Games – BloodRayne (For GameCube)

Having wanted to indulge in this title for some time, I didn’t hesitate to grab it for a trio of fives, plus tax. I knew what I was getting into. The cliche of the hot half vamp chick with amazing powers who kills loads of nazis.

can’t go wrong with a formula of cliches.

Rayne, the alluring heroine of this game, has red hair to match her fiery temper, literally having her blood lust meter, which can be used to empower her acrobatic attacks. She has a pair of long, wicked blades attacked to her forearms and she knows how to use them. IN amazingly elaborate combos, she slashes, kicks and flips. Of course, she gets even more up close when it comes to sating her thirst. Unlucky humanoids might have the deadly vixen leaping at them and wrapping arms and legs around them in a close embrace. But that closeness will be hte last thing on their minds when she glomps on and messily sucks them dry. And without a bit of splatter on herself. How’s that for class?

Not only is she a blade slashing, two fisted firing bane of Fuhrer luvers the world over, she’s also got the senses to sniff em out. aura sight lets her easily see in even the darkest spots, note the location of her goals and see nearby warm bodies, even though walls. She can also focus her eyesight to zoom in on the baddies, being her own personal sniper scope. And most amusing is her slo-mo view. Her mind, eventually, can process sensory data fast enough that the world seems to slow down.

Quite frankly, this is the part of the game I love the most. Simply for the control and watching our limber vamp execute her deadly combat moves in slow motion, darting and striking like a viper, jumping upon her next dinner guest, firing over his shoulder as she gives him the deadly nibble.

Th levels themselves are pretty good. The first few are a bit tedious. bugs and mutants. The interesting stuff comes after that section, when one gets to the nazis and the multi tiered levels, Rayne able to take advantage of that with her high leaps. There is little more satisfying than leaping up to a higher level, executing a drill kick to position yourself just right, lay a few rounds into the nazi your charging, while dodging his bullets, then rip into him with both blades swinging. All in smooth slow motion.

Thus far, I’m still at about the middle of the game, but thus far the game is relatively easy. When you can suck health of any moving humanoid, use slo-mo and frenzy easily, it isn’t too hard to keep stayin alive. Or undead, as it were. But, a far as I’m concerned, the game is fine without being uber challenging. I like games that aren’t so much hard as they are quite frankly entertaining.

And, personally, I find a game entertaining when the game makes it such that you focus on the play, rather than management. Rayne pulls guns automatically, with you setting her to one of four different states. She uses guns from weakest to most powerful, or vice versa, or sues your explosives or the special weapon, which can be anything form a high power rifle to a bazooka. As Rayne uses guns, she discards the empties and pulls the next on the line. And as she passes fallen foes she swaps out guns for those with more ammo. ALl automatically, all so that you can focus on running her black and red class backside up to the next hapless foe to cleave up.

And there are a few things I haven’t mentioned, but one should always leave some surprises, no need to give it all up right off the bat. My verdict? BloodRayne is a solid game(For PC, GC or PS2). If you want fast action and the freedom to go all out without danger turning you into a corner peeker, Bloodrayne is the game for you. If you like to feel small and insignificant, fighting against forces that could reach your and c rush you without breaking a sweat, Bloodrayne will leave you bored.

If you just like hot vamp chicks with cleavage perky enough to bounce quarters off, you might want to have a look at this one as well. 😉

Have a good one and game on.