Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is considered one of the classic PC RPGs. I've seen nothing but positive things about it, but to be honest, the cover art and the concept kind of warded me off of it. After all, vampires suck now.

Now, after 30 hours and having beaten the game, I can safely say it's one of the best games I've ever played.

It has a unique atmosphere, gothic without feeling forced, gritty and stylish. It takes what the modern take on the modern vampire is and makes it well... good. Great. Apparently, this is the norm for VTM (which I haven't played at Tabletop before). I would say its the best depiction of a modern vampire out there.

It's not all rosy, of course. This game doesn't pull any punches if you're not being careful and keeping aware. I couldn't even get the game to run on Steam. However, VTM-B has a very active, very devoted fanbase that creates custom content and mods so I was able to get a 'true to game' patch that simply made the game run in no time at all.

I only beat the game a few hours ago, but I am already thinking of second play throughs, with new mods and new choices. This game gives the player a ton of opportunities to alter the story, too. I felt like, at most every juncture, that my decisions mattered. That I wasn't just plodding through the developer's story but that I was writing a story of my own.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines manages to hold together a beautifully crafted environment, with some satisfying combat and evocative NPC interaction and story telling. It borders on perfection and a standard that other RPGs should be held to.

Pros:
+Amazing Atmosphere
+Cool and gothic without feeling forced
+Likeable/multidimensional NPCs
+Lots of choices and approaches to both build and story progression
+Satisfying, high-impact combat (at least in melee)
+Active fanbase producing extra content
+Very addictive once things get going

Cons:
-The first half hour or so of the game are slow and fail to grab attention
-The unmodded/unpatched game was not playable for me (but this is not such a big issue)
-Character building and numbers can be unintuitive

Overall, I would say it's completely worth the purchase, even at non-sale price.