WELCOME TO VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE-BLOODLINES 2

I HAVE WOKEN UP IN AN ABANDONED BUILDING IN SEATTLE, A CENTURIES-OLD VAMPIRE WHO HAS BEEN IN A TORPOR FOR 100 YEARS. WHO FORCED ME INTO A SURPRISE SLUMBER? HOW DID I GET TO SEATTLE? AND WHY THE HECK AM I HEARING ANOTHER VAMPIRE IN MY HEAD? THESE TANTALIZING QUESTIONS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG IN A GAME THAT UNEXPECTEDLY FEELS LIKE A CLASSIC PULP NOIR DETECTIVE YARN.

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Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2, from my double helping of the game's prologue, is very keen to let you embrace the power fantasy of being a supernatural predator, but it equally focuses on solving mysteries and crimes. Imagine splicing Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles with Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, and you're close.

But let's jump back a bit to the first question you might be asking yourself: who am I? Unlike Redemption or the first Bloodlines, which kicked you into the World of Darkness as a vampire, this time we play as the Nomad, who picks the nom de guerre Phyre-a vampire celebrity who's not been forgotten despite these years of sleeping.

WAKEY WAKEY Playing a character with so much power-even though you've lost much of it, thanks to an as-of-yet unexplained ritual-and so much history is a very different experience.

But developer The Chinese Room, you'll be glad to know, has not gone down the exposition dump route when it comes to introducing Phyre.

YOU'LL HAVE CHANCES TO DEFINE YOUR HISTORY, WHICH STARTS WHEN YOU DESCRIBE A KEY MOMENT FROM YOUR PAST