Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodhunt, tried the free-to-play battle royale with vampires
Vampire
It is undoubtedly a golden age for Vampire: The Masquerade, the intellectual property of White Wolf that made its debut in the early 90s and is experiencing a second youth when it comes to videogame transpositions, judging by the quantity. of upcoming productions or already available on PC and console.In this case we are faced with a different project than usual, a battle royale available in free-to-play format in which we will be able to drive powerful vampires fighting in the streets and on the rooftops of a Prague never so dark and disturbing, surrounded by a red fog that is lethal for bloodsuckers.
Launched a few days ago on PS5 and PC, the new title developed by Sharkmob has it been able to best combine the fascinating license and the traditional dynamics of a live service? We tried Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt and here are our preliminary impressions.
Structure
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, our Vandal approaches the main square A few months away from the proven previous Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, we can say that if there is one thing that this genre of productions has accustomed us to is the tendency to debut with a rather lean structure, in this case characterized by a single setting, a tutorial and two main modes that for the moment cover more or less all needs, also being able to count on a rather quick matchmaking.The first mode is called Blood Hunt and is an all-against-all for forty-five participants, with the possibility of taking advantage of one or more extra lives when eliminated, while the second is called Battle Royale. puts in a team made up of three characters, with the difference that in order to come back to life the surviving companions must resort to the traditional regeneration stations, and therefore there is a minimum of collaboration and coordination.
Between games and the other, you can freely explore a hub located inside a Prague cathedral, currently the only map available for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, and take advantage of your free time to take a look at the cosmetic items unlocked up to that moment, which are clearly more abundant for owners of the seasonal Battle Pass (which costs 950 coins, about € 9.99).
We can also try our hand at an editor equipped with various tools for the personalization of the classes or rather of the Archetypes: a starting endowment of seven characters whose appearance we will be able to modify and who are endowed with peculiar abilities, able to change our approach to action in an important way.
Classes
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, the Vandal class in the editor The seven classes currently available in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt represent four clans belonging to the multifaceted lore of the original RPG. Each of them has two abilities that can be reloaded over time, in this case a special movement maneuver and an offensive or defensive one, as well as a passive ability: learning to know them and use them to the fullest is immediately an essential aspect to become competitive. .Brutus and Vandal belong to the Brujah, have the appearance of normal people and both have a powerful blow, in the first case directional and in the second zone: a move that can make the difference in close encounters. They can leap wide and recharge their energy or enjoy attack bonuses in the presence of enemies.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, a Vagabond about to feed himself with a civil Saboteur and Vagabond belong to the clan instead. Nosferatu, which is also evident from their appearance: extremely pale and thin, often hairless or hairless, they move quickly turning into fog and can attack with a gas bomb or send a flock of bats to reveal their location of enemies. They are also good at camouflage.
Sirena and Musa are from the Toreador clan and boast an uncommon beauty, to the point that the former can use this power to dazzle opponents while the latter can regenerate her own health or that of his companions for a specified period of time. They can also suck civilian blood faster and regenerate quickly when you land.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, our character is about to land on a roof after a large leap Sicario, from the Ventrue clan, is the latest Archetype added to the game and presents itself as a sort of high-ranking assassin: he can dash against enemies, inflicting damage and silencing them, but also slow down the movements of others and harden his own skin for a few seconds, to the point of becoming virtually invulnerable.
All classes are freely accessible, there are no characters stuck behind the paywall: for the moment the developers are testing a path practically free of constraints even for those who benefit from the experience completely free, but it will be necessary see if anything will change in the future or will continue to focus solely on Battle Pass and cosmetic microtransactions.
Gameplay
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, fire from a roof Forty-five players and a map that gradually shrinks: whether you play alone or in a team, the basic rules of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt are typical of battle royale, and it is therefore only the nature of the protagonists of the game to shuffle the cards on the table. Since these vampires are able to quickly climb buildings, jump from roof to roof and use special skills, it is clear that there are big differences compared to the gameplay of other exponents of the genre.The incipit is always the same: selected a spawn point, we will find ourselves within the only map currently available, the center of a truly fascinating Prague and with the Church of Santa Maria di Tyn strongly characterizing the landscape thanks to its Gothic architecture from disturbing traits. Initially without equipment, we will have to collect weapons and armor around and then face the other players in an attempt to remain the only survivors at the end of the match, paying attention to the military troops that garrison the central square.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, the starting hub The city is not deserted, there are numerous passersby on the streets and we can bite them to obtain specific advantages, temporarily improving our statistics or even recovering a life lost in the Blood Hunt mode, but being careful not to be seen by other civilians or to exaggerate with the bites thus breaking the rules of the Masquerade, under penalty of a curse that for a few seconds will make us visible to all our opponents.
The weapons that we can collect around, identifying them with a sort of sonar that highlights the points of interest, ranging from pistols to machine guns, from assault rifles to s hotgun, from crossbows to sniper rifles, from clubs to swords. In short, there is a great variety and there is no shortage of support objects such as ammunition, blood bags to recover health and armor to improve resistance: using them is simple thanks to the classic wheel interface.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, our character lurking on a roof There is no doubt that the extraordinary mobility of the characters is the characterizing trait of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, with the vampires who explore the scenery in all directions, stand out wide leaps or they turn into fog like any other Voldemort: a freedom of action that closely resembles the classic action game Prototype, even if in the clashes we will soon discover that they do not have the stamina of Alex Mercer.
As usual yes it is mostly about becoming familiar with the skills of the Archetype we have selected and making the most of them, with a "hit and run" approach that implies to quickly fall back if things get bad. The gunplay is of decent workmanship, while the melee attacks seemed a bit too slippery and inconsistent. On PlayStation 5, adaptive DualSense triggers are supported for greater resistance to pressure.
Graphics and sound
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, a fascinating glimpse of the map of Prague Moved by the tried and tested Unreal Engine 4, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt offers on the next-gen Sony console two graphics modes, quality and performance: the first runs at 4K and 30 fps, the second at 1440p and 60 fps using AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution technology to bring 2160p output without losing too much detail. In both cases the qualitative presets correspond to the Ultra setting on the PC.The feeling is that the 30 frames are unlocked and therefore return a fluidity generally higher than that found in games with this type of target, but it is clear that the 60 fps mode is the best choice also as regards the precision and responsiveness of the controls. Of course, the graphics engine is not of the latest generation and the developers have made some compromises with regard to the character models, a bit dated, while we notice several glitches between interpenetrations and intermittent shaders.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, the Church of St. Mary of Tyn in the distance That said, the scenery of Prague appears truly fascinating among streets, roofs and hidden places, and is embellished not only by a peculiar color palette, but also by an abundant screen space reflection that projects reflections in puddles or on certain surfaces, enhancing some aesthetic choices and giving character to the setting.
The sound includes an essential dubbing in Italian, which really stands as an extra at this point appreciable for a production of this kind, but in terms of music and effects it does not strike that much. On the contrary, we encountered a few too many problems in the volume levels of the shots, with unusually high and annoying noises in some situations.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a very interesting battle royale, characterized by a rich setting. of charm and characters with extreme mobility, which allow them to run through the streets, climb walls and jump from roof to roof to create highly spectacular battles, further enhanced by a vast set of special skills. The free-to-play setting without pay-to-win drifts, a discreet gunplay and the many facets of a non-trivial gameplay make the Sharkmob title a must download, if this type of experience intrigues you even a little.
