Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodhunt tries out free-to-play battle royale game with vampires

It is undoubtedly the golden age. Vampire: The Masquerade BallJudging by the amount of productions coming in or already available on PC and consoles, it’s the intellectual property of White Wolf, which made its debut in the early ’90s and experienced a second youth in terms of video game transmissions.

In this case, we are faced with a different project than usual, battle royale It’s available in a free-to-play format where we can put ourselves at the helm of mighty vampires battling the streets and the streets and roofs of Prague surrounded by a red mist that is deadly to bloodsuckers. .

Released on PS5 and PC a few days ago, the new game developed by Sharkmob was best able to combine the fascinating licensing and traditional dynamics of a live service? we have I tried Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt and here are our previews.

Structure

A few months after the previous trial of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, we can say that if there is one thing that such productions get us used to, it is the tendency to debut. structure pretty fluent, in this case a single setting, a tutorial and two modes the main ones that fulfill almost all needs for the moment, plus can count on a fairly fast pairing.

The first mode is called blood hunt and second against all for forty-five participants with the possibility of exploiting one or more extra lives where it is eliminated. Battle Royale and it puts us in a team of three characters, with the difference that surviving companions have to resort to traditional regeneration stations to come back to life, and so there is minimal cooperation and coordination.

Between games, you can freely explore a hub located in one. Prague cathedralIt’s currently the only map available for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, and take advantage of your free time to browse the cosmetic items that have been unlocked so far and are clearly more plentiful for seasonal Battle Pass holders (which costs 950 coins). , approx. 9,99 €).

We might as well try our hand. editor Equipped with various tools for customizing classes, or rather Archetypes: a starting gear of seven characters with which we can change their appearance and equipped with special abilities, which can significantly change our approach to action.

classes

It’s seven o’clock classes Currently available on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt represents the four clans of the original RPG’s all-round knowledge. two of each Skills can be charged over time, in this case a special movement maneuver and an offensive or defensive maneuver, as well as a passive skill: learning to recognize and make the best use of them is an immediately important element in being competitive.

rough And Vandal They belong to the Brujahs, have the appearance of normal people, and both have a directional blow in the first case and a powerful blow in the second region: a move that can make a difference in close encounters. They can make big jumps and recharge their energy or enjoy attack bonuses in the presence of enemies.

saboteur And Idle instead, they belong to the Nosferatu clan, evident by their appearance: they are extremely pale and slender, often balding or balding, quickly turning into mist, and can attack with a gas bomb or send out a swarm of bats they spawn. place of enemies to him. They are also good at mixing.

Siren And Muse They come from the Toreador clan and are of extraordinary beauty, such that the former can use this power to dazzle their opponents, while the latter can restore their own or their friends’ health over a period of time. They can also absorb civilian blood faster and regenerate quickly when you land.

SicarioHe is the last Archetype from the Ventrue clan to be added to the game, and looks like a kind of high-ranking assassin: he can attack, damage and silence enemies, as well as slow the movements of others and harden his own skin. for a few seconds, to the point of being almost invincible.

All classes are freely accessible, there are no characters blocked behind paywalls: at the moment, the developers are testing a way that is practically free of restrictions, even for those who enjoy the experience completely free, but it will be necessary to see if anything will change. future or yes, will continue to focus only on Battle Pass e microtransactions cosmetic.

gameplay

Forty-five players and a shrinking map: Whether you play alone or in a team, the ground rules of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt are typical of battle royale, and therefore only the nature of the game’s heroes. This shuffles the cards on the table. It’s clear that there are some big differences between these vampires, as these vampires can quickly climb buildings, jump from roof to roof, and use special abilities. gameplay from other representatives of the species.

The opening words are always the same: after choosing a spawn point, we will find ourselves on the only map currently available, in the center of a truly enchanting Prague and the Church of Santa Maria di Tyn, which strongly characterizes the landscape thanks to its gothic structure. architecture with disturbing features. initially absent equipmentWe will need to gather weapons and armor around and then face other players to try to remain the only survivor at the end of the match, paying attention to the military units guarding the central square.

The city is not uninhabited, innumerable passers-by and we will be able to bite them to gain certain advantages, temporarily improve our stats, and even reclaim a life lost in the Bloodhunt mode, but be broken by being careful not to be seen by other civilians or exaggerate with bites. rules masqueradeunder a curse that, for a few seconds, will make us visible to all our opponents.

This weaponry From pistols to machine guns, from assault rifles to shotguns, from crossbows to sniper rifles, from clubs to swords, it’s something we can gather around by detecting it with some kind of sonar that highlights points of interest. In short, there is a huge variety and there is no shortage of support items such as ammunition, blood bags to improve health, and armor to increase resistance: they are easy to use thanks to the classic wheel interface.

no doubt there extraordinary mobility Characteristic of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, with vampires exploring the landscape from all sides, leaping wide or turning into mist like a fog. Voldemort any: a freedom of movement very similar to the classic action game Prototype, even in combat, we’ll soon discover we don’t have the stamina of Alex Mercer.

As always, it’s mostly about tackling the Archetype’s chosen abilities and making the most of them with a hit-and-run approach that implies retreating quickly when something goes wrong. This gunplay despite the quality melee attacks they felt a little too slippery and inconsistent. Above PlayStation 5 DualSense adaptive triggers are supported for increased pressure resistance.

graphics and sound

Powered by the proven Unreal Engine 4, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt features two on the next-gen Sony console graphics modesquality and performance: first turns 4K and 30fpsa second 1440p and 60fps It uses AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution technology to bring the output up to 2160p without losing too much detail. In both cases, the quality presets correspond to the Ultra setting on the PC.

The feeling is clear that 30 frames are unlocked and therefore return a higher fluidity than is usually found in games with such goals, but the 60fps mode is also the best choice in terms of accuracy and responsiveness of the controls. Of course, the graphics engine is not the latest generation and the developers have made some concessions regarding the slightly outdated character models, but you will notice that it is different. mistake between nestings and spaced shaders.

However, the Prague landscape looks truly fascinating among streets, rooftops and hidden places, and is adorned not only with a whimsical color palette, but also with an abundance of colours. screen space reflection reflecting reflections in puddles or on certain surfaces, increasing some aesthetic options and adding character to the environment.

This sound contains an important pur italian dubbingAt this point, it is really admirable for this kind of production that comes out as an extra, but it doesn’t hit that much in terms of music and effects. On the contrary, we ran into a lot of trouble with the volume levels of the footage, with unusually loud and annoying sounds in some cases.