Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption

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Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption
Vampire-themeasquerade-redemption-logo.jpg
Studio United StatesUnited States Nihilistic software
Publisher United StatesUnited StatesGermanyGermany Activision
Erstveröffent-
lichung
North AmericaNorth AmericaJune 7, 2000 July 1, 2000
GermanyGermany
platform Windows , Mac OS
Game engine Nod engine
genre role playing game
Game mode Single player , multiplayer
control Keyboard , mouse
system advantages
preconditions
medium CD-ROM , DVD-ROM , download
language German
Current version 1.1
Age rating
USK released from 12

Vampire: Die Masquerade - Redemption (English Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption ) from the US game developer Nihilistic Software is the first computer role-playing game based on the role-playing rules Vampire: The Masquerade of White Wolf . The title was published in the summer of 2000 by US publisher Activision for Windows . It is an independent work against the background of the rules and regulations and has no connection to the licensed game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines published in 2004 .

Background scenario

After killing his brother Abel , Cain emigrated to the land of Nod . God had cast him out and forbade him to ever eat of the fruits he had created. Instead, he should only be able to feed on blood. But because this was not enough, God deprived him of any opportunity to enter heavenly paradise by giving him immortality.

Cain stayed in the land of Nod for an aeon , but eventually, tired of eternal loneliness, returned to the land his brother Set had built. Here he founded and ruled a great city. But he continued to feel lonely because he was the only one of his kind. And so he decided to father offspring. But his children did not come about in the conventional way. Cain forced his curse on three people, who in turn fathered 13 children. But he feared the vengeance of God and forbade his children and grandchildren to father another generation.

Then the flood came and destroyed all life on earth. Cain considered this a punishment from God and preferred to go into exile . His children asked him to come back, but he did not want to be further involved in what was happening on earth.

Now his children began to fight one another. During this war, Cain's grandsons slew their parents and built a new city. Each of them founded their own clan by producing more offspring. However, they feared that further generations could be used to settle the quarrels between the 13 grandchildren of Cain, the "Antediluvian". Therefore, the fourth generation was forbidden to create children themselves.

In time the city and the power of the Antediluvians over their children died, whereupon these children fathered their own offspring and began to fight each other again. However, they kept to the principle of "masquerade" ( masquerade ), which has prevented people from finding out about the existence of vampires to this day.

action

The plot of the game is fictional, but uses real historical locations and events as a background for the story. The game is divided into two halves, which are located in different ages, the Middle Ages and the modern age. The main character of the player is the crusader Christophe Romuald, who was born in the 12th century. Because of a serious wound, Christophe has to be left behind by his comrades in the monastery in Prague , where he was carefully nursed to health by Sister Anezka. They both fall in love. The love for Anezka is the engine and motivation for Christopher's actions throughout the game.

When he wanted to free the local mine of monsters as an expression of his gratitude after his recovery, he first met a female vampire named Asra, the undead whom he destroyed as the originator of the evil. During the night, however, he is bitten the wise by the vampire Ecaterina and thus becomes a vampire himself. He learns about the parallel society of vampires, the different clans and their competition with one another. As a new member of the Brujah clan, Christophe is supposed to help enforce compliance with the masquerade against other vampire clans, through which the existence of vampires should remain hidden from people. The problem for the religious fanatic Christophe is the realization that he himself is now a cursed creature himself. In the intrigue of the clans, his love for Anezka also proves to be a weak point. Hostile vampires under their leader Vukodlak kidnap them and use them as leverage against Christophe. In the fight against his enemies, he and his vampiric companions have to go to different locations in the cities of Prague and Vienna . In an interim final with Vukodlak in Prague, Christophe was buried and fell into a sleep that lasted more than 800 years. He awoke again in 1999 in London. In search of his love Anezka, he comes across the traces of his archenemy Vukodlak. He tries to ascend to God. To prevent this and to free Anezka, who has now been transformed into a ghoul , Christophe travels to New York , where the final battle with Vukodlak takes place. Depending on the behavior of the player and some dialogue decisions in the course of the game, there are three different endings of the game.

Gameplay

In Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption , the player controls a group of up to four people in a 3D environment. The camera shows what is happening from a third-person view . The player can rotate and zoom the camera. The main character Christophe is always a member of the so-called coterie , the remaining group members can be selected from a pool of potential companions. The fights run in real time, but can be paused at any time at the touch of a button to give the characters instructions.

For the completion of tasks and the completion of opponents experience points are collected, which can be used in key scenes or while resting in the vampire's coffin to increase attributes and vampire skills, the so-called disciplines. Magical skills can be learned and improved by finding books in the game world. The value of humanity is of particular importance. If this drops to zero, the vampire becomes a raging, blood-sucking beast, which is synonymous with the end of the character. The humanity value is closely related to the blood sucking necessary for vampires. The value is lowered, for example, when the group members fully testify to the blood of other characters and thus kill them. To prevent this, the suction process must be interrupted in good time or replaced with blood. The humanity value also determines the outcome of the game.

The equipment of the characters is based on the weapons of the respective ages. In the Middle Ages these were swords, bows and the like. After all, in the modern age, firearms are also available. The level design is very linear and the game tends towards hack and slay .

reception

Rating mirror
publication Rating
GameStar 74%
Games world 90%
PC Games 86%
PC player 80%
Computer Gaming World 1.5 out of 5
EuroGamer.net 6 of 10
GamePro (US) 4.5 out of 5
GameSpot 6.8 out of 10
GameSpy 85%
IGN 7 out of 10
PC Gamer (US) 76%
PC zone 90%
Meta-ratings
GameRankings 74.77%
Metacritic 74 of 100

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption received medium ratings ( GameRankings : 74.77% / Metacritic : 74 out of 100). Above all, the graphics and the acoustics of the game were praised. On the other hand, the path finding and problems with the camera were criticized. The original storage function, which only allowed storage at selected points or in one's own accommodation, was also criticized. A patch after publication made it possible to save at any time.

particularities

There are three versions of the finale. If you have always behaved "humanly" and never killed a person, but only vampires and monsters , you get Anezka and make her a Brujah. If you submit to Vukodlak in the end, she dies. If the humanity value has sunk too low due to excessive drinking of people and other atrocities, one usurps Vukodlak's place, bites it and rules even in the new millennium.

The game also includes a multiplayer mode with a game master function. This allows adventures in the style of pen & paper role-playing games to be carried out online or in the network .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Andreas Philipp: Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption - Review. In: Gameswelt . Web Media Publishing AG, June 5, 2000, accessed July 25, 2011 .
  2. a b Heinrich Lenhardt: Bloodsuckers between two worlds: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption in the test. In: GameStar . IDG , August 1, 2000, accessed on July 25, 2011 : “ After storms of protest in the USA, however, the developer Nihilistic decided to quickly program a patch which, among other things, should allow saving and pausing the fight at any time. "
  3. a b Florian Stangl: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption: May it be a little more? In: PC Games . Computec Media Group , March 7, 2001, accessed July 25, 2011 .
  4. Joe Nettelbeck: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption . In: PC Player . No. 08/2000 , August 2000, pp. 98-102 ( pcplayer.de [ARTIKELSCAN]).
  5. Tom Bradwell: Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption Review. In: EuroGamer.net . Eurogamer Network , August 24, 2000, accessed January 25, 2013 .
  6. Jay Turner: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption. In: GamePro (US). IDG , November 20, 2000, archived from the original on March 31, 2004 ; accessed on January 25, 2013 .
  7. ^ Greg Kasavin: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption Review. In: GameSpot . CNET , June 9, 2000, accessed January 25, 2013 .
  8. Gino Gard: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption. In: GameSpy . News Corp. June 17, 2000, archived from the original on February 7, 2003 ; accessed on January 25, 2013 .
  9. Vincent Lopez: Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption. In: IGN . News Corp. , June 16, 2000, accessed January 25, 2013 .
  10. PC Gamer (US) 09/2000, September 2000, p. 95.
  11. a b GameRankings : Average rating of the game , based on 33 ratings. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  12. a b Metacritic : Average rating of the game , based on 22 articles. Retrieved January 25, 2013.