Nighthawks is exactly what I wanted Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to feel like. Not in terms of its format as a text-based RPG (the excellent VTM visual novels can hold their own), but in the depth, character, and intrigue of its vamp noir dystopia.
I start off my journey as a fledgling vampire, hunting for my sire's vassal – a servant, bound in blood to their Master – on the grimy streets of Cradlebridge. Blood junkies, thralls, and the great lost masses haunt the gloom, congregating around a vampire-owned nightclub by the name of Nighthawks. A short cab away is Angelbreach, all fishnets and sleaze painted in hot pink neon desperation. Prim and proper Fountaincourt is the only neighborhood with any decency around here, but to paraphrase a particularly colorful saying I saw on Reddit once, we're all bare necks in the shower.
Release date: September 22, 2026Platform(s): PCDeveloper: The Curiosity EnginePublisher: Wadjet Eyes Games
Nighthawks is a tale as old as the night is long: while working my way up the social ladder from fangless nobody to apex predator, I'll be making frenemies and solving mysteries in the big city. I'm also crowned the new boss of the eponymous nightclub fairly early on in the proceeds, after its original owner gets on the wrong end of a giant vampire's massive boathook.
But there's more to life as a vampire than shady club dealings and social politics. Well, kind of. Nighthawks features a robust stats and traits system. Skills can be improved through equipping certain pieces of gear, and can be further buffed by having a companion join you on your adventures – recruited and dismissed from the club's bar. Your credentials chosen at the start of a new game indicate your character's background, special powers, and blood lineage. My vampire is a Continental vampire whose scholarly pursuits were granted and encouraged by her sire, for example, and she can communicate with rats and other undesirable creatures to obtain information or gain control of sticky situations.
The above dictates how I play Nighthawks. I'm not the most brawny of vamplings, so rely heavily on seductive words and stealth to get my way. It means I get beaten up pretty badly the first few times I'm ambushed around Candlebridge, but buying and equipping some knuckle dusters ups my intimidation and brawler stats considerably.
Exploring the city is sumptuous on your own – developer The Curiosity Engine sure knows how to pen a heady, slick mystery yarn – but Nighthawks truly shines in its characters. The veritable buffet of companions draw inspiration from countless other pulpy thriller games and movies. Only this time, there's a little extra bite.
Lux is a magician at a rival burlesque nightclub, with a secret lying dormant in her ice cold veins. Eccentric book shop owner Maze is even seedier than he looks, and as a dude with gold-capped fangs and red-lensed glasses, that's really saying something. There's a human PI called Domino, working out of a neighboring room in the hotel you start off in. You get to see his butt later on, too – though I must warn the horndogs out there that Nighthawks is far more PG-13 than its risque Steam listing might've indicated before Valve relented.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/nighthawks-is-a-vampire-rpg-that-delivers-what-bloodlines-2-failed-to-accomplish-in-its-first-5-minutes/
