It's been five months since Paradox Interactive's surprise announcement Everybody's Gone to the Rapture developer The Chinese Room had taken the reins of its troubled Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2; in that time, the studio has been openly discussing its approach to the sequel, with its latest update now focusing on what it's calling "visceral immersive combat".
In a newly shared blog post, creative director Alex Skidmore outlines three main gameplay styles the studio wants accommodate on release, each emphasising or de-emphasising combat in different ways. The first is what it calls the Strategic Stalker, a take on the "vampire predator fantasy" where the focus is on staying hidden and using the element of surprise.
This stealth-focused approach to combat, says Skidmore, is all about sneaking up on an enemy, causing a distraction, then feeding on them quickly before a fight can occur. That's in stark contrast to combat style number two - the Action Brawler - which is for players that want to get stuck straight into a fight using "fast reflexes and combat skills".