In its mechanics and design, Justice aspires to be a cut down version ofDishonored.
Unfortunately, it’s in the cutting down where most of its problems arise.
The setup is straightforward enough.
Justice travels to Venice in search of a mysterious relic following the murder of their sire.
It opens strongly though.
The game never quite looks this good again, sadly.
But it maintains those darkly warm colours throughout, lifting many of the simpler environments later in the game.
The streets swarm with the goons of the local vampire coterie, and they’re armed to the teeth.
Justice themself belongs to the Banu Haqim clan, who are known more for subterfuge than strength.
To that end, Justice has a variety of vampiric abilities at their disposal.
They can teleport short distances and up on to ledges.
The building blocks for a fun, predatory stealth game are here, and they do sometimes come together.
This isn’t the only system that’s fiddly to grapple with.
In the third mission, you gain access to a wrist-mounted crossbow that can fire various types of dart.
This is a crucial tool for nonlethally disabling guards.
But firing a single dart is a four-stage process.
This fuzziness extends to other actions like feeding.
Let’s just say ‘vampire magic’).
Indeed, the physics are one of Justice’s big immersion breakers.
It reminds me of Bloodlines' own distinctly floppy melee combat.
It’s floaty, fiddly and imprecise when it needs to be slick and reactive.
In a more tightly designed game, these might translate into interesting challenges.
But they just made me more frustrated when the game’s own sloppiness had me stumbling into detection.
In the end, Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice simply made me want to play Dishonored.
