to find a back
entrance and sneak around, you can
just walk through the front. But even
this comes with complications. “Your
colleague will come and say ‘Hey
where have you been the last two
weeks? Social security has covered
for you, but you need to get back to
work’,” Schlütter says.
It all sounds enormously
ambitious. There are many other
systems and ideas explained that I’veABOVE: Now that’s
what I call hub-and-
spoke design.
MAIN: Mitsoda
says the characters
are among the best
he’s written.GUESS THE CLANS!
Five clans that might be a good fit for Bloodlines 2
BRUJAH
Brujah basically
live to punch
people. Since
BL2 puts
considerable
emphasis on
punching, this
seems like an
obvious choice for
inclusion here.MALKAVIAN
Certifiably insane,
the Malkavian’s
unique dialogue
choices made
them one of
Bloodlines’ most
distinctive classes.
We’d be surprised
not to see them
in BL2.NOSFERATU
The appearance of
the Nosferatu
means they violate
the Masquerade by
being seen. Given
the focus on
unique play-styles,
it seems likely BL2
will include a
stealth class.TREMERE
Paradox explicitly
mentioned a
mage-like clan.
The Tremere
are masters of
blood magic, so it’s
likely we’ll see
them causing
some havoc in
Bloodlines 2.VENTRUE
Ventrue are able to
dominate
conversations
through sheer
force of will. This
makes them an
ideal class for
players who like to
talk their way out
of situations.Bloodlines 2
COVER FEATURE