Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption | |
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Developer(s) | Nihilistic Software |
Publisher(s) | Activision |
Director(s) | Ray Gresko |
Designer(s) |
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Programmer(s) | Rob Huebner |
Artist(s) | Maarten Kraaijvanger |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS |
Release | June 7, 2000 |
Genre(s) | Role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Aggregate scores | |
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Aggregator | Score |
GameRankings | 75% |
Metacritic | 74/100 |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
CGW | 1.5/5 |
Eurogamer | 6/10 |
Game Revolution | B– |
GameSpot | 6.8/10 |
PC Gamer (US) | 76% |
PC Zone | 90/100 |
Computer Games Magazine | 4/5 |
Next Generation | 3/5 |
Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption is a 2000 role-playing video game developed by Nihilistic Software and released by Activision for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Set in White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness, the game is based on White Wolf's role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and follows the adventures of Christof Romuald, a 12th-century French crusader who is killed and subsequently revived as a Vampire. The game depicts Christof's centuries-long journey from the Dark Ages of 12th century Prague and Vienna to modern-day London and New York City in search of his humanity and his kidnapped love, the nun Anezka.
Redemption is presented in the first- and third-person perspectives. The player controls Christof and up to three allies through a linear structure, providing the player with missions to progress through a set narrative. Certain actions committed by Christof throughout the game can raise or lower his humanity, affecting which of the game's three endings the player receives. As a Vampire, Christof is imbued with a variety of abilities and powers that can be used to combat or avoid enemies and obstacles. Use of these abilities drains Christof's supply of blood which can be replenished by drinking from enemies or innocents. It includes multiplayer gameplay called "Storyteller", which allows one player to create a narrative for a group of players with the ability to modify the game dynamically in reaction to the players' actions.
Founded in March 1998, Nihilistic's twelve-man team began development of Redemption the following month as their first game. It took the team twenty-four months to complete on a budget of US$1.8 million. The team relied on eight outside contractors to provide elements that the team could not supply, such as music and artwork. The game's development was difficult: late changes to software forced the developers to abandon completed code and assets; a focus on high-quality graphics and sound meant that the game ran poorly on some computer systems; and the original scope of the game exceeded the game's schedule and budget, forcing the team to cancel planned features.