BloodRayne 2

"A bloody good time, indeed."

BloodRayne 2 is the sequel to the somewhat mediocre game, BloodRayne. So did Majesco and Terminal Reality improve upon the second? Yes, it does, and I like how it turned out…for the most part.

Graphics: (9/10)

Graphically speaking, BloodRayne 2 excels. The textures are very smooth, detailed, and varied. Lighting is good. Character models are all very nice and detailed. Animations on these characters are great, with only few problems. The couple of animations problems are enemies standing up from lying down with no transition in between and some clipping. There are ragdoll physics as well. Facial animations are pretty good, with accurate enough lip-synching. Explosions are very pretty to look at. The environments are very nice and all around destructible, which is awesome. There is also a lot of blood and gore, a whole lot. Thing is, it's so realistic, when you just see a head fall off or an arm go flying. There is also a good bit of realism, not only in the gore, but also in the reflections on shiny floors and blood. It also looks very nice when the blood comes out in a large, explosive way. One of the best things is Rayne herself, her character model is very well made. She is one of the best looking video game women in my opinion. Some small complaints are that there is some slowdown, clipping, and small glitches in animations. Other than a few problems, BloodRayne 2 is a beautiful game graphically.

Gameplay: (8/10)

BloodRayne 2 is, to say the least, better than the first. You have a ton of cool looking and effective moves at your disposal. You can climb on vertical bars, spin on horizontal bars, and grind down rails. While you do all of these, you can shoot, and while you grind, you can put out your blades and cut anything in your path. You have these vampire skills, nine to be exact, which let you see things in another realm, warp time, or have super powerful moves. There are also these things called fatalities, where you do something very violent and unspeakable to your foe. You may just lob off a head by doing a cool flip, or you may just lift them up and spin them while cutting off every last limb. When you do these moves you get points that fuel your special vampire moves, or your rage. The harpoon is yet another addition to the gameplay, you can throw enemies into things like sharp objects. Only thing about the harpoon is that you have these "killing puzzles, where you throw an enemy into an object, like a trash truck or a fireplace, to open up a door or new area. It becomes pretty monotonous, since you're forced to do it way too much. You get guns later on, too. These two guns, The Carpathian Dragons, are your only guns. Just to add, they're dual wielded. It has several modes, ranging from the standard pistol-firing mode, to a shotgun and even a rocket launcher. Sure, it's fun to use these guns, but it just doesn't do a whole lot. The ammo is blood, which you extract with two needles in front of the gun. You can also level them up by killing more people, when you do, it holds more ammo and has a better firing rate, with inflicting a little more damage. Some problems are the AI isn't very smart, becomes a little bit tiresome, just chopping up enemies, and the combat sometimes feels misguided and unrefined. Gameplay in BloodRayne 2 is a thrill ride; it even has some strategizing, too, in the form of knowing when to drain an enemy of his blood to heal you.

Sound: (8/10)

Sound design is above average in this one. The flesh cutting bone crunching sound effects are superb and realistic. The sound of furniture getting smashed up is very satisfying as well. Music is kind of just there, but adds to the situation you're in. Voice acting is very well done; the voice for Rayne is absolutely perfect. Guns have a satisfying bang to them, with proper screaming as someone gets hit. Explosions sound realistic. There are a lot of other world sounds, like the sounds of the larger, scarier beasts. The sounds of your powers kicking in and the ambient sounds are great. Some of the things just aren't as top quality as they could, and there really aren't a lot of sounds at any given point. The game just sounds good, despite those cons.

Story: (8/10)

BloodRayne 2's story is very enjoyable. We left Rayne in 1935 facing a Nazi supernatural power, and of course winning. Kagan, her father, was killed at the end of the war, so she felt somewhat cheated out, since she wanted to kill him. Kagan not only raped Rayne's mother, but he was also a powerful Nazi collaborator. She has found a way to get revenge, though, kill all of his offspring. She found it only fair since he killed her family tree. She has been doing this since the 30's, and it's now present day. Kagan's offspring have banded together to form "The Cult of Kagan," though. The cult wants to avenge Kagan's bidding, and create a vampire apocalypse, were humans are mere cattle. They have also created a gas called "The Shroud" that will block out the sun and let vampires walk in the day. Rayne must stop them single handedly. The story will make you want to go through the whole game, since twists come very often. I couldn't get into the story at all times, though, I can't really explain it. BloodRayne 2 has a good story all around. It even sets up for a third one at the end.

Replayability: (7/10)

BloodRayne isn't a long game, nor is it very replayable. I beat it the second day I got it. The only real thing that will make you want to play again is extra costumes, some unlockable art and movies, and some really fun cheats. You may just want to enjoy this game again, though; it's good, solid fun.

Conclusion:

BloodRayne 2 is a very fun and gory game that fans of the series will dig. If you like third-person hack & slashers, this game suits you. If you don't, and just don't really enjoy these kinds of games, well then don't get it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/05