The “World of Darkness” is one of the most fleshed-out universes in role-play tabletop gaming. Crated by White Wolf Publishing in 1991, the World of Darkness is a shared universe comprised of different subseries of tabletop games based on classic horror monsters. Most notable of these include Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and Mage: The Ascension.
In the three decades since its inception, the World of Darkness has spawned no shortage of video games. Players can use these video games as an opportunity to explore the deep lore of that video game’s respective subseries without the need to coordinate group sessions. While each World of Darkness game varies in quality and scope, there are plenty of dialog choices, tough adversaries, and character builds for players to sink their teeth into.
Note: Not all “World of Darkness” games have a Metacritic score, and the scores listed are from the system with the most reviews.
After numerous canceled attempts, the first large-scale WTA video game was released in 2021 with Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood. Earthblood stars Cahal, an eco-terrorist fighting against a pollution-causing oil corporation. Cahal can transform into a wolf to sneak past guards or a werewolf when he needs to cause mayhem and destruction.
While promising, Earthblood was panned for its underwhelming story and overreliance on stealth sections. Although many critics felt playing in Cahal’s werewolf form was fun, the simplistic enemy A.I. prevented Earthblood’s combat from reaching its full potential.
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Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York Concludes The Story From Coteries Of New York (64 Metacritic Score, PC)
Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York is considered a standalone expansion to the visual novel Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York. Shadows of New York stars Julia, an investigative journalist who becomes a vampire. Julia is tasked to investigate the murder of an Anarch leader, which goes far deeper than she initially anticipated.
Shadows of New York wraps up the narrative that initially began in Coteries of New York, and was praised for its writing and art style. However, most critics felt that there was little player agency in how the story develops.
The most recent World of Darkness video game is 2022’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong. Unlike previous VTM video games, which were visual novels and text-based games, Swansong is a point-and-click adventure similar to the Telltale games. Swansong follows three vampires as they explore a deep-rooted conspiracy in Boston.
Swansong was praised for its depth in player choices, but many critics lamented its lackluster story that took too long to pick up steam. Critics were also mixed on Swansong’s puzzle elements, and most agreed that Swansong had issues with bugs and dull facial animations.
The hit Hunter: The Reckoning was quickly followed up by two sequels in late 2003. The first of these was Hunter: The Reckoning – Wayward, released exclusively for the PlayStation 2. Wayward, which takes place two years after the original HTR, maintains much of the same hack-and-slash cooperative combat as players must overcome monsters and cultists to save Ashcroft once again.
Wayward was praised for how its fun, cooperative, gameplay built upon the original HTR. Despite this, Wayward’s support for only one co-op partner, as opposed the previous game’s four, was disappointing. Wayward’s reuse of assets and locations was also criticized.
Coteries of New York is the first part of a visual novel duology set in New York, along with Shadows of New York. In Coteries of New York, players can choose between three different characters as they are initiated into the world of VTM. Coteries of New York tasks players with building their vampire coterie, which results in encountering fascinating characters.
Coteries of New York was praised for how well it eased players into the World Of Darkness and for its engaging story. The sudden ending and lack of a fast-forward option for later playthroughs were two critical sticking points.
The third and most recent in the HTR series was released just a month after Wayward for the original Xbox. Hunter: The Reckoning – Redeemer is set ten years after the original HTR, once again in the town of Ashcroft. In Redeemer, players must protect the Genefex Company, whose shipments are constantly attacked by werewolves.
Like Wayward, Redeemer was praised for the improvements made to the gameplay from the original HTR. Redeemer’s four-player combat and story were its main selling points, whereas criticism centered around the complex level design.
While Earthblood was the first large-scale WTA game, the smaller-scale Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest predated it by a year. A visual novel, Heart of the Forest tells the story of Maia Boroditch as she travels to Poland to learn more about her family history and, hopefully, her recurring nightmares.
Similar to the New York duology, Heart of the Forest was praised for its art style and writing. Critics also appreciated the amount of player agency, providing Heart of the Forest with plenty of replayability, as well as its dark and atmospheric setting.
The first video game in the VTM series, and World of Darkness as a whole, comes in the form of 2000’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption. Redemption spans multiple centuries as far back as the Dark Ages. Christof struggles to maintain his humanity in a dark world as he searches for his missing love.
Redemption was widely praised at the time of its release for its visual details and level design. Redemption went on to win the Game Critic Award’s “Best RPG” award in 1999. Most of its criticism was levied at its repetitive combat and its numerous technical issues.
With its deep lore and many unique vampire clans, one would think VTM has a lot of potential for a multiplayer title. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt answered the call for a VTM multiplayer game in the most surprising and controversial way possible – a battle royale.
Bloodhunt drew confusion from fans and critics alike due to the nature of a battle royale conflicting with traditional VTM lore. Bloodhunt was ultimately praised for its refreshing take on the battle royale genre through its use of vampiric powers, and being free-to-play makes it inviting for VTM and battle royale fans alike.
Virtual reality has grown to become an immensely appealing medium for horror video games. It was only a matter of time before VR saw a World of Darkness game, which came in the form of Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife in 2021. Afterlife is the first Wraith: The Oblivion video game and takes place entirely at the Barclay Mansion, which may sound appealing to Resident Evil fans.
Afterlife was widely praised for its atmosphere and psychological horror, although critics felt the scares lost effectiveness over time. The checkpoint and save system was also a source of criticism as it was easy and frustrating to lose progress.