Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt Review - Carnage and chaos in Prague

Though I’m not personally into the battle royale genre, I sincerely enjoyed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt. Like all battle royale games, the goal is to be the last person standing, but it’s a little different when playing as an immortal vampire.

Based on the White Wolf games’ tabletop RPG Vampire: the Masquerade, it stays true to the lore and mechanics of the game. While far from perfect, it’s still an enjoyable experience.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt pays close attention to the franchise’s lore

Set in the town of Prague, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is set in the world of White Wolf, where supernatural creatures fill the world, but they do what they can to hide their presence from mortals. In the vampires’ case, it’s The Masquerade.

The Masquerade’s purpose is to hide the existence of vampires from mortals. The Masquerade is a code of conduct that Vampires abide by, which the Camarilla sets. The Camarilla is one of the major factions of Vampires, and they do not wish to draw attention to the existence of vampires.

This means no feeding on humans while other humans are around and no using their various incredible supernatural powers. How can that be used in a video game? In a pretty creative way, it turns out.

Vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt who use their powers in the presence of human NPCs or feed on NPCs with witnesses get a Blood Hunt called upon them.

Suddenly, a target has been painted on that character. It can be used as a trap to lure in unsuspecting players, but everyone knows where you are. For example, in a trios match, a player could purposely get a Blood Hunt called, with their allies hiding in the shadows, waiting to jump unsuspecting players.

The various vampire clans are represented with appropriate character designs, lore, and powers, which I appreciate. Different vampire clans do not feel like carbon copies of one another, and attention to detail was given to how each clan's unique powers work and act. Each clan has an archetype to choose from, with some having more than others.

A fine example of vampiric traits is the horrific, disfigured Nosferatu (Image via Sharkmob)

Interestingly, in this battle royale, the character archetypes/classes have roles to fulfill, like support, tank, and DPS. It feels like it could easily be turned into a PVE-style game if they wanted to.

Clans and Archetypes in VTM: Bloodhunt

Ventrue: Enforcer (Tank)
Brujah: Brute (Sustained DPS), Vandal (Sustained DPS)
Nosferatu: Saboteur (Massive damage), Prowler (Massive damage)
Toreador: Muse (Support), Siren (Support)

This could also lead to potentially adding more clans and roles in the future if the developers want to. More character classes/clans could be added as DLC for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt or free updates to the game.

There are so many clans to pick from, and as of this writing, there’s only one tank, and only one clan has support characters.

While Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a battle royale, it does feature a bit of a story. This takes place after a gathering of vampires in the town of Prague. This ultimately resulted in a war between the factions.

During the First Convention of Prague in 2012, Camarilla blamed the Anarchs for the revelation of the Kindred (Vampiric) society to the Second Inquisition.

The Anarchs disagreed, and this resulted in a bloodbath within the city. The Brujah defected from the Camarilla shortly after. This game is set after the Second Convention of Prague and seems to have only taken place a few years later.

There's a lack of information currently known, which only increases the mystery behind the story.

How does the flow of gameplay work in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt

Characters get dropped into Elysium. Elysium is a place of peace where combat is forbidden, which serves as the world's hub. Players can pick up quests to do here and uncover more lore. These quests are completed while playing the game, though some are achieved simply by navigating the Elysium hideout.

In the early game, players will be tasked with finding a book within the Elysium, for example, and later on, will collect a box of explosives for the Brujah Primogen. That quest will see players heading into the actual game to complete objectives.

The Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt gameplay is speedy, and the combat feels incredible. When combat happens, it's bloody, violent, and intense. The guns do solid damage, and there are also more exotic weapons like dual crossbows and twin sabers.

Perhaps the most exciting weapon is the katana, which can parry bullets. Players will journey the map of Prague as in all battle royales, but with a few twists.

Players can drink the blood of the citizens of Prague, each with their own type of buff. These can reduce the cooldowns of abilities, increase health regeneration, or increase combat damage.

Blood Hunts can be avoided by keeping an eye on the surroundings. If an NPC is in visual range while feeding on another human, that will trigger a blood hunt. Being careful of when the player uses their powers is also a factor.

Avoid using vampiric powers when regular people can see. In addition, guns are in locations on the map with glowing blue auras, or they can go hunt through police and EMT vehicles.

There are several common gun types, and the weapons all have rarities. The rarer, the better. There are also consumables like blood bags or body armor to help out in a pinch. Vampires can all run and jump long distances and climb up walls of buildings to make combat far more interesting.

The city is large, but for 45 people, it feels just about right. It's not a 100-person game, which would probably overwhelm the map completely. It feels good to run and jump over rooftops, spot an enemy vampire and put them down before knowing what has hit them.

However, these are immortal creatures, so they can get back to their feet and regenerate if not finished off. When in a "downed" state, vampires can be finished off by draining the weakened character's blood or simply attacking until they perish.

The name of the game is the same as in every battle royale: defeat the other players and be the last player/group standing. It's a tried and tested formula that continues to work in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt.

However, if the vampire catches them, they can keep attacking or commit diablerie. This means draining them of their blood. Combat is fun but can be pretty intense or hard to keep up within close range.

Thankfully, vampire powers can turn those situations around. Nosferatu's ability to disappear into darkness cannot be underestimated, or the Brujah's huge leaping power can put a player in a position to scurry away before they are defeated.

The problem with immortality

Characters in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt can be revived. They can regenerate or be brought back to life in certain stations in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt. Given the powers the vampires possess, it makes sense, but it can make a game drag out.

Players can get extra lives in solo mode and be brought back seemingly without end in trios, provided those spaces are available to travel. Like many battle royale games, there is a mist, the Red Gas, that chokes and slays players.

The ability to keep coming back does feel like it robs the game of some of its excitement. It also feels like it caters to camping out at the end instead of fighting.

It’s also ultimately the same as every other battle royale, with a slow shrinking circle, and some might be hoping for a little more innovation. Having some extraction conditions could probably do this game a lot of good.

My particular problem isn’t that. For some unknown reason, the game does not feature a duos mode. Only solos and trios.

One complaint I’ve seen online is that players want to play with just one person (a best friend, partner, co-streamer, etc.). Instead, they have to play trios and hope the other person isn’t unfriendly or rude.

In Conclusion

One of the positives and negatives about games like Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is that it’s very straightforward. Players hop into the world, queue for a match, and get going.

There are challenges to complete and a battle pass to buy that offers a variety of very sharp cosmetics. So far, the game has not looked like a pay-to-win at all, which will go a long way with players.

Gameplay in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is fun for me to hop into and have a few matches here and there, but battle royale games aren’t my cup of tea.

It is still a lot of fun, and a match or two on occasion is a lot of fun. The gunplay is good, the vampire powers feel helpful, and the setting of Prague at night is gorgeous. A lot of attention to detail was paid to the game, and I appreciate that.