Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines is a fascinating tale of redemption. The story starts out very similarly to other disappointing games: It was a buggy, broken mess with inelegant combat systems and a disappointing experience for fans of the tabletop roleplaying experience the game adapts. But then some intrepid modders decided to fix everything they could, and us VtM fans are forever grateful for their service.

Bloodlines’ brutally rough premiere was the result of one hell of a bumpy ride in development. But in 2004, few games that struggled to live up to expectations went on to have much of a shelf life. We hadn’t yet entered the age of live services and constant updates. But Bloodlines would defy that fate, this time as a result of the impressive efforts of modders and passionate Vampire fans brought to life in the Unofficial Patch

I’ll be honest, there’s still a bit of awkwardness present in Bloodlines, even after this patch, that will likely always be there. But at least now the game actually works and can provide you with a rewarding VtM fantasy. Graphical glitches have been improved alongside other imperfections that irreversibly marred the debut experience, unfinished quests were restored, and the game displays properly in widescreen mode now. Overall, with nearly two decades having passed since the original disaster of a launch, the redemption of Bloodlines proves that if the devs can’t fix it, the promise of stepping into a universe as lovely and fascinating as VtM can be all the motivation needed for an army of passionate fans to fix things up.