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There are a lot of vampire hunter titles around here. Just look at the long-running Castlevania series, or Buffy's new success, The Vampire Slayer. And when it comes to games where you actually play a vampire, there aren't many of them. And when it comes to unforgettable games where you play as a vampire, well, there's not a lot of them at all. BloodRayne is working to get things easier. You play the part of Rayne, a sexy vampire wearing tight clothing and a huge sword on each wrist. Technically, you're a half-vampire. The other half of you are human, and I think that's why you can do all the kicking moves. You're going to be able to kick all sorts of zombies, freaky insects, and Nazi radicals, but with a combination of arms, jumps, kicks, and, of course, blade handwork. And it was never so easy to do anything about it.
There's a problem, you can almost trigger all the fun, disruptive moves by quickly pressing the mouse button. Combat usually consists of running up to the target, wiping off the mouse keys, and pulling back a few moments before going back in. After a bit, it can get a little tiresome, and the brain dead AI doesn't help. To be sure, zombies and freak nazis may not be smart enough, but they never really pose a lot of issues. That's not to say that the game is going to be ruined. There are a lot of other fun activities you can do, and while they're not usually needed, they're still available. You can make Rayne do a gravity-defying spinning kick by quickly clicking the hop button when she's still in the air.
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This may be useful for knocking down broken walls or actually extending the length of a jump. She can also use all the guns she collects, and while you usually don't have a lot of ammo by your hand, they're really packing a punch. Rayne also has a nifty little grappling hook – she can use it to get her enemies down to her until she beats them to the pulp or sucks their blood. Sucking blood is also really important if you have a low health rating, some of it can be refilled by seeing a quality human being next to you.
If the Anger meter is full, Rayne can also use the nifty "Blood Rage" capability. When turning a Blood Rage on makes Rayne super strong, slowing down as she triggers a flurry of attacks. Blood Rage is the best way to get rid of managers and other difficult creatures. But at any time, Rayne will turn into several "visions" One lets something turn blue, however, points to your main objective as well as notifying you of any nearby enemies, the recognition of the light. Another makes things slow down, much as when the Blood Rage is triggered. It might be a lot of fun to play with these visions.
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The entire game has a very old-school feel. Your know-how, in earlier NES games, you'd go to all the levels and overcome all the bosses – but you've never been asked to do half the stuff that you can do as long as you've finished the work. This is what BloodRayne should have been. Even if the bosses are stupid and the stage goals are never all that innovative, or the challenges are never that challenging, you've had a very good time playing the game and finding inventive ways to get the opponent out of your massive arsenal of moves.
The game is split into several main regions, but each of these positions is divided into smaller parts. Usually, each of them focuses on an environment like a graveyard or a home. Sometimes you only have to get to the exit point, but occasionally you have to find the keys or destroy some enemy before you go ahead. It seems like the accuracy of the architecture of the stage ranges from good to not so good. Some of the floors have a drab, bland look and soft architecture, while others are well-designed, with clever features.
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Graphicly Bloodrayne is a good game. All of the characters are beautifully elegant and well-detailed, and the animations are as smooth as honey. Cutscenes are a touch like hockey, but most of the work. Both the creatures look pretty cool, and some of them are really hideous—I was very frightened the first time a huge, deformed bug crawled across the ground two feet away from me. The environments themselves are well-detailed, and while a lot of textures and templates seem to have been reused in the game, they are still put to good use.
There are a few flaws in the recording, but overall, it's good. Background music is going to please you with its dark, gothic sound. The sound effects are also good; the click of the footsteps over the wooden floor or the "slurp" sound of the head decapitated also sounds lovely. The voice, however, is a little bad. While the voices fit well, I really doubt the dialog – some of them are really lame, and it really sounds poor to hear the voice actors say it. I don't think you're going to have to care about turning the stereo up when you're watching this, though, because the good does the bad thing.
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Overall, BloodRayne is a powerful game with certain disadvantages. War can be boring, so you take it upon yourself to mix it up, and while it can be done easily enough, you never really get to put any of Rayne's amazing abilities to use, which is a little annoying in itself. Some of the level design is pretty good, and some of it's not perfect. Graphics and sound, however, are very strong. I admit I've had a lot of fun with BloodRayne, and while the game is obviously not perfect, it's surely above-average. Don't wait to find out if you're involved.
@kentzz001