Bloody, if bloodless, sequel swoops in

Posted August 19, 2005

Source: Miami Herald

Video Game Review: `BloodRayne 2′

Majesco’s sequel to BloodRayne has the predictable gore, vampire storyline and scantily-clad hero one would expect, but the creativity and variety has been sucked dry.

When last we saw the hero of our gory tale, Rayne, she was fighting Nazis and their leader, Kagan, the half-human, half-vampire’s father. BloodRayne 2 is now set in modern times where a new batch of evil has sprung up.

Rayne finds herself fighting against a new cult that worships Kagan and wants to continue his legacy. All the members are made up of Kagan’s vampire offspring. And there are lots of them.

The Cult of Kagan plans to make preying on humanity easy. They want to unleash a new weapon called ‘’The Shroud,'’ a substance that will cover the sky and enable vampires to walk freely without being harmed by the sun’s lethal rays. Rayne is the only one standing between an army of vampires and the humans they crave.

Named the winner of G4 TV’s Most Dangerous Curves award, Rayne is quite the vampire vixen. Clad in ultra tight, ultra revealing leather, the character’s animation and design is impressive. As are the blades she carries to inflict damage on her foes. The enemies are also rendered in environments that keep the Gothic feel of the game alive.

What’s not so impressive is the action. Sure Rayne slashes and dismembers the vampires as they scream in agony, but it gets old quick.

Overall, most of the fighting isn’t challenging plus there’s Rayne’s ability to replenish her health. She can jump on an enemy, literally, and suck the vampire’s blood, after which she performs a nifty blade-through-the-stomach move and slings the bloody carcasses across the room. Rayne can move from enemy to enemy doing this — no problem.

The PC version of BloodRayne 2, which was just released in early August, boasts the crispest and smoothest graphics. The Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions, both released in 2004, have their share of graphic issues, but the Xbox game fares a little better.