Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2 offered an intriguing story when it finally released last year, but mechanically The Chinese Room’s vampire RPG felt a little anaemic compared to the wild kitchen-sink design of Troika’s original. Its combat, for example, revolved almost entirely around vampire-based fisticuffs, with guns and melee weapons reduced to disposable items wielded through telekinesis. Combined with the flat progression of your vampire powers, it meant fighting felt a little one note.
It’s an issue The Chinese Room addresses directly in Bloodlines 2’s first DLC. Loose Cannon sees you ditch the main game’s protagonist Phyre, instead playing as Benny, a side character from the sequel who is far less fussy about getting hands-on in a fight.
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There is a bit of irony at play here. In the original Bloodlines, one of the Brujah’s key traits was a bonus to unarmed combat. Hence, making Benny the weapons guy is a little counterintuitive. The Chinese Room pitches this as a “new take” on the Brujah playstyle, which is a little cheeky. But you know what? Fine. I’m not going to let a bit of lore get between me and a big pile of guns.
If anything, I’m more concerned about The Chinese Room’s statement that Loose Cannon will involve “new quests across reimagined familiar locations”. I’m all for new quests, obviously. But Bloodlines 2 only had about five locations in it to begin with, and I was thoroughly fed up with bouncing between them by the end of the game. The idea of going back to that Anarch biker club again has zero appeal. If you want to put the spark back in our relationship, Bloodlines 2, take me somewhere new!
Nonetheless, I am glad to see Bloodlines 2 getting an expansion. The sequel didn’t sell as well as Paradox hoped, which was perhaps inevitable given the project’s long, tortured gestation, which Paradox accepted its share of the blame for. But the publisher said it wouldn’t walk away from the game despite its troubles, and it seems to have stuck to that promise thus far. Loose Cannon fires onto Steam tomorrow.
