Reviews for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 went live this week, revealing a mixed reception for the long-delayed sequel. As of writing this, the game currently sits at 64 on OpenCritic, with most outlets scoring it between 6/10 and 7.5/10.
Critics consistently praise the game’s World of Darkness atmosphere and political storytelling. The Seattle setting captures the moody, gothic tone fans expect from the franchise. Several reviewers highlighted the intrigue-driven narrative that places players in the middle of vampire politics and Camarilla power struggles.
The positive notes end there for many outlets.
Reviews repeatedly criticize Bloodlines 2 for stripped-down RPG mechanics compared to the 2004 original. Multiple critics note the near-total absence of dialogue skill checks and limited player choice reactivity. Side quests fall into repetitive loops of “kill target” or “fetch item” missions. The game’s hub areas are described as small and static, with few memorable NPCs or dynamic encounters.
Combat splits opinion sharply. Some found it snappy and functional. Others called it unfinished or outright bad. TechRadar delivered one of the harshest verdicts, labeling the combat “atrocious” and calling Bloodlines 2 one of the worst games the reviewer had played. The review cited pacing issues, technical problems, and a lifeless world.
IGN’s review suggested the journey works but the ending undermines the choice-driven setup, drawing comparisons to Mass Effect 3‘s controversial finale. Meanwhile, Dexerto took a more positive stance, arguing that player choices do meaningfully affect the narrative.
Technical issues appear across multiple reviews. Several outlets reported bugs and polish problems, though the severity varies by reviewer.
One particularly striking criticism involves the Masquerade system itself. At least one reviewer claimed breaking the Masquerade carries almost no lasting consequence—police aggro resets after waiting two minutes in a safe location.
A game that almost wasn’t
The mixed reception caps one of the most troubled developments in recent memory. Paradox Interactive announced Bloodlines 2 in 2019 with Hardsuit Labs as the developer and a planned March 2020 release date.
That date came and went. The project cycled through delays, leadership changes, and the removal of original narrative leads. In 2021, Paradox pulled Hardsuit Labs off the project entirely and handed development to The Chinese Room, the narrative-focused studio behind Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Still Wakes the Deep.
The Chinese Room essentially rebuilt the game from scratch. Their studio background skews heavily toward atmospheric storytelling over complex systems design, which may explain why Bloodlines 2 feels lighter on RPG mechanics than many expected.
The original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines launched in 2004 from Troika Games as a cult classic. Despite a notoriously buggy release, it built a devoted following thanks to its writing, atmosphere, and deep character-building systems. Community patches from modders like wesp5 kept the game alive for two decades, fixing bugs and restoring cut content.
Bloodlines 2 releases this week for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Whether it can build the same long-term community remains to be seen, but early reviews suggest it won’t match the original’s legacy out of the gate.
