Most video games based on Vampire: The Masquerade focus on trying to maintain the tenuous peace that’s existed between the various vampire clans for centuries. Free-to-play battle royale Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is what happens when vampires stop being nice and start getting real. Well, real violent, that is.
In case it ends up mattering in some significant way, the ancient undead of developer Sharkmob’s Bloodhunt have set upon one another due to some sort of treacherous betrayal. The ensuing war has exposed the vamps to a secret society known as The Entity, which is a very good name for a secret society and they should be very proud. As strike teams from the Second Inquisition descend upon the city of Prague, rival vampire sects use their powers, weapons, and wits in order to be the last bloodsucker standing when the match ends. If you ask me, it all sounds like some sort of Malkavian plot. It’s always a Malkavian plot. The debut trailer has Malkavian plot written all over it.
“It’s great to finally unveil what the team has been working on since the inception of the studio,” said Sharkmob CEO Fredrik Rundqvist via press release. “Our goal is to deliver a mature, unique experience for the genre. We hope Bloodhunt will become just that for fans of both battle royale games and Vampire: The Masquerade alike.”
Having been playing Vampire: The Masquerade video games and occasionally attending live-action Vampire role-playing events for decades now, I’m actually jazzed about a game that just lets us tear into each other. What’s the use of having all of these special vampire powers if we never get to use them?
And we’ll get to use them pretty soon, too. Sharkmob is holding a PC closed alpha for the game on July 2, which players can sign up for on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt’s official website. The full free-to-play game will be available on Steam later this year.