Description:
Want to live forever? Get a taste for what it's like with Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption, the first computer role-playing game based on the tremendously popular dice-and-paper and live-action RPG from White Wolf Game Studio. Die-hard fans will grumble a bit at some of the translation concessions from book to hard drive. The vampiric disciplines in particular are less flexible and occasionally more hassle than they're worth--sure, you can turn into a wolf, but you can't return to your natural form until the time limit expires. Still, these limitations don't interfere with the gameplay, which is fast moving, challenging, and genuinely creepy. Graphics and sounds are well designed, and along with the plot they evoke the mood of gothic horror that has made Vampire so popular. The single-player mode locks you into the story line of Christof, a medieval crusader who blunders into immortality at the fangs of an ancient Brujah vampire. Christof's damnation and search for redemption lead him from the Prague of the Dark Ages to modern New York City. Multiplayer options include local area network and Internet play as well as the ability to create and run your own stories for other players. The manual is beautiful and helpful, a rare combination. Clearly, the designers took their cue from White Wolf, as evidenced by the clarity of text and carefully chosen illustrations. Though Redemption is well worth playing, gamers should be warned that the save-game feature is irritating and often beyond the player's control and that the installation requires at least 720 MB (and up to 1.3 GB!). Despite these flaws, the game is still wicked fun and merits plenty of praise. --Rob Lightner Pros: - Fantastic graphics and sound
- Rich online storytelling options
- Perfectly captures the mood and settings of Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Dark Ages
Cons: - Enormous installation size
- Irritating save-game feature
- Not strictly faithful to original White Wolf rules
| 
