Rayne and the Brimstone Society continue their quest to exterminate the super natural in BloodRayne 2 which takes place in present day. This time Rayne is hunting her own siblings. In the first BloodRayne her father, Kagan was killed accidentally and she was disappointed that it was not her that took his life. He was a Nazi leader that headed the super natural experiments during the war. Now the Cult of Kagan has been formed which battle to make vampires the supreme beings. Sound similar to Hitler's plan? The Kagan Cult plans to do this by manipulating the environment so that they can move freely at all times. How can they do this you ask, by creating a Shroud that is fueled by the blood of humans. This Shroud makes a perfect barrier that keeps out the suns rays so that the vampires can travel during the daylight hours. At the start of the game you enter into a mansion for a party, but your real purpose is to find out what's going on in there. Rayne isn't acting alone in this game, she is accompanied by a witty guy named Severin who she collaborates with on her missions. If you liked her outfit in the first game your going to love the seductive little number that she wears in this one for her appearance at the party. It's a black form fitting dress that looks like it is made out of leather by the way it shines, it has slits up both sides that go to the top of her hips to expose her black boots that come to mid-thigh. The top of her dress looks like she is wearing a collar around her neck that connects to three thin strips of fabric which keep her dress from falling off her breasts, then the dress is cut down the middle right to the top of her naval. When Rayne steps into the party all eyes are on her. The tutorial takes place during the mission inside of the mansion, it is very simple to learn. The controls handle nicely and the camera is very easy to manipulate, but it has some of the same problems that the first BloodRayne had which is getting stuck inside some of the scenery, this usually requires resetting the game to remedy the problem. As far as the visual aspect of the game goes it is aesthetically appealing to the eye. Each area that she enters is very stylishly done and her enemies are just as nicely made as she is. Rayne begins the game with twin blades in which to cut down her opponents, you'd think people at the party would wonder why she needed them. Her blades are my favorite weapon, she can dice her enemies into many pieces, very gruesome. Her moves with the blades are very easy to use and she has some great finishing moves. Rayne also comes equipped with a harpoon to snag her enemies that aren't close enough to her, you'll often use this to throw the enemies into things. Throughout the game there are many puzzles that must be figured out, usually it consists of throwing enemies into something that will either chop them up or make them explode. They aren't very hard to figure out and if you use Rayne's aura vision it usually highlights the items she needs to use to beat the puzzle. Rayne's aura vision will also lead you to your next target so it is hard to get lost in some of the rather large areas. Rayne feeds the same way in this game as she did in the last, but be careful if the enemy has a weapon you must kick them until you knock it out of their hands or on the ground you go. Her kicks are also a very powerful attack and work great in unison with her blades. It makes it easier to fight the enemies if you target them, the target buttons are the left trigger button for the Xbox console or the L1 button for the Playstation 2 console; these buttons also work for blocking enemy attacks. As you are fighting your way through the game you will be earning carnage points and weapon experience points that allow you to either upgrade your health and rage bars or upgrade your weaponry. In addition Rayne will earn combo moves that add a little more style to her fighting. From the beginning Rayne has the ability called dilated perception that enables her to perceive time as going really slow this will help her to escape attacks or bullets that are coming her way. On the opposite side of that she will learn super speed that makes her move in her normal speed, but her enemies will be moving like slugs. Other powers that Rayne will develop are ghost feed and blood fury. Blood fury is just an upgrade of blood rage which is a frenzy attack upon her enemies that drain their life much faster than regular attacks. Ghost feed, on the other hand is a completely new idea, it allows Rayne to send a ghostly version of herself to other places in order to feed. BloodRayne 2 has done a lot of expanding onto Rayne's character since the first game, this makes the game a little more complicated than the first but not less fun. BloodRayne 2 is a fun beat em' up with a lot of style, but the game play is lacking in creativity; after awhile it begins to feel repetitive. This game is about as long as the first BloodRayne and it too does not have much replay value so I would recommend renting it or buying it when the price drops really low. Keep in mind that it is a fun action game, but if you want to be challenged look somewhere else. There may be times when an area challenges you to the point that you need to play it a few times over before you get it right, but they are few and far between. So settle down in front of the television, relax, and enjoy kicking butt. |
