Vampire: The Masquerade—Swansong's new trailer reveals a vengeful game of hide and seek

An ominous heart beats in the dark hallway of a dilapidated hospital. The muffled laughter of a lost daughter flits across fragmented memories. The retribution capable of a mother, torn from her vampiric offspring, is not to be taken lightly.

Vampire: The Masquerade—Swansong's new trailer gives an insight into Leysha of clan Malkavian's character cornerstone. We watch her sorrowful reflection on her frustrations through an innocent game of hide and seek, now having snowballed into a desperate yearning to be with her missing child. And we're given just a taste of the welling rage inside her, as she tracks down those we might presume to be responsible for their separation.

I, for one, will be glad of the excuse to guiltlessly rip some heads from shoulders, but best of all this trailer means there's now a good basis of a compelling character arc for Leysha. Prepare to have some fun tearing your way through enemies to help her find her daughter.

The original teaser, involving a bloody party gone wrong, revealed very little about the characters themselves, only really giving us a few intimate snippets of their lives—that and an up-close look at some of the intricate and ever so shiny textures adorning the game world.

Granted, however, it was a phenomenological rollercoaster, so devilishly palpable: Everything from clan Ventrue's Galeb unfeelingly smearing a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth, to the glint of light on a bloodsoaked invitation as it fell to the ground amid the vast and inevitable carnage.

We're certainly in for a tasty treat—that's clear now we've had a slightly deeper drink from the World of Darkness. There's no word on when, though. So for now, the game of hide and seek continues.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.