Paradox and Hardsuit Labs have announced Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the best vampire RPG ever (you know it’s true). The game is currently in development for PC and consoles and is planned for a 2020 release.
The reveal comes straight from GDC 2019, accompanied by an awesome cinematic video that clearly contains no actual gameplay footage.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a true successor to 2004’s original. Hardsuit Labs even brought aboard Brian Mitsoda, the designer and writer of Bloodlines. He returns to write the next chapter in the franchise and might bring back a few fan-favorite characters.
“When Paradox announced they were acquiring the World of Darkness IP, I immediately started thinking about what it would be like to return to Vampire: The Masquerade,” Mitsoda says. “Our aim has been to carry on the signature themes that made Bloodlines unique – particularly its dark tone, atmosphere, and humor – and I think that fans of the original will love what we’re doing with Bloodlines 2.”
In Bloodlines 2, you play a fledgling vampire, one that was embraced (that’s “turned into a vampire” for all you non-World of Darkness speakers) against vampire law. Your existence sparks a war between the different clans who run Seattle, where the game takes place. You’ll choose a clan, develop supernatural abilities, and form uneasy alliances in a world that adapts to your choices.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is about vampire society, full of politics and rules designed to both hide from the human world, and control it as much as possible. You’ll have to follow the laws of the Masquerade, and balance between your need for blood and your humanity. Fail to do that, and there will be consequences.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t go wild from time to time. The game features a fast, melee-focused combat system, where you can use an array of disciplines to battle enemies, or avoid them altogether. Each vampire clan comes with its own set of unique abilities, though the way the game’s description puts it, you’ll have more freedom when upgrading your character.
Paradox is already planning to add new vampire clans to the game post-launch, free of charge, which is a nice touch. Right now we don’t know which of the seven clans will be available from the beginning, but I hope one of them is the Malkavian clan – they were always my favorite to play.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be released on PC and consoles in Q1 2020. If vampires aren’t your thing, you still have the Werewolf: The Apocalypse RPG to look forward to.
