{"id":15633,"date":"2022-05-18T15:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1647315"},"modified":"2022-05-18T15:29:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T13:29:10","slug":"vampire-the-masquerade-swansong-review-gory-gorgeous-with-grating-puzzles","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/vampire-the-masquerade-swansong-review-gory-gorgeous-with-grating-puzzles\/","title":{"rendered":"Vampire The Masquerade Swansong review: Gory & gorgeous with grating puzzles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rob Leane\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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<\/div> 4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div>

Launching this week is Vampire: The Masquerade \u2013 Swansong<\/a>, the latest role-playing video game in the series of bloodthirsty titles inspired by the VTM tabletop game.<\/p>\n

Set once again in the \u2018World of Darkness\u2019, where powerful vampires live in secret sects around the globe, VTM Swansong focuses in on a community of blood-suckers in Boston who are quickly thrown into danger \u2013 a number of their members have been killed in a brutal attack, and it\u2019s down to the player to find out what happened.<\/p>\n

To do so, you\u2019ll take control of no fewer than three main playable characters: Galeb, a sinister henchman of the prince; Emem, a club owner with short-range teleporting powers; and Leysha, who has strange visions and was recently released from a mental health institution.<\/p>\n

With all of these elements to introduce, plus the entire court of power players in Boston (all of whom are new characters to the franchise), the game does take a little while to get started. Plus, if you\u2019ve never played one of these games before, it might take you an hour or so to understand how it all works.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, it\u2019s worth noting that this game is not about combat or action. It couldn\u2019t be more different, in that sense, to the recent Vampire: The Masquerade \u2013 Bloodhunt multiplayer game. That other title is all about gunplay, whereas Swansong very much is not.<\/p>\n

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Galeb makes a headstart on his investigations in Vampire: The Masquerade \u2013 Swansong.<\/span><\/figcaption> Nacon<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

This is more of a point-and-click detective simulator, with each character undertaking a series of levels where they need to walk about, interact with every item they can find, decode clues, locate key people, solve puzzles, tackle tricky conversations and ultimately steer situations to the conclusion you want.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re into the flow of this investigative gameplay, Swansong really starts to shine. There\u2019s a really admirable amount of choice in each different scenario. Not only can you side with different characters and pick between different conversation options (pretty standard RPG fare), but also you can choose to investigate minor background details that could lead to significant discoveries. There are multiple paths through every mission, and even if you work super hard, you\u2019ll probably learn at the end that you missed a few things.<\/p>\n

In most of these missions, the level design is top notch, with plenty of secrets to find and stories to piece together across some visually gorgeous locales. The graphics on the characters models are great, too, and the soundtrack is suitably eerie throughout. It all adds up to a satisfying slow-burn of a game that you\u2019ll want to take your time with.<\/p>\n