While not outstanding, Bloodrayne 2 is still a good action game with enough variations to make it worth trying out.
User Rating: 7.6 | BloodRayne 2 XBOX
Fans of scantily-clad vampires hailed the release of the original Bloodrayne in 2002. After all, who doesn't like a blood-sucking, thinly veiled vixen with the figure of Disney's Pocahantas? Unfortunately, that game was more style than substance, and it is apparent in its sequel that Terminal Reality has tried to kick it up a notch. For the most part, they succeeded: Bloodrayne 2 features more moves, more powers, and an awesome new weapon that's as much fun to reload as it is to shoot. However, the sequel doesn't boast any more polish than the original, although it still looks fairly decent and sounds quite good. It's also quicker to delve into the action, so players that bored of the original's slow start may find the series worth another look. While not outstanding, Bloodrayne 2 is still a good action game with enough variations to make it worth trying out. Rayne may have killed her father in the original, but her work was only half done. Since Kagan's death over a half-century ago, she has made it her life's mission to destroy her brothers and sisters. Now, her siblings have banded together to create a weapon called “The Shroud,” which would effectively block the rays of the sun and render humanity unable to resist the malignancy waiting to spawn. Goal number one: save humanity. Goal number two: see goal number one. No, Bloodrayne 2's story is nothing original or innovative, but it's all about the atmosphere, and the game has it in spades. From the operatic first scenes to the surprisingly nail-biting climactic moments, the gothic milieu has a lot to do with the game's appeal as you wade through one band of brothers to the next, en route to the next boss battle. The combat is the crux of Bloodrayne 2, and it is actually a lot of fun. Your primary weapons will be Rayne's dual blades, and they get the job done pretty effectively. Your melee moves will include a lot of slicing, dicing, kicking, and clobbering, and different button presses, trigger pulls and thumbstick twirls combine these talents in a variety of satisfying ways. You can flail away at random enemies as they accost you, or you can target an individual if necessary. The number of combos is pretty staggering, although some are easier to pull off than others – and the effectiveness of some is rather questionable, as you will find yourself falling back on the same moves over the course of the game. To help matters along, you will also pick up a couple of guns called the Carpathian Dragons, which, just like Rayne, need to be fed regularly with thick, delicious blood. You also have a harpoon, which you can use to grab enemies and throw them aside, out a window, or into a fireplace. Rayne's health is tied directly to her need to feed, and she will remind you of it (“it's time to make a withdrawal from the blood bank”) often. When you get low, you simply jump on the nearest sucker (or suckee, in this case) and slurp away. This is not as easy as it may sound: some of your foes are equipped with melee weapons, and if you attempt to jump on one for a brief snack, they will throw you off and get a free whack at your prone body. Instead, you will need to roll or jump past them and get them from behind, although Rayne will still be at the mercy of any other attackers – although enemies do often take a tea break whenever you are feeding, as if to give you room to dine. As if this weren't enough, the gameplay is snazzed up significantly by several special powers Rayne has at her disposal. The most helpful of these is Blood Rage, which increases both your offensive and defensive skills. Additionally, when in use, your rage meter (which is refilled by pulling off some awesome-looking finishing moves) is drained, rather than your health. Other powers include Aura Vision, which allows Rayne to locate enemies and vampire hideouts, even through walls; Ghost Feed, which lets you suck from a distance; and our favorite, Dilated Perception, which functions like bullet time in Max Payne, although it isn't quite as necessary as it is in Remedy's classic. It does, however, let the player feast on the cool visuals that accompany the moves. Even better, it has barely any effect on the rage meter, which means you can use it almost to your heart's content. Any vampiress worth her anorexic figure can swing from poles and slide down rails, and Rayne is no exception. You will be spending a lot of time swinging, jumping from scaffold to scaffold, and sliding along rails, sometimes in quick, satisfying succession. On your way down, feel free to mow down dhampirs with your blood guns, or wave your blades with abandon. While the moves aren't quite as refined as the same ones in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, they still control rather well, and you can even change direction in mid-swing, making the acrobatics worthwhile. Figuring out which walls Rayne can jump on does pose an occasional challenge though, since many of the fences look similar, and the ones you can scale are generally only the ones the missions require you to use. At its best, Bloodrayne 2 is a blast. The level of blood and gore is outrageous, as you can literally mop the floor with the baddies once you are done with them. Even better, throw them through off a ledge and watch in glee as they get impaled on debris below. Unfortunately, Terminal Reality was adamant that they throw in a few frustrations to mar the fun. There is a real lack of polish here, evident in everything from the graphics to the control. One of our favorite moves, a Matrix-like twirling kick in mid-air, is controlled by twirling the left thumbstick and pressing the kick button. That move, like others, is often hit-or-miss, so the effect you pull off may not be the one you desired. And while Bloodrayne 2 isn't terribly difficult, it may take a few tries each mission to figure out some trick or another to defeat your adversaries. The poorly-placed checkpoints can make revisiting the point of contention rather annoying, since you will have to play through the entire mission to get there. It all adds up to an artificial extension of a short game (a dozen hours at most) with no multiplayer or any real replay value. The other major frustrations are in the game's graphics, which is too bad, because Bloodrayne 2 is normally quite attractive to look at. Rayne looks as good as a computer-generated Playboy centerfold should, and the environments follow suit. The outdoor areas are spacious and quite real, and indoors, textures are rather crisp and the neo-goth scenery is detailed and fitting. Some effects, such as the spray of sparks when gliding down a rail, are outstanding. However, it hurts where it counts most: animation. Most of Bloodrayne's 2 somewhat sloppy feel is in the way our heroine moves: somewhat jerky animations and oddly abrupt transitions, such as when she moves from a slashing to a feeding, are vaguely machinistic. Characters also have a tendency to get stuck. For example, at one point we jumped onto a spotlight, only to find ourselves unable to move – until Rayne somehow impaled herself on it. The bad guys don't fare much better, running in place while clipped through a wall, or simply scrambling in a frenzy when a mob attacks you in an enclosed space. In-engine cutscenes look decent enough, even if they don't feature any realistic lip-synching, and sometimes stutter before the transition back into the game proper. It's also odd how our titular heroine doesn't sound the part, particularly when most of the voice acting is quite good. Rayne's delivery is reminiscent of Madonna in Evita: a tad monotonous, strikingly so, in contrast with the mostly excellent acting and sound effects around her. While they have a limited vocabulary (“The party's downstrairs, madam”), Rayne's dhampir brethren certainly sound the part, and their mature language is quite in context. You may also be surprised at the various sounds Rayne and her victims make while she feeds. While most human banquets will groan in pain, a few of them seem to masochistically enjoy their final moments. The music kicks it up a notch when necessary and lends an appropriate harsh character to the proceedings, although it isn't incredibly noteworthy on its own. All these quibbles aside, Bloodrayne 2 is actually a decent action game with a lot of nifty gameplay twists thrown in for good measure. While we wish Bloodrayne moved a bit better than she does, no one can argue that she brings a sexy darkness to an action game (ahem) dripping with personality. Fans of the first game – and even those that felt the original Bloodrayne needed a transfusion of something a little extra – will find there is plenty to like about the sequel. 
