Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review Tom's Guide Skip to main content Tom's Guide is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong has decent quest design, but unappealing graphics By Jordan Palmer published 18 May 2022 (Image: © Big Bad Wolf Studio) Tom's Guide Verdict Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong is a narrative, investigative RPG centered around three vampires in Boston. While the writing and quests are enjoyable, the visuals leave much to be desired. Swansong loses a lot of its charm with its jarring graphics. Pros + Interesting story and world-building+ Fun quest design+ Good voice acting Cons - Shoddy graphics and animations- Some tedious, unskippable elements- Numerous errors in text Today's best Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong deals (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$49.99 (opens in new tab)$38.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)Reduced Price (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$57.48 (opens in new tab)$40.19 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)Reduced Price (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$49.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)Show More DealsWe check over 250 million products every day for the best pricesVampire: The Masquerade - Swansong: Key InfoPrice: $49.99 Genre: RPG Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series XS, Nintendo Switch, PC (Epic Games) Developer: Big Bad Wolf Studio Publisher: Nacon I really, really wanted to love Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong. I'm a huge fan of the World of Darkness franchise, especially the Vampire subseries. The cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines remains one of my favorite games of all time. So when I learned about Swansong, I got excited, especially since Bloodlines 2 seems lost in limbo. However, Swansong's jarring visuals ultimately ripped me out of my immersion. No matter how hard I tried to get lost in the writing - which is pretty solid - the shoddy, unpolished graphics took me out of the moment. Whether I was weirded out by wooden faces, dead eyes or animations that looked unfinished, I found myself growing more and more annoyed and disappointed with Swansong over time. In this Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review, I'll go over why I think this game misses the mark, despite its strong foundation.Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong (PS4) at Amazon for $38.99 (opens in new tab) Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review: Gameplay Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong sees you play as three vampires: Galeb, Emem and Leysha. Each has their own skillset and abilities, ranging from invisibility to persuasion. You tackle separate missions with these characters as you try to uncover what's happening to the vampire culture in Boston. (Image credit: Big Bad Wolf Studio) As you go about these missions, you'll have to discover clues to progress the story. Whether it's tracking someone down via their scent or gaining access to restricted areas, Swansong tries to challenge you to solve problems in various ways. However, I wish the game gave you more freedom on how to accomplish each mission, since your play space is very limited. As Swansong is a narrative RPG, there are several choices you have to make at key moments in the narrative. These choices impact not only the story, but also the experience points that you gain at the end of each level. Experience points are critical to upgrading your vampires' skills and abilities. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) When you approach a clue, you will sometimes have the ability to unlock further information if you meet the skill requirements. Sometimes, you need to expend willpower, a finite resource you have in each level. You can also temporarily boost your skills in dialogue using willpower, giving you better odds of winning each skill check encounter. Just beware, as the NPC to whom you're speaking can do the same thing. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Using your vampiric powers increases your hunger, and the closer you get to maxing it out, the more likely your character is to succumb to their inner Beast. This primal force within each vampire can drive them to feed, even when it's not safe to do so. You can lower your hunger by finding safe zones, where you can lure unsuspecting victims in order to feed on them. Just don't get too greedy. (Image credit: Big Bad Wolf Studio) While Swansong lacks combat and any sense of freedom outside each mission's sandbox, you get access to more subtle aspects of being a vampire in the World of Darkness. You have to put your mind to use first, since force won't help you solve these mysteries. I like this change of pace over other games where you play as a vampire, such as Bloodlines or Vampyr. Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review: Story and setting Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong takes place in the Boston domain. You take on the roles of Galeb, an ancient Ventrue; Emem, a wily Toreador; and Leysha, an unstable Malkavian who has premonitions. All three are under orders from the Prince of Boston to figure out what happened at a party. Vampires of the local ruling Camarilla faction and the nearby Tremere Warlocks had gathered together to celebrate a unification treaty. But things went horribly wrong. (Image credit: Big Bad Wolf Studio) Since this game takes place in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th edition, vampires are all under threat. The Second Inquisition, a term used for the coalition of international intelligence agencies and the Vatican, has risen to slay all of these parasitic monsters, and has thus far accomplished said mission with alarming efficiency. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) As you progress through the game, you'll discover more and more about what's going on. The writing captivated me as I dug through the codex and picked apart every clue and piece of dialogue. (Image credit: Big Bad Wolf Studio) Some of the dialogue is a bit stiff and awkward, or occasionally outright cringey. But overall, I enjoyed Swansong's story and setting. While I acknowledge my bias toward this universe, if you like undead underworld intrigue, you'll like what Swansong's writers have done. Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review: Visuals and sound Swansong falls apart in the visuals department. While I don't expect flawless graphics, I do want to see a game that looks finished and polished. I played Swansong on PC at max settings, and it still looked like a game in the alpha stages. Characters are way too shiny, facial expressions don't seem to go above the characters' mouths and the wide, dead eyes genuinely weirded me out. Think Mass Effect: Andromeda and the "my face is tired" meme. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Character models also look unfinished. They're blocky, like you might find in a game from 10 or more years ago. Animations are also pretty bad, with even main characters walking unnaturally. I realize it might be difficult to properly animate a woman walking in high-heeled shoes, but Emem's gait in the opening section just doesn't look right. The visuals are so unnerving that they rip me out of my immersion in Swansong's story. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While the graphics disappoint, Swansong does redeem itself with its sound design. The soundtrack fades into the background, but it has a post-grunge vibe that reminded me of Bloodlines' soundtrack. The voice acting is also pretty good throughout the game, especially from the protagonists. A lot of the actors accurately portrayed the cool and collected vampires of the Camarilla, creatures that can be centuries old (as Galeb is). Vampire The Masquerade - Swansong review: Verdict Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong seems like it needed a lot more production time. On top of everything else, the copious amounts of errors and typos in the text further cemented this opinion. I think that it would have benefited from a delay or two. Swansong has a good underlying structure, but the overall product suffers from its rough presentation. As someone who enjoys Vampire: The Masquerade, I found the story engaging, but I couldn't get over the awkward facial expressions, animations, and character models. Swansong is a tough sell at $49. If you're interested in a solid Vampire story, I recommend Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York, or the original Bloodlines if you're feeling nostalgic. At this point, I'd wait to see if Swansong gets patched, and if you can find a good sale. Jordan PalmerPhones EditorJordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over six years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Outside of work, you can find him poring over open-source software and his studies. See all comments (0) No comments yet Comment from the forums Be In the Know Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. 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