Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Activision's Troika Games, which developed Arcanum and the Temple of Elemental Evil, will soon release the upcoming dark title, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. In fact, the game has already existed for years as a pen-and-paper role playing game published by White Wolf, which offers similar games such as Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and Sword & Sorcery. Very popular among pen-and-paper fans for years, Bloodlines is actually the second game based on White Wolf's concept.

The first game, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption (released in 2000), got a lukewarm reception at its release but featured ambitious design and jaw-dropping graphics.

Troika hopes to get the "ambitious design" part down again, as well as the "jaw-dropping graphics" part, and add to it flawless gameplay and a deep story. And it looks like they will pull it off.

Hiding In Plain Sight

"The Masquerade" of the title refers to the vampires' need to keep their existence secret from the humans they walk amongst every night. According to White Wolf, vampires are everywhere, but if we were to learn of their existence, their precious food source would panic.

Violate the Masquerade and you are asking for trouble.

"Masquerade violations" occur when your actions, such as choosing to suck the blood from a street bum in front of others, let the average Joe know that he is around a vamp. These slip-ups will bring the hurt down on you in the form of cops and vampire hunters. Something to avoid, especially when you just start out.