Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 might be nearly at the end of its long and troublesome development cycle. It’s been over 20 years since Troika Games released the original game, which, between its lack of polish and the simultaneous release of behemoths like GTA: San Andreas, Counter-Strike: Source, Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Half-Life 2, and MGS 3: Snake Eater, couldn’t sell enough to keep the developer afloat. However, there was an excellent roleplaying game buried underneath those bugs, and it quickly became a cult classic.
Bloodlines 2 was first announced in March 2019. Developer Hardsuit Labs, previously known for Blacklight: Retribution, had successfully pitched a sequel to IP owner Paradox Interactive. The wait wasn’t supposed to be long at all, with the game immediately pinned for an early 2020 launch window, and with the original writer Brian Mitsoda onboard, the anticipation was building quickly.
However, the game was delayed to 2021, and that was really just the beginning of its troubles. A few months later, Mitsoda left the team. The real shocking news came in February 2021, though, when Paradox announced it had lost faith in Hardsuit’s capacity to deliver a solid product. As such, the developer was being replaced. Later that year, the Paradox CEO revealed the game had come close to being canceled, but another studio had successfully delivered a new pitch that kept it alive and kicking.
We had to wait two years to learn that the studio was The Chinese Room. The new project’s launch window was Fall 2024, which obviously didn’t happen. However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The ESRB has now rated Bloodlines 2, which is a good guarantee it will launch within the next six months at the latest. The rating is Mature (17+), the same as the original; we’ve posted the regulator’s overview below, though beware of slight spoilers.
This is an action role-playing game in which players help two vampires regain their memories and their powers to stop an uprising. From a first-person perspective, players explore city streets, investigate murders, interact with characters, and battle vampires in melee-style combat. Players use physical attacks (e.g., claw slashes, kicks, feed/bite attacks) and vampiric powers (e.g., telekinesis, possession) to kill enemy vampires. Players can also employ stealth attacks (e.g., neck snap, feed attack) to kill enemies discreetly. Battles are frenetic, accompanied by impact sounds, realistic gunfire, and large blood-splatter effects. Some attacks can result in close-up sequences of players’ character decapitating and/or impaling enemies. A handful of areas depict decapitated corpses in pools of blood; large bloodstains also appear in several environments. The game contains suggestive/sexual material in the dialogue (e.g., “snacking on wh*res,”; “p*ssy musta…real sweet”; and “D*ldo of consequence don’t come lubed, does it?”). The word “f**k” is heard in the game.
This will be The Chinese Room’s first role-playing game, so fans are naturally apprehensive about the outcome. Still, the UK studio has been very forthcoming with details, publishing developer diaries on practically every aspect of the game. Check out our related coverage here.
