Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Art Blast
This month, our team at The Chinese Room brought Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to un-life, a game set in the iconic World of Darkness. Our team has a great deal of experience making worlds set on a backdrop of horror, but this game gave us a chance to show players a world where they’re not just immersed in fear, but also causing it.
The story told in Bloodlines 2 has neo-noir, machiavellian themes at its heart, and that was where our inspiration began. Vampire: The Masquerade has a rich visual library to draw from through its tabletop RPG books, and of course we wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the original 2004 Bloodlines, but that was just our starting point. Noir design uses shadows and light to express emotions to the viewer, and in a Vampire game, we flipped this idea on its head: as a nocturnal predator, areas infused with light are where humans dwell and the Masquerade is at risk, signalling danger to the player, while the cold, dark, hidden spaces are where vampires thrive.
Vampire: The Masquerade is also a setting with its own visual language and iconography, and we knew fans would be on the lookout for a lore-accurate world that felt right. We took special care to ingrain the World of Darkness in everything inside the game, from character design and environmental storytelling to VFX, UI elements, cinematography – our game bleeds style in every aspect.
It was also a unique honor to get to design a wholly new way to view the World of Darkness – through the eyes of an Elder Vampire, something the series has never done before. Viewing the modern world of 2024 Seattle, but from the viewpoint of a complete outsider, waking up after a hundred years of torpor, and finding the buzzing, active world both intriguing and threatening. It’s been incredible working with the amazing talent that our artists brought to the table, sharing in that passion and creativity.
Ben Matthews
Project Art Director, The Chinese Room
Ben Matthews – Art Director – The Chinese Room
Kei Kasai – Lead Character Artist – The Chinese Room
Tim Turner – Principal Character Artist – The Chinese Room
Kjartan Tysdal – Senior Character Artist – The Chinese Room
Michele Nucera – Lead Concept Artist – The Chinese Room
Jordan Grimmer – Senior Concept Artist – The Chinese Room
Isobel Hine – Concept Artist – The Chinese Room
Sandrine Neill – Lighting Artist – The Chinese Room
Jamie Berry – VFX Artist – The Chinese Room
Michael Genesis Asis – Lead Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Adam Sharp – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Alistair Grant – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Craig Richards – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
David Vortrefflich – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Dermott Burns – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Kieran Goodson – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Malik Fernandez – Senior Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Dani Ontiveros – Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Filipp Sparak – Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Gabriela Woch – Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Jasdev Singh – Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Oliver Hawes – Environment Artist – The Chinese Room
Leon Holmes – QA Tester/Additional Art Support – The Chinese Room
