Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Reviews

Is Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 a worthy successor to the first game? Yes and no. It is an interesting game with many good features, but it is also riddled with problems and strange gameplay solutions.

For fans of the first game, the wait for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been long and frustrating, and the new game likely arrives with unrealistic expectations. Far from being an unmitigated disaster, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is entertaining but flawed. Excellent writing, a solid narrative, and quality performances are definitely high points. Uninspired quests and underdeveloped RPG elements suck some of the fun and potential replayability from the experience. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is probably not the game fans hoped for, but its setting, lore, and noire-ish vibe make it worth consideration for fans of all things vampire.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 isn't a game that stands out in any aspect. It sadly doesn't join the ranks of 2025's best, and is probably going to be among the year's most notable failures.

Not that there's much reason to, either. A cursory attempt to yank the story off the rails by picking every antisocial, confrontational dialogue option resulted in the plot following the exact same trajectory, with somewhat snippier interactions with the cast and a few new lines of incidental dialogue based on clan choice. Being an elder vampire means that people will put up with a LOT of your bullshit, it seems. Aside from some Fallout-esque epilogue slides based on your few choices, there's...

Two decades later, the cult classic returns with modern ambition and haunting emptiness.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 fails to recapture the original’s magic, instead magnifying the worst parts of Troika’s classic, with janky combat and occasionally woeful performance issues. Long-time VTM fans may enjoy haunting Seattle’s snowy streets, getting to know its well-written cast, and testing each clan’s unique playstyle, but it’s a far cry from what it could have been.

Despite well-written central characters that, at their best, radiate charm and intrigue, Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is an overstretched affair darkened by the shadows of its own limitations. Those looking for a well-realized vampire fantasy will find part of what they’re looking for here. However, should they stray from the central story or look too closely at The Chinese Room’s Seattle-by-night or the systems that underpin it, they will find themselves disappointed.

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 might not be the sequel that folk from 2004 wanted for their game, but it is the game we've got. Though largely sparse open world and technical issues are hardly encouraging, the beautifully evocative interior environments, surprisingly engaging traversal and combat mechanics, together with its neatly unconventional ‘buddy movie' conceit which sees two vampires attempting to inhabit the same body and each with their own motivations, makes Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 a good deal more intriguing than I originally expected it to be.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 had the potential to be something special, but instead of offering the sweet taste of vitae pulled from the neck, it has only the porridge-flavored final drips of a blood bag. While the combat and boss fights can be satisfying, the game’s shallowness in pretty much every other department, as well as Fabien dragging the entire experience down, left me hungry for the game it could have been. While it has the trappings of the World of Darkness, this game does a disservice to Vampire: The Masquerade.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will certainly appeal to the die-hard fans of its world, thanks to the story. Unfortunately though, it commits the cardinal sin of simply not being fun enough to play, and that's a difficult coffin to clamber back out of.

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It's been over six and a half years since the original announcement of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Fans had been clamoring for a sequel for years; even though the 2004 action RPG developed by Troika Games was commercially unsuccessful, mainly due to launch bugs and being squeezed in what we have called gaming's greatest month ever, leading to the closure of Troika, Bloodlines eventually gained a cult following and was rightfully recognized as an excellent roleplaying game.

The original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is one of the best broken games you’ll ever play. I’m old enough to have been working in Game when it was released and it was one of the most refunded games I can remember, thanks to the retail release being utterly bug-ridden and borderline unplayable. Years later and after numerous fan patches and improvements, though, it’s been transformed into a masterpiece of Gothic RPG storytelling. The long wait for a sequel has been almost as uncomfortable as that original release, with a change of developer to The Chinese Room and many delays surrounding it, but the wait is finally over. Having spent 20 hours stalking the streets of Seattle, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is good, but the modern day smoothing down of rough gameplay edges has led  to a more streamlined, but less unique game.

Although Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 isn't particularly ambitious or polished, it makes up for its faults with enthralling gameplay, gorgeous environments, a good story, and even better characters.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a sequel in name only. A flawed but fascinating action-adventure that might satisfy World of Darkness devotees, but few others.

A cobbled-together walking simulator with a dead world and poorly paced linear narrative that’s unconvincingly pretending to be an action RPG. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a disaster and not the sequel its legendary predecessor needed or deserved.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 takes another flawed but unique and remarkable bite at the jugular, with plenty to love and loathe alike, but I certainly enjoyed my time as an elder vampire at the very least.

Whilst fans of the original may not like the stark difference between the two titles, Bloodlines 2 is still an engaging vampiric tale that, if given a chance, will sink its teeth into you!

This is not the Vampire: The Masquerade game you were looking for.

In gameplay terms it has little to do with the original Bloodlines, and it’s not really a role-playing game either, but this is an enjoyable and atmospheric action adventure that stands on its merits.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is the definition of a crying shame. Clumsy writing and flat, repetitive world design expose a handful of good ideas that never take root, while its poor technical quality and unstable performance will render it unplayable for some. The result is a half-baked, blunt-toothed action-mystery hybrid that disappoints at almost every turn, struggling to leave even the ghost of a good impression.

After over 20 years of waiting, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines finally has a sequel. Fans hoping for a deeply interactive narrative will be disappointed, however, as I was let down by my ability to affect the story until the later hours. Still, the game that remains includes decent action, stealth, and an engaging story, which I enjoyed seeing through to the end. Bloodlines 2 doesn't live up to the modern standards set by other open-world role-playing games, but once you get past that...

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 could have been an excellent vampire experience, but its uninspiring gameplay, technical issues, and frustrating combat leave it in the dark.

Across the board, Bloodlines 2 is just a disappointment. It should be oozing with style and gothic vibes that make you want to paint your fingernails black and put on some My Chemical Romance. Instead, it's just the same thing over and over again that feels uninspired and unchallenging.

It’s been six years since Bloodlines 2 was announced in 2019, and it’s had a troubled development. Original developers Hardsuit Labs were removed from the project by the producers and replaced by The Chinese Room for reasons not made public. Then there was the outcry following the promise of a day-one paid DLC that would introduce two clans.

The Chinese Room has managed to make something from a box of inherited parts, but this action RPG feels hollow and functional, and is only redeemed by some stellar performances from the characters and cast.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has a wealth of issues, from an open world that feels wasted to combat that feels scrappy throughout. Thanks to a gripping narrative that you can shape with your actions, however, you'll likely still enjoy your time spent sucking blood across Seattle.