Buy it on GOG, I believe the Steam version of Bloodlines doesn’t even launch. GOG version comes bundled with the “basic” version of the Unofficial Patch which - as far as I know - is literally required to be able to finish the game. GOG also has a one-click installer for the Plus Patch with more restored content as of like a month or two ago, if you’re into that. I personally recommend playing non-Malkavian Basic Patch for a first experience and doing Malkavian with the Plus Patch for a second playthrough.
The game is absolutely worth it, it’s a cult classic for a reason. The combat sucks so be prepared for that and the second half of the game is extremely rushed as the developers were forced to shove it out the door but even having said that it’s a great experience for what it is.
The steam version didn’t launch a while ago because it was still 32bit without any compatibility for 64bit. Last time I played it worked fine though. YMMV
Edit: there was also an unofficial workaround to get it working.
5 was fun. The gameplay was way better than 4. The biggest issues, imo, were making 2/3 of the game “follow MC due to being vaguely suspicious” and bringing back Cortana, even though it was a rampant version of the original.
The positives were Evil Cortana was the best best villain 343 has had, the Guardians were a great replacement for the Halo rings, and the gunplay was fun again. Also, Warzone was awesome.
MCC is mostly okay, with minor bugs and differences from the original release now after they had years to update and fix the game.
But every release from 343 has been subpar compared to the experiences we got from Bungie. Unfortunately, Bungie decided to fire or bully people out of the company that were actually important to making such good experiences by the time Destiny released, so they have been going downhill ever since as well.
It’s mostly underwhelming, IMHO. Pick it up on sale only, if you can. And make sure you have at least 8gb of vram, or it’ll cease working after you get to Italy.
The Games Workshop of 2025 is not the GW of… fucking corpse god, 2004. Modern day GW very much cares about their brand and the “synergy” with tabletop and the like.
So I assume this was greenlit when they were pushing Mechanicus and all the “Armies of the Imperium” very hard as a way to break up the Guard and specialize more with heroes and so forth.
That said: Assume there will be at least one “secret” faction closer to launch. Probably Chaos because… duh.
The Games Workshop of 2025 is not the GW of… fucking corpse god, 2004. Modern day GW very much cares about their brand and the “synergy” with tabletop and the like.
GW has always been about chasing trends and synergy with new products. Xenos being ignored in favour of human armies has been a meme for as long as the game existed. And I remember DoW1 including flying units in the last expansion just because GW was pushing them in the tabletop.
Has it become even worse? Tbh I hate GW and I don’t keep up with their news.
GW has always been about chasing trends and synergy with new products.
In the video gaming space? No.
They’ve gone through a few different waves. Pre-Relic (so 90s) we have a lot less information on since most of those studios were dead long before game journos even realized they could talk to people but it was very much characterized by “whatever looks like a strategy game”. Relic (and the folk who did the underrated Fantasy RTS) kind of had carte blanche in the early 2000s. Yes, there were some clear mandates to incorporate certain armies (largely indicated by Relic outsourcing Soulstorm) but it was a lot closer to what we see with Total Warhammer these days where it was kinda just “make a video game version of 40k”.
Then… Dawn of War 3 happened and everything came crashing down. Probably also the MMO nobody but me played and said fantasy RTS that even the fans can’t remember the name of. But holy crap did everyone hate Dawn of War 3 to the point I am shocked they didn’t remove the number entirely and just call this “Dawn of War: Yo Dog, Primarchs is Back. All them Blood Ravens suddenly feel a strong urge to hang with Magnus But We’re Gonna Ignore That”
Which led to an era of slop where anyone who bought a PR person a six pack of cider could get the license. But from what various studios have alluded to in the 2020s, that is mostly gone (outside of mobile slop which has largely slowed down) and it is very much a case where if a game is being made it is because a specific product is being pushed. With Total Warhammer largely being the last holdout since even GW realizes nobody cares about Age of Sigmar (it amuses me that probably one of the biggest supporters of AoS online is Louise Sugden who can’t go a single video without all but daring GW to come at her and get her to explain why she left).
So if the fricking Mechanicus is an army: There is a reason. And it very well might be the reason for the game itself.
Man, I’ve been waiting for this since the [white label] demo four years ago. Can’t believe it’s almost finally here. AND it had an updated demo all this time?! I know what I’m doing tonight.
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Aktywne