Bloodrayne
Titles can be very useful things. Take, for example, Zombie Bus Drivers from Outer Space. This title (fictional for now, but it's only a matter of time) instantly tells you what you need to know about the plot, though it is possibly ambiguous about whether the undead in question are the drivers or the buses. Reading between the lines, and using a little experience, you're probably imagining a straight-to-video B-movie horror with lashings of fake gore and actors hired on the grounds that they could say their lines without laughing.
However, Terminal Reality couldn't fit Sexy Vampires vs. Demon Nazis on their promo material, so they had to settle with the rather mundane cliché of titling their game after a pun on the protagonist's name.
On the surface, Bloodrayne shouldn't work. The strikes come thick and fast; Feel free to mark them off as I go, but I should warn you that my red pen ran out when I tried. Rayne is a half-vampire exacting revenge on the underworld for her mother - her father was evil, you see. She is quickly snapped up by a top-secret organisation where she becomes black leather bondage superminx Agent Bloodrayne. During a routine investigation in the 1930's with fellow agent Mynce (yes, Mynce), she uncovers an evil Nazi plot to use demons to take over the world.
Beneath the surface, Bloodrayne doesn't even exist. It's as shallow as a puddle and makes no claims to pretentiousness. Rayne's third person mêlée combat casually ignores the style and elegance demonstrated by the likes of Zelda years ago, and control never quite feels entirely in your hands. This is compounded by her superhuman abilities: A tap of the jump key and she rockets skyward at something resembling a right angle.
Designwise, too, Bloodrayne is severely lacking. Environments are unimaginative and plain, and despite the levels being largely linear it's still possible to get lost through the sheer monotony of the scenery. Rayne herself is pleasantly realised, though her wry character as revealed during in-engine cutscenes perhaps isn't to everyone's liking. It's a shame that can't be said about the other characters, whom you tend to discover just three minutes before ramming a blade through their face.
But beyond that, and well beyond the hideous opening chapter in the swamps of Hickville, USA, it manages to be fun. Rayne's abilities include time dilation (for which you may read infinite bullet time) and an "aura" vision mode, as well as the ability to leap around with a gun in each hand, so it's really surprisingly modern. The weapons themselves are a fine addition, and you never need to worry about what you're carrying. You simply select "lightest" or "heaviest" and the two most appropriate guns whip out of the holster and aim at the nearest enemy. Or enemies. When a chamber runs dry, Rayne casually tosses it aside and moves on through her inventory.
Being a vampire, Rayne can replenish her easily-lost fluids by sipping on the man-claret, and fortunately Aryan blood is particularly refreshing. While feasting on a hapless victim (complete with erotically-charged moaning sounds, naturally) you can use your dinner as a human shield and even fire over his shoulder at the oncoming horde. After a while, combat really starts to come together. It becomes a simple and common task to leap sideways through a window, Max Payneing Nazis in slow motion before grabbing a stunned victim for cover and a quick snack, dismounting with a backflip and landing blades-first on a second victim, launching into a handstand spin kick to fill your Blood Rage meter and literally carving up everything that remains.
It's a true orgy of blood in every sense, and if it sounds like a game you would be embarrassed to admit to liking, then it's fair to say that you wouldn't like it. Bloodrayne is cheesy, tacky, and utterly shameless. But since when was shame something to be proud of?
In Conclusion
A wisecracking fetish-clad half-vampire with wristblades fighting Nazi demons in a game with more blood and leather per square inch than any other title to date. You know deep down that you want to. I won't tell anyone.
| Heaven |
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| Hell |
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| Final Score |
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| B-movie |
| Like laughing at reality TV, buying dirty mags, and ironically discriminating against minorities. So wrong, it's almost right. |
