E3 2019: Bloodlines 2 Gameplay Trailer Reveals Seattle's Vampiric Underbelly

Paradox Interactive dropped the first gameplay trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 at E3 2019 during the PC Gaming Show.

A successor to the cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, this sequel casts you in the role of a recently turned vampire on the rainy moonlit city streets of Seattle. The publisher's description for Bloodlines 2 says it "features reactive storytelling, fast-paced combat, and compelling characters with their own hidden motives. Created in an act of vampiric insurrection, players start the game as a fledgling Thinblood whose existence ignites a war among the vampire factions in Seattle. To survive in vampire society, players will enter into uneasy alliances with Seattle’s factions and join one of the full-blood vampire clans while stalking the city streets for prey, maneuvering complex political relationships, and balancing the need for blood against their withering humanity."

E3 2019 Conference Schedule

• Monday, June 10, 1 PM PT -- Ubisoft Press Conference
• Monday, June 10, 4:30 PM PT -- Kinda Funny Showcase
• Monday, June 10, 6 PM PT -- Square Enix Press Conference
• Tuesday, June 11, 9 AM PT -- Nintendo Direct Showcase

The lengthy trailer explores some of these aspects of the game's design in more detail, giving you a good idea of its basic structure. Much like the first game, Bloodlines 2 looks to be an immersive RPG, with quests that you're free to complete in numerous ways, access to a plethora of vampiric powers, and dialogue options that will have both an immediate impact and inevitably change the course of the narrative as it gradually unfurls.

Bloodline 2 offers a mixture of shooting and melee combat, with shotguns and baseball bats ready to be wielded. You're also much more agile than you were in the first game, with the trailer showcasing your supernatural ability to scamper up incredibly high walls in pursuit of a target.

One of the new vampiric abilities is called "resonance." Senior writer Cara Ellison explained, "Vampires can see the emotional resonance of beings, like fear or desire, and they can feed on those people to feel the same thing". A person's blood quality will essentially alter from one character to the next, with each one containing specific attributes. Feeding on a particular person will grant you a short-term buff depending on who it is, so it sounds like there will be an element of strategy when it comes to choosing your victim that ties into whichever quest you're trying to complete.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 doesn't have a concrete release date yet, but it's due out in Q1 of 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

More E3 news:

• New Xbox console, Scarlett, revealed
• Xbox Scarlett details: 8K, 120 FPS, SSD
• Elden Ring is From Software and George RR Martin's new game
• Cyberpunk 2077 release date announced
• Final Fantasy VII Remake announced