Last year, I invited a couple of friends down to my apartment to play Vampire: The Masquerade. Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game created by White Wolf where players create their vampires and roam around a dark city. Vampire: The Masquerade is one of my favorite role-playing games, as I love the dark aesthetic of the game. I found on Steam a variety of different Vampire: The Masquerade video games and decided to play them. Overall, it’s a gritty gaming experience, although I was left wanting more.

Vampire: The Masquerade Shadows of New York tells the story of Julia, who’s a reporter in NYC. The story she’s writing falls through, and she’s swiftly fired from her job. On the subway home, she’s approached by a vampire whom she’s “embraced,” which is Vampire: the Masquerade terminology for being turned into a vampire. As Julia gets comfortable with vampire society, she’s sent to investigate the murder of an older, more senior member of their clan. As she interviews other vampires, she realizes the murder is only the beginning of a sinister plot set to unfold.

I loved the art in Shadows of New York; it was easily the highlight of playing the game. Each scene Julia was in had darker tones mixed with a dark purple, which reminds me of the cover of the Vampire: The Masquerade rulebook. The above screenshot is when Julia was embraced. She looks down at New York with sudden darkness she never had access to before. Everything artistic about the game was aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Shadows of New York is described on Steam as a visual novel, which is fitting for the game. There wasn’t much interaction I had as the player; it was a lot of listening to the dialogue and choosing actions when prompted. The game prided itself on being able to sway the outcome of the story; however, there were only five major choices for Julia. I wish there were more. I don’t feel duped, as this was a visual novel, so it’s more about viewing the story versus participating in the game, but I wish I were able to choose more outcomes in the game.

Besides the interaction piece, the game felt too short. According to Steam, I only played this game for five hours. There isn’t anything I need to replay since I finished the game twice, and I have unlocked all the achievements. I think it was worth it to replay this game twice to see both endings. Five hours for two full playthroughs of the game means each time I played a full game, it was about two and a half hours apiece. The game itself is priced at $12.99, which I would say is fair for what I got. I wonder if DLC will get released for this because I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Vampire: The Masquerade Shadows of New York was an enjoyable game; however, I wish there were more to the game. I want a game released similar to Shadows of New York, but make it more investigative. Let me, as the player, examine crime scenes and pick which mortal I can feed on. Let me customize my vampire, pick my clan, and change the appearance of my vampire. Once that game is released, I will be a happy vampire camper.