Blade II

"Why couldn't this game be based off of the film?"

I never liked the first Blade movie, and the first Blade game didn't impress me either. My buddy went to see the second film, and told me that it was really good. I rented it on DVD, and I did like it. The humor/action was well balanced, and all of the actors did a good job with their characters.

When the game came out, I didn't know too much about it. I knew that it had some movie elements, but not a lot. I also knew that it wasn't based off of the film, which I thought was weird. But it was only twenty bucks, so even if I didn't like it I wasn't wasting too much money.

The game was okay, and I should have just rented this instead of buying it. But I'm a horror game fan, and I'll play it maybe once every year for a few hours just to enjoy the Vampire kills.

Presentation
The plot for this game is weak, and I don't understand why this game wasn't based from the somewhat interesting movie. The only thing that kept me playing this game was the blood and gore. If there wasn't enough of that, I would of stopped midway through it and gave up. There isn't much in this game to excite anyone. I doubt that even hardcore fans of the movies can stomach playing this game for a few days before looking at something else to play.

The attention to kills is good, and seems quite accurate in the way that Vampires should be destroyed. Some parts are not that accurate, like towards the end of the game. Spots where explosions will happen over and over, even though it should only happen once. Times where a sunlight grenade will kill most of the enemies on screen, but a few happen to survive without any damage. Shooting your gun point blank at an enemy/object and missing completely.

Not being able to control the camera angle upset me, as did not having an option to point my gun and shoot wherever I wanted. Blade's auto targeting system had too many flaws, and I could of done a lot better if I was able to move my sights around. 6/10

Graphics
The game looks okay for a PS2 title, but it isn't anything that will blow you away. The deaths can be cool to watch, especially the little animations that will sometimes occur when Blade has the advantage over his victim. Don't expect any eye candy here, but if you want some gore and blood then you will be happy. The different ways to finish off the undead are sweet to watch, and it's the only cool factor of this game in my opinion. 8/10

Sound
Was it too hard to pay the actors from the films to do the voice work for the game? Wesley Snipes too busy? Kris Kristofferson had other things to do? The voice actors in this game were bad. Very, very bad. They didn't even sound close to the real life actors in the movies. The sounds for the weapons, and other background noises were okay. But if you are going to have voice for the plot in the game, use the real thing. Or just use text boxes and have no one speak at all. 7/10

Gameplay
If you've seen the movies, you should know what you're up against. Vampires, and lots of them. There are even a few humans that fight for the Vampire army that you're trying to take out. You can only use your sword in the final boss level, and when you have a full rage bar. Which is kind of stupid, but only if you enjoy attacking with the sword. Blade can have a handgun, shotgun, sunlight grenades, and a few other items to carry with him. But you can't have all of them at once, so pick your favorites and hope that they fit in the six slots provided.

There isn't a game map, so try not to get lost on the levels. Health and ammo can be sparse at times, which can be unnerving. Enemies seem to respawn in certain areas, but it isn't a constant respawning. The gameplay is really repetitive, but most action games have this problem. Some levels have a save spot, so you won't have to redo the whole level in case you die.

The biggest problem is the hand to hand fighting aspect of the game. You use the right analog stick for punches and kicks. You read correctly, no button mashing on this game. This is where the score really drops, because you really can't get into the game when you are flicking a stick to throw some punches and kicks. After a while, you get so bored that you use your weapons just to be able to press a damn button!! Luckily only a few titles have this feature of attacking. I hope that it ends with the PS2 and isn't carried over to the new PS3. 5/10

Lasting Appeal
This game has basically zero replay value to it. When you finish the game the first time through, “Daywalker” difficulty is unlocked. So, when you play the game a second time, the enemies will be harder, and some will be packing weapons. If you are a huge Blade fan, then maybe you can play the game more than once. But I suffered through this one time, and that was enough for me. 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/05