BloodRayne 2

"A few missteps, and a lot of improvements."

The original Bloodrayne came out in October of 2002. Though it fell under the radar of a lot of gamers, it was a unique, incredibly violent game with some great innovations and a fair amount of replay value. Bloodrayne 2, released in October 2004, expanded on the ideas of the original and made several positive improvements with a few setbacks.

Story-7/10
By no means an epic story, but this is an action game. When Rayne's father, Kagan, is killed shortly after WW2, Rayne spends the next 60 years hunting down her siblings, most of whom are members of, "the cult of Kagan". Now in the present, she's closing in on the cult's foremost members as they create a substance called, "the shroud", which renders vampires immune to sunlight once it's released in the air. As a result, legions of vampires are out in full force, taking humans as slaves, and Rayne has to put it to an end. Did I mention I hate writing story summaries? I hate writing story summaries.

Graphics-9/10
Visually, the sequel is magnificent. Rayne's model is gorgeous. Her animations were motion captured, instead of keyframed this time, and as a result most of her movements are almost lifelike. She blinks, looks around, and has facial expressions. The lighting effects are impressive, as are the backgrounds. Most of the cut scenes use the in game engine, and the three or four FMVs in the game are very good. Another improvement is the graphical balance between Rayne and her enemies. In Bloodrayne 2, even the hordes of regular enemies are visually impressive, and move realistically.

Sound-7/10
No complaints with the sound effects, and I like that they've used some from the first game. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". The normal ambient music is great, and fits well with every area. There is, however, one change in the audio department that disappointed me. The, "heavy metal fight scene" music. It's not nearly as rousing as some people think, and it actually detracts from the atmosphere created prior to it. A good example would be the first fight. You're in this lavish mansion, with classical music playing. It's really a nice scene, but the moment enemies start coming at you, the music totally drops out in favor of overdone metal themes. It was old when audio guys did it three years ago, now it's just tired. Other than that, no complaints.

Gameplay-8/10
There have been many, many improvements from the first. To begin with, Bloodrayne 2 uses a full third person perspective, where Rayne and the camera move independently of one another. Her movements are much more fluid now, and the controls are fairly responsive. The hit detection issues of the first one have been mostly resolved, and Rayne's blade combos are now player dictated instead of random. Other changes include the use of guns. Instead of picking up random guns, Rayne now uses a set of guns that require blood for ammunition. When feeding on an enemy, Rayne now has one of three options. Drain the enemy to restore health, fill the reservoirs of the guns, or use a fatality move that will increase her rage meter.

Many changes have also been made to Rayne's powers. She can move at superspeed, freeze time, send a ghost version of herself to feed on an enemy, or convert an enemy into fighting for her. She also gets stronger forms of blood rage, with the strongest creating a devastating tornado of blood. (very impressive) The powers are implemented well, and never particularly difficult to handle. The role of the harpoon has changed. Instead of grabbing enemies to feed, you now throw them in any direction you choose. Also included in the sequel are acrobatics, such as railslides, pole climbing and bar swings. It's a mixed bag, because while the acrobatics are fun, they're a little clumsy to execute, and more than once you'll be getting fired at while trying to perform tedious maneuvering.

One change made, and not necessarily for the better, is the size of the environments. The first Bloodrayne had what was basically three huge levels that you could backtrack through at any time. In Bloodrayne 2, the areas are smaller and more linear, sometimes confining you to a single room until a puzzle is finished. I miss the huge locations. The puzzles themselves, however, are very creative, requiring the use of dead bodies in many situations. (the suicide bomber puzzle was quite amusing)

Rayne's jump is also lower and faster than in the first. It's never a cause for frustration, but the speed with which she comes down from a jump is a bit too fast and looks awkward. On screen, she's also smaller than in the previous game, but this is an improvement, as the camera works much better now.

All things said, it's a great game, and there's been definite improvements over the first one. Considering the amount of vulgarity and gratuitous violence in this series, I'm glad it goes unnoticed by retailers and watchdog groups.
Taking into account the vast amount of cheats and alternate costumes, I'd say Bloodrayne 2 is worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/04