The radical change in setting is one of the game’s best features, including all the changes in characters and equipment (guns!) that time brings. A mid-game turn of events puts Christof on ice until 1999, where you’ll continue the tale in the gothic underbellies of modern day London and New York. Without venturing too far into spoiler territory, it’s worth noting that the story expands across a century. Low humanity, earned from bloodthirsty decisions or killing innocents, gives you the poopy ending. Talk about how you won’t abandon Anezka or refuse your next task (trust me, it’s always just talk) and your humanity meter stays up while the linear story goes on unimpeded. Any conflict is instead handled by your dialogue choices and some in-game actions, which reflect in a “humanity” meter. For the purposes of gameplay, Christof is totally okay with being a vampire pretty quickly – including willingly taking orders from the very vampire that “killed” him and denied him his love. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t choose to dwell on this.
There’s an obvious set-up for some delicious, if telegraphed, conflict as the stalwart soldier of God must come to grips with his new reality as a member of the walking damned.
This act draws the attention of the other vampire clans, and he is soon “embraced” by a small clan who intend to use his skills in a growing vampire civil war. Their forbidden love/lust is built over the game’s initial missions, which see Christof heading into a nearby mine and slaying his first vampire lord. There, he meets the young nun Anezka, and passions instantly flare. After being wounded in battle, he is sent to recuperate at a monastery in Prague. Redemption follows the tragic tale of Christof, initially a loyal Templar knight in the year 1141. It does this extremely well – so it’s unfortunate that the gameplay doesn’t keep up. A modern audience is probably more familiar with the psuedo-sequel Vampire: Bloodlines (and if you’re not, I’d recommend it) but Redemption offers the first chance to explore the dark vampire lore of the series. I’ve written before about how video games and RPGs make such good bedfellows, and White Wolf – makers of the popular pen-and-paper series World of Darkness – clearly agreed.
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