Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2, Dead Before Arrival
Back in Anno Domini 2019, or 1 Before COVID-19, I was excited for three games. Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, and Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2. Doom and 2077 are out, and I love them, Bloodlines 2 isn’t, and that’s what I’m here to discuss.
Its progenitor, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines (or VTMB for short), is one of my favorite games of all time. It has grit, personality, charm, memorable characters, interesting settings, and, best of all, vampires.
Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines is a product of a turbulent development. A new engine, crunch, a terrible release date, and worst of all, the developer, Troika Games, dissolved a week before the game launched, leaving it a broken, unfinished mess.
The game could’ve been forgotten, reduced to vapor among the clouds of the internet, but a cult following patched and fixed the game, making it the masterpiece it is today.
When I heard there was a sequel, I was beyond excited. I was stoked, enthused, and psyched. My excitement could’ve powered a small town. My concerns began with the developer, Hardsuit Labs.
The developers behind the first game were Troika Games. Troika was made up of people from the original Fallout developers, Interplay. Troika went on to make the RPG Arcanum before going on to make VTMB.
I brought up these companies and games to establish something. Troika’s pedigree was good RPGs. They built their careers and skills making them. Pedigrees are important, they influence design, art direction, mechanics, and style. Much like a movie director develops a style unique to them, game developers cultivate their own style and ideas.
The developers of VTMB 2 were Hardsuit Labs, which previously made a mediocre shooter called Blacklight Retribution. There were redeeming factors, the narrative lead behind the first game, Brian Mitsoda, took the Narrative helm again.
I’m not an industry insider. I’m just a guesser. There is a possibility Hardsuit was picked for their experience with combat and guns in games. Combat in the first game was woefully underdeveloped and easily broken.
My second concern was the setting, Seattle.
This follows a trend. Developers of games that take place in the real world often choose the place where they are located. Hardsuit is based in Seattle.
Troika Games was based in California. The first VTMB critiques and pokes fun at southern California. Hollywood, the starlets, the clubs, and the people.
Forgive my ignorance, what is there to critique in Seattle? Tech Bros, stoners, shitty weather and Starbucks? The developers are almost inviting Twilight references.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’ll fall in love with Seattle the way I fell in love with Santa Monica.
(As a quick tangent, I fully believe Las Vegas would be an amazing setting for a vampire game or story in general.)
Then the game got delayed. First from early 2020 into late 2020, then 2021. Then Brian Mitsoda suddenly got fired. Then Hardsuit Labs went silent.
The game fell into what’s commonly known in games as “development hell.”
Development hell is a broad term to describe an especially awful or long development cycle. Copyright issues, reworks, a change in publisher, funding, or, in some cases, starting from scratch can happen in development hell. It devours some games and spits out others, but the odds of development hell producing a good game are slim.
Then, like a bloated corpse, the game emerged from development hell with a new developer, The Chinese Room. It looks even worse.
This is why I’m calling the game Dead Before Arrival.
The reason I brought up Troika’s and Hardsuit’s pedigree earlier comes into play now. Where Troika cut their teeth on RPGs, and Hardsuit made shooters, The Chinese Room makes walking simulators.
Walking Simulators are like the poetry and art house movies of video games. To be crass, they are made for the pretentious and smug. The genre is defined by minimal interactivity and puts more of a focus on the environment and storytelling. There’s no mechanical complexity, very little gameplay choice, and no customization — the complete opposite of your typical RPG.
The public is completely ignorant as to why the publisher, Paradox, chose The Chinese Room to (as I know now for certain) redo the game from scratch. The Chinese Room prides itself on its environment’s design and attention to detail. I held out hope that the game was done at a mechanical level but needed some visual work.
That’s what I had hoped for.
I know now from comparing trailers, models and footage that Chinese Room scrapped everything and started from scratch. This does not bode well for the quality of the finished product.
Recently, a stream was released where fans could catch an early glimpse of the game.
It was awful.
Not a single good choice was made.
The graphics, the sound, the narrative, the gameplay, the dialog, and the three characters we see are all awful.
The Narrative Director for The Chinese Room, Ian Thomas, sat down with Paradox VP Sean Greaney and explained the protagonist, the beginning plot details, and a couple hooks. None of them are good.
The comments on the tweet and the YouTube video express serious disappointment with the game’s direction, and I agree.
I could go on a spastic tirade about every little mistake and misstep in the game’s current direction. I’ll spare you that torment, but I’m left with serious doubts about the quality of the game when it releases late next year.
Let me make one thing abundantly clear.
I do not want this game to be bad.
Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom Eternal were delayed, but are now excellent games. 2077 is now one of my favorite games of all time.
I do not want this game to be bad, and I want to be wrong. I want to boot up the game, play, and think to myself, “Oh, I see what they are trying to do now.”
To anyone from Hardsuit or Chinese Room reading this, I want what you create to be good. I want you to succeed at whatever you create. This may come across as me being mean, but I hope you know that it’s because I care. And to anyone at Hardsuit who worked on this, I’m sorry for doubting you. What you were creating looked amazing.
This is a big break from my usual writing. I needed a more light piece after writing history, the world, and politics. I love and adore video games, and I wrote this as an expression of my frustration.
My next piece is an experiment in short fiction. Keep an eye out. This is Michael Vincent Hawthorne.
