BloodRayne is a dhampir, or dhampyre, born from the unnatural union of vampire and human. Blessed with the powers of a vampire but cursed with the unquenchable thirst for blood and a weakness to sunlight, the supernatural anti-heroine is challenged with her most personal battle yet.
She hunts down each of her wicked siblings who are carrying on the legacy of their dead father, Kagan. They have created "The Shroud," a mysterious substance which, when released, renders the sun's lethal rays harmless to vampires. Now only BloodRayne stands between an unsuspecting humanity and a horrifying vampire dawn.
Age requirements: ESRB Rating: MATURE with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence. PEGI Rating: 18+ with Violence.
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512 recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
Average customer rating 3.5 out of 5.0
Do you like gory action, guns and sexy vampires? Then follow reading...
(by
Villodre)
BloodRayne 2 stars a sexy half-vampire (shame she's most remembered from the horrible Boll's film rather than the Playboy centerfold) armed with a pair of sharped arm-blades and a large range of martial moves. The game itself is a third person view action, plenty of blood and quite stylish scenery and moves, with smooth graphics and a really neat overall impression.... full review
So as not to get bored with the classic 3rd person action, the game offers a variety of combos and "fatalities" to kill enemies in a fashionable way, special "magic" powers, shooting action apart from the close combat and some jumping platform challenges as well as some switch puzzles scattered through the game. Although they help to create the feeling you aren't always doing the same, they can be also horribly hard, particularly the jumping parts. It is not due to bad level design, which is pretty good overall, but due to the clumsy PC control system.
Rayne has a lot of abilities and that gives the game a general feeling of her being overpowered in comparison with regular foes, who serve more as containers of blood to gather for special attacks than as menaces themselves. Bosses are quite a different question since the majority of them do pose a real challenge. The real difficulty here, believe me, is control. Simply put, keyboard+mouse combination just don't feel righ here. I wasn't able to make this game work in my time with my aging Gravis-style gamepad so maybe I should try it again with a more modern (and analogic) controller.
Just to finish a lengthy exposition, I particularly enjoyed the soundtrack, which remembered me a lot (unevitabily) of that of the first Blade movie. Also, I can't stress enough the clean graphic look and excellent ambientation. Worth the purchase, but be patient with your keyboard!
For completeness, the mini summary: The game is about a cool half-vampire called Bloodrayne who saves the world (surprise!). She needs to figure out what is going on and goes through a lot of very bad "things" to do it. It is basically an adult third-person shooter, similar in style to Tomb Raider crossed with Doom (the original hell ones). This is a game for people who... full review like original action games and are not afraid of the red stuff that sprays when somebody gets hurt. In other words: in spite of being a fantasy game, it is more graphically realistic than most of the politically correct games
The main theme of the game of course is slaying... literally with long knives and lots of blood. Which is something I truly abhor, but the two Bloodrayne games are really, really, really suburb at letting you play the role of the half-vampire going-on-a-killing-spree for a few hours and having the time of your life. The story is good with some black humor and there are twists which keep you interested as it progresses.
What I liked most about this game is that it is one of the few games around that is not just the boring point-and-shoot fare that most companies feed us with. You get in there and and use your (acquired) skills, like blood-lust, to get the bad guys. You have a number of weapon options, not just 50 guns and a chainsaw. The moves are really nice and add a lot of fun to the game play. You will find yourself trying out the moves in quiet areas just to enjoy the show! A few puzzles to keep your higher brain functions running are in there as well. The skill you acquire you really need to use during the game, make the whole game experience much more interesting than just running around shooting everything you see.
What is might initially put some people off is that this game requires you to learn a few key combos to get the best out of Bloodrayne's moves. For people used to console keypads or who have played this type of game before, this should not be too challenging though. For me it was a bit difficult because I do not usually like these sort of games. The game can be enjoyed without having to know too many of them though, a few of the more powerful moves let you get by quite well and enjoy the show.
The graphics are very good but still don't slow to a crawl on an older machine Many of the levels and the characters have obviously had a lot of work put into them to make them look good. The heroine is a real looker, which is good no matter what the sex (yours or the game character), because it is just more pleasant to look at.
All in all definitely rates a top score if you like third persons shooter games with a twist. I recommend this game because it is original and just bags of fun.
If you don't mind slightly dated 3D graphics, I would also suggest playing the original Bloodrayne. It is the original and really started some of the more popular complex acrobatic style games, such as the more recent Prince of Persia series.
Bloodrayne 2 is a lighthearted, fun game in which you control a sexy half-vampire called Rayne.... full review
The visuals in the game are simply stunning, with beautiful architecture, reflections on smooth marble surfaces and *ahem* models. The musical score is also very enjoyable. The action is over-the-top, but It's a good thing that the game doesn't take itself seriously. Remember how much fun you had laughing at how silly Buffy the vampire layer & Xena the fairy princess were? Bloodrayne is like that. When Rayne feeds, especially on females, she looks like she's having an intimate makeout session:) Likewise, in combat other females comment on how much they admire her assets. Add to that a large number of fun combos, special vampire powers, weapons and cool jumps and you've got a good game.
The only downside is that controlling the camera can be a bit difficult at times. It's advisable to experiment with the different camera options when you start playing.
In conclusion you will love this game if you like:
1. Beautiful graphics
2. Even more beautiful girls
3. Fun action that doesn't take itself seriously
4. Lovely music
Villodre)
DuncanMc)