Redemption begins the first endeavor to turn the pen & paper roleplaying game into a video game with lackluster resu
The game centers around Christof and his crusade to rid the land of evil. Inevitably, Christof is embraced, becoming a vampire due to his valor and the belief that he might change things for the better. The game will take Christof over a time period of nearly 1,000 years. If that doesn't sound like the beginning of a great action-adventure game, then I don't know what it is. The problem is it's supposed to be a roleplaying game. Some of the flaws I feel in the gameplay come from the deviation from the rules of the books themselves and the blatant disregard for any real attention to the characteristics of the vampire clans themselves. Christof has the ability to learn so many different vampire disciplines in the game that it's almost unbelievable that he would even have the time considering his sole focus on the quest to save his precious Nun. In fact, once you play the game long enough you'll realize that the game is more like an action-adventure game than an action-RPG. Christof being from Clan Brujah, but being able to learn powers such as Thaumaturgy is a joke to anyone who knows even the least about the Vampire: The Masquerade series. Still, if you don't know anything about the series, you'll likely find Christof's arsenal of powers to be one of the game's strong points.
For people who've actually played the tabletop game, you'll find that the powers are, at least, decently implemented. However, there's really no realism or connection to the tabletop game aside from powers. Christof can never actually fall to the Beast within himself, so aside from a different ending you don't have any incentive to not kill everyone you see. You and your coterie members can be resurrected, so aside from not having the proper scroll, there's no reason to care about their well-being outside of needing them for boss fights.
The game is very hack-and-slash too. Buying guns in the game is pretty pointless considering the sword that Christof carries will practically kill everyone. Aside from some minor puzzles, there's really not any outside of killing the monsters.
There's nothing special about the graphics, at least viewing it from today's standards. The character models do look decent and the environments are pretty large. However, it's unlikely for you to be absolutely wowed by the game.
Sound is good point in the game. It has a dark, driving score and some pretty decent voice acting. It's a little better than the average game, but nothing to give rewards to.
There are multiple endings and improving your character can be fun so the value of the game isn't completely lost. You'll likely spend somewhere around 10 to 12 hours working to beat the game the first time and can return for the additional endings. There's an online mode, but it appears as though little has been done with it ever.
There's not much I can say about this game. You can definitely see the source material even if it is hollow. Fans of the pen and paper game are likely to play this and leave feeling unfulfilled, but people playing this game with no knowledge of the former will more than likely enjoy it. In the end, I was somewhat disappointed, but at least enjoyed the game enough to get through it.
The good: Implementation of the powers is good, sound is decent, multiple endings raise value some.
The bad: Deviates quite a bit from source material, might be considered short, graphics and gameplay are so-so.