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BloodRayne

by Jeff Shirley - November 6, 2002, 11:44 am EST

6

Have you ever seen a person bleed so much?

BloodRayne is essentially about a well-endowed Vampire named Rayne, who kills Nazis between WWI and WWII while doing Matrix-style acrobatics, and having a devil-may-care attitude. I know, several clichés. I enjoyed parts of Blood Rayne, but the overwhelming sense of mediocrity prevents the game from reaching something good.

On a graphical level, BloodRayne is a mixed bag. The game features good models and effects versus the somewhat muddy textures. Later in the game, there are snowfall effects, adding weather elements to the mix. The frame rate is stable until the later moments of the game, and especially during a boss fight. Picture this: a monster who, when cut, splits into to other monsters. Sounds cool huh? The game engine doesn't agree. It’s slowdown city, and almost unplayable. The character models are good and very fluid. Blood effects are solid as well, and the enemies sometimes just drip with it. Effects like bloody footprints are a nice touch, and blood will literally cover the floor in some parts. The levels, however, look particularly nice, especially the Nazi bunkers.

Sound is a serious issue. The music is very muted through the sound effects, and isn't anything special when separated. All guns sound the same, save for a few special ones. The voice acting is adequate, with very satisfying screams, although Rayne herself seems a bit unenthusiastic. As for what she says, she swears, and I don't mean ABC sitcom stuff. I guess Terminal Reality figured that since they already got the M for blood and violence, they might as well make it language too.

The Gameplay is quite simple. Kill Nazis (or zombies, whate'er). No, you don't find the hangar key to open the door to the switch that radios the air force to bomb the garage where the Nazi is hiding, like one would expect from a game with variety. Your objective list is actually a hit list of Nazis you must kill, and for all but a certain few you just walk into a door and start shooting. Rayne attacks by using two blades on her arm that chop and chop some more. The clunky fighting engine makes the blades a chore to use. Otherwise, you could jump on the enemy and start sucking. Blood, I mean. And while you are feeding on the enemy, your life meter will go up. You can use him as a shield and even continue firing. While that's nice and all, that is the way you can kill almost everybody. So the whole game, minus certain parts, is about sucking, shielding and shooting. Later in the game, Rayne gets to pilot a Nazi Mech, which we all knew existed back then, right? :) The game gets old somewhat quickly, which is a blessing because the length is short for a third-person action game.

Rayne can also slow down time, so just in case you aren't already tired of the Matrix, you can relive it in all of its nearly overused glory. You can also activate a Blood Rage where your already worthless blade fighting techniques become somewhat adequate now.

The control is solid and actually quite intuitive. ‘R’ is shoot, and ‘L’ are blade attacks, with a semi FPS control scheme for a third-person game. ‘A’ is jump and you can perform limited jump maneuvers, and ‘B’ is the aforementioned suck attack. ‘Z’ switches weapon modes, with ‘Y’ activating the Blood Rage and ‘X’ making Rayne to a 180 degree turn. The control pad lets you use the certain powers Rayne gets later in the game, such as an Aura sense which directs you to the next door or Nazi.

All in all, Blood Rayne could have been something really great, given the proper time, but in essence this is really a tribute to the game that isn't exactly average, but a little bit less than good.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
6 7 8 5 3 6
Graphics
6

Detailed models and levels versus bland textures and jerky frame rate

Sound
7

Good voice acting and sounds effects. The music is, however, rather forgettable and almost impossible to hear anyway.

Control
8

Very intuitive, although sometimes the analog doesn't quite seem right.

Gameplay
5

It gets old fast without much variety and with a clunky fighting system and hit detection that is very suspect. Look to be frustrated later in the game.

Lastability
3

Once you beat this game, players will likely be finished with it. A rental can take care of any BloodRayne desire you might have.

Final
6

BloodRayne is definitely not a bad game, but it is just shy of being something worthy of a second look.

Summary

Pros
  • Good character models
  • Good sounds
  • Interesting code entry
Cons
  • Bland music
  • Little if any replay
  • No Variety whatsoever
Review Page 2: Conclusion

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Game Profile

Genre Action
Developer Terminal Reality
Players1
OnlineYes

Worldwide Releases

na: BloodRayne
Release Nov 18, 2021
PublisherMajesco
RatingMature

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