A Look at Vampire the Masquerade – Bloodlines Part 16

After a long leave of absence, I make a brief return to continue the tale of Mark Flavian, kindhearted madman and vampire in Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Here Mark stands looking over the graveyard, wondering how long has he been standing here.

Onward through the shortcut!

Jason Anderson and Tim Cain? I am sure that those folk are not significant in anyway...

[Kidding, of course. Real Fallout fans ought to know who the two are or at least, should know who Tim Cain is.]

Now for a quick crawl through here...

Oh dear... Whatever dirty secret Tawni had must have been pretty dirty.

The least Mark should get for causing someone's death is some monetary compensation. Now to find out what Tawni did.

Oh.... At least it was not necrophilia...?

As further compensation, it is time to collect a new quest from Imalia: Getting Imalia a magazine featuring herself.

Well, there is only one kind of place that may sell magazines with scantily-clad women.

Now to ask this sleaze-bag for the goods.

And there is the option!

Wouldn't jacking off to Tawni be counted as necrophilia now?

Oh... so Imalia went missing last year? Interesting...

Darn... Mark does not have enough skills in Finance.

Not sure if Mark would since he just lost 500 dollars. Also, why are those pages stuck toge-

Urgh... You are a sad, sick little man...

Mark demands compensation for this loss of income.

Looks like this is the magazine Imalia is looking for.

Now to present it to Imalia.

Not sure why the camera does not center on her here but it still works.

Oh, she does pay Mark for his work. Hopefully it covers the costs.

I guess not... Ah well, the experience points would be useful.

Now for Imalia's origin story (again if I have posted this before).

The blanks as I have filled them: Imalia screamed at the sight of Gary and as she did so, he threw the martini near her to draw her attention before Embracing her.

"Life is a cold-hearted bitch, so now I get to be one too." - Imalia 

Alright, got it written down here.

She is at least grateful so I guess Mark gets to keep his reputation as a kind-hearted madman or at least, a helpful madman.

Now to complete some side-quests...

In Santa Monica.

As one can tell, Bertram has a task for Mark.

So the task is to find a CD in the Warrens to get him to teach you something.

This is why I had Mark pick up the CD first. It will save up on the backtracking.

The player character is supposed to get some additional points in the appropriate skills but I'm not sure if Mark did get those points. He did get the experience points at least.

Now to check back with the old Haven.

A lot of e-mails. Time to read most of them.

Here are the quests Mark has obtained. One of them can be handled in Santa Monica, so Mark gets to that one first.

Before heading to it, Mark remembers to grab the key in his post-box.

Now I will level up Mark's lockpicking skill.

For this part. There is something in here to take.

Also, Mercurio has a new toy for Mark.

A tactical riffle, complete with toggle-able zoom. For now, Mark will not be using it.

Here lies Megahurtz Computing.

Now to sneak around, even though I am aware that the place is deserted.

The door directly across from the entrance leads to this room with a man-sized vent.

That leads to another room with this power switch.

Unlocking the door of that room means that Mark will not have to crawl back to the other room.

Here is the room with the terminal required to proceed.

The password can be found in the quest log but since I am too lazy to open it up, I will have Mark hack it instead.

I wonder if he is related to Norman or Bill?

Only one command is available so Mark uses that one...

Which enables a hub of Schrecknet that allows the quest-line to progress.

Now to head to Downtown.

Here is a disturbing image with a disturbing message! World of Darkness, reader!

Before heading up, Mark completes the other quest in the log by placing the required item in his post box.

Been a while since Mark has spoken to Heather. I guess she is in need of her fix.

Vampire blood. It does that to you.

Looks like there are more quests from Mitnick for Schrecknet.

Now to go to the place where it all began.

Via the sewers, of course.

What Mark needs is the access point that leads into the theatre.

Like this one.

Okay, he is in.

With a creepy poster to greet him.

This time, there are guards in the place where Mark intends to break into.

To get around the patrolling guard, Mark ascends to a position of superior altitude.

From above, the Mark gazes at the ground, wondering how did he survive that first night... Or he is standing still so that the human player could get this screen-cap.

The spot where it all began and the last place Mark would like to drop onto.

X marks the spot though I have to wonder if the Nosferatu will clean up the obvious mark later.

Camera set and it is one of those old web-cams.

Now to find the active computer of the theatre.

With a little help from Obfuscate. Without it, this part requires impeccable timing and a good Sneak stat.

Several of these doors serve as decoys and hiding spots from the patrolling guard.

Have I ever mentioned how useful Obfuscate is? Because here I am mentioning it again.

Here is the active computer.

There goes the cameras.

Now for net security.

What better way to avoid jinxing.

Time to activate the hub.

If James Bond were a madman with his hair ripped out, maybe.

Now to sneak out.

With Obfuscate, of course.

Normal, non-Obfuscated players ought to use the catwalks to sneak around this part. Mark is just using them to prove this point.

With that, Mark has bypassed the last of the guards.

Which means he is home-free.

Now for a quick nip of rat.

And a return to the surface.

Or rather the apartment's basement.

Remember that tape I left in the mail? That was for Gary who will pay for such items with a poster of the various female character of the game. Here is Jeanette. I wonder how Therese would feel about this poster in Mark's haven?

Now for the next set of quests. Another poster quest and a new place to break into for Schrecknet.

Here is the key to the place.

And here is the item Mark needs to hand over for the poster.

The reward is this poster of V.V.

Here is the next poster quest.

With the required item.

Huh... a character Mark has not met yet. Looks like I broke some kind of sequence here.

A poster of Damsel, eh?

Looks like it is time to head back to Hollywood for Schrecknet and posters.

Here is the entrance. The sign makes it rather obvious.

Inside are these shelves of stored goods and guards unseen in this screen-cap. This area is tough to sneak around due to how small the area is for sneaking around.

Obfuscate is Mark's friend here.

The most important place to enter in this place is the security room on the opposite side of the entrance. This room, in fact.

The reason: It unlocks everything you need.

Rock on indeed.

Now for some sensual sneaking.

Infiltrating the interior of this building.

In that case, salute me as I destroy your security and set up a hub here.

Not me. I rarely use Turbo in Fallout New Vegas.

Huh... After all those messages, this one is rather bland.

Now to set up Schrecknet.

And there's the e-mail from Mitnick.

This is the next item needed for a poster.

Now to sneak out with Obfuscate.

Now to return to Downtown for my prize and next mission.

Human Damsel, eh? She is definitely gonna be pissed about this.

New e-mails.

Here are the next quests. All of them are in Chinatown so it is time to proceed with the main story.

To Chinatown!

Self-explanatory.

Here, in front of this shop named Tseng's, is where we will stop for now in this look at Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines. Next time, Mark will explore more of Chinatown and sample the local cuisine of side-quests.