The World of Darkness series has recently seen an explosion in the number of video game adaptations it has gotten through its Vampire: The Masquerade titles. Within the span of just a few months, we've gotten two high-profile releases in the form of Bloodhunt and Swansong.
These were preceded by a number of games released over the years that span genres as diverse as action RPGs and visual novels. And with even more games expected to release in the near future, we've decided to take a look back at the entire series. What follows is our definitive ranking of all the Vampire: The Masquerade games currently available.
7 Vampire: The Masquerade
Developed and published by Choice of Games, Vampire: The Masquerade is a series of text-based interactive novels released for PC and mobile phones starting with Night Road by Kyle Marquis in 2019.
Other stories in the series include Out for Blood by Jim Dattilo, Parliament of Knives by Jeffrey Dean, and Sins of the Sires by Natalia Theodoridou. Each one centers upon the experiences of a different vampire in settings that range from the Southern United States to Greece while being based on the fifth edition of the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game. Its text-based nature means that the visualization of its storytelling is left to the player's imagination, which in turn limits its overall appeal when compared to the other entries.
6 Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
The second of two visual novels developed by Draw Distance, Shadows of New York was released on PC as a standalone expansion to Coteries of New York. It takes place several months after the previous game, and players take on the role of Julia Sowinski, a vampire investigating the death of the local leader of the Anarch Movement.
Unlike its predecessor, the game has two distinct endings, and the one you get will depend on the choices made as well as the characters you chose to align yourself with.
5 Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
Coteries of New York is the first of two visual novels by Draw Distance and was released on PC in 2019, with versions for consoles following a year later. Its story was written by Krzysztof Zięba and as its title suggests, the game takes place in New York, during heightened conflicts between two vampire factions known as the Camarilla and the Anarchs.
Players get to choose between one of three characters: a man from the Brujah clan, another from clan Toreador, and a businesswoman from clan Ventrue. And all through the adventure, similar choices will guide your chosen character along several branching paths that ultimately culminate in the same unsatisfying ending.
4 Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong
Swansong is the latest game in the Vampire: The Masquerade video game series. It was developed by Big Bad Wolf and published by Nacon, the latter of which had also published Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, another game set in the World of Darkness universe.
A story-driven RPG by design, Swansong has players hopping between three vampires as they each investigate the events surrounding a Boston shootout. The first is Galeb, a man from clan Ventrue. Then there is Emem, a woman from clan Toreador. And rounding out the cast is Leysha from clan Malkavian. Each one has specific abilities that aid them with their investigation, and the bulk of its gameplay involves combing various crime scenes for clues and navigating tricky conversations with its in-depth dialogue system.
3 Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption
Redemption is the first official Vampire: The Masquerade video game adaptation. Released for PC in 2000, its story tracks the adventures of a centuries-old vampire named Christof who is in search of his love interest after she gets kidnapped.
The game is played from both a first and third-person perspective, with its gameplay involving the player leading Christof and a party of up to three companions. He can make use of upgradable abilities known as disciplines, which in turn govern stats such as strength and speed. Prior to its release, the game had won the 1999 Game Critics Award for Best Role-Playing Game following its showing at that year's E3.
2 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a free-to-play Battle-royale game. It was developed and published by Sharkmob and released exclusively for the PS5 and PC in 2022.
The game takes place in the city of Prague, during a civil war between vampire factions, and it has up to 45 players fighting to be the last one standing across the city streets and rooftops. They can make use of their vampire abilities to perform feats such as scaling walls and whole buildings, as well as conventional weapons like guns, all while trying to maintain the Masquerade by concealing their true natures from the humans that call the city home
1 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Released in 2004, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is perhaps the first game most players think of when the series as a whole is brought up in conversation. This is mainly due to the troubled production behind the highly-ambitious action role-playing game, which ultimately resulted in the closure of the Troika Games development studio.
Despite poor sales at the time of its release, the game had grown to harbor a cult following. This has led to the development of a sequel, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, which is currently on track for a cross-gen release despite suffering some setbacks of its own.