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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sucks even better than the first., October 24, 2004
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I liked the original "Blood Rayne" OK. I thought the graphics were actually sub-par for PS2, and it was fairly short and easy. But how could you not have a fun time with a character who can suck blood for health, use the victim as a human shield, and fire over his shoulders all at the same time?
Then I heard "Blood Rayne 2" was coming out, and I figured I'd check it out and see if the developers had actually managed to improve on their concept. I was in for a nice surprise. This game ROCKS. Rayne has been completely retooled, with much better controls (I always found L1 for the blades pretty awkward) and a camera system that lets you 360 around her with ease. The slightly washed-out graphics of the original can't even compare with "2" - Rayne looks HOT, the levels are beautifully rendered, the enemies are well-designed if a bit repetitive, and the fatalities are SICK "Kill Bill" style extreme blood and gore, guaranteed to freak out your parents. It's easy to get the hang of the moves, and you can potentially get all the practice you'd ever want - the enemies just keep coming and coming. True, you can't jump quite as high as you could in the first, nor do you have your little spin at the end, it's just a conventional but sturdy double jump. Blood Rage is also far less dramatic, but still pretty lethal. Once you get the blood guns, the strategy of the game basically involves making the most of the way you slay your enemies, rationing their life force between yourself and your weapons and feeding your Blood Lust by executing fatalities. You can also get creative with the harpoon and rack up "Carnage" points by whipping enemies into spiky objects - these "environmental" kills eventually earn Rayne Health and Rage upgrades.
Another feature that I personally love is Rayne's ability to smash practically everything around her into smithereens, with accompanying loud sound effects. If you're like me, nothing's more fun than destroying the virtual china cabinets in the mansion levels - except possibly slicing the heads off the debutantes. And you HAVE to check out the various themed outfits - my favorite is probably "Schoolgirl Rayne," especially hilarious when she's sliding down the poles.
Overall this game is really so different from the original that it's barely even a sequel. Some of my friends didn't like the first but they love "2," and maybe vice-versa for some people. Seriously, since they'll probably never make an actual "Kill Bill" video game, this is about as close as you could get without legal action occurring. Whether you liked "Blood Rayne" or not, I highly recommend you check out "2" - I doubt you'll be disappointed.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!, October 14, 2004
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I was a little wary about buying this game, due to feeling the new controls might be hard. Seeing all the previews over the last couple of months Rayne does some tricky looking maneuvers & I couldn't see how some of them would be easily performed.
I played the game last night & was amazed not only at generally EVERY aspect of the game, but the controls were so EASY! I helped Rayne perform acrobatics without any difficulty, & pulled off mind bending fatalities flawlessly...
It's everything I loved about the 1st game, but tweaked just enough to upgrade almost everything to make it even better!
~Story~
Rayne finally caught up with her father Kagan, who incidentally wanted to populate our world with his vampire spawn. Before Rayne has the chance someone else kills Kagan, & so now in the present day Rayne is still hunting down her siblings & killing them off one by one. Easier said than done...
The remaining siblings have formed the Order of Kagan & have countless vamps & such willing to give their own lives to protect Kagans remaining children.
~Game Controls & Presentation~
The game has introduced many new moves for Rayne, including fatalities. While feeding on pray she can use many techniques with the push of a button to kill her opponent. Some include forms of decapitation, but I won't elaborate...lol The sooner you do this after jumping on an enemy the more it fills Rayne's rage meter.
You can now also use things around your area of attack to aid you. The harpoon whip Rayne had in the original can now be used to pull heavy items down onto enemies... Also while feeding you can aim an enemy into things like fireplaces, fans & such to cause them to burn or get chopped to bits.
Rayne now can do pole & fence grate acrobatics! She can swing, & stand on horizontal poles... She can also hang from them & shoot at enemies. When it comes to vertical poles she can crawl up them, & when she slides down them she holds on with her legs & bends backwards to shoot at enemies...
Along side with all this she can leap onto steel grating (it's almost catlike) & hold on in high places. She jumps from one to the other till reaching the top.
One new weapon addition is her Dhampir guns, which basically run off of blood. When Rayne gets low on ammo the guns will begin to drain her own power. It's easily rechargeable however, just find the nearest enemy & begin to feed, then hit R1 & Rayne will drain their blood into her guns.
Also, the Rage mode has been upgraded to where Rayne's custom blades seem to set on fire when she's in the Rage mode.
~Graphics & Sound~
The graphics have been upgraded beautifully... In the beginning (after some game play) we see a movie showing how Kagan died, & the movie is absolutely stunning! Rayne's character is so lifelike in these instances you almost forget it's a game you're playing. (Somehow Rayne managed to get a tan over the years, but what the hey! lol )
Majesco must have been very proud of Rayne, because in the game there are times when you change the camera angle to get literally in Rayne's face. To be able to see your in game character this closely is very ballsy of Majesco, but her character is flawless! (She even follows you with her eyes as you circle her face with the camera... kinda creepy...).
The in game enemies have a bit more variety than the 1st one, a lot of gothic/new age Vampire's. Some of the bosses are amazing to look at! One in particular has body art that tends to fade & roam all over her body flawlessly only to replace itself after a time.
The environments are beautiful... The beginning finds Rayne inside a mansion, & everything catches your eye! The marble floors not only shine, but you can see Rayne's reflection as she walks over them (can she do that as a Vamp?!). The courtyards sport a dozen tiny firefly's that blink on & off to give a somewhat calm feeling to the outside (until you reach the roof that is...lol)
More can be interacted with, as now if Rayne starts really kicking butt, don't be surprised to see enemies flying into & knocking down the things they hit (chairs, tables, couches, pottery)
All the music is up to par, with raging techno & rock music following an enemy coming into the room, to the seedy country bar belting out horrid country music...lmbo (No offense to you Country buffs, I think they purposely made it horrid) They also brought back the original actor for Rayne's voice (I must say it's nice to have her back).
~Overall~
For those who didn't like the original BloodRayne (you know who you are) I think there is a lot more to find in this game to grab your attention. Anyone who has played the original won't find anything they don't like about this newest addition.
I highly recommend this game to anyone out there who have been waiting for a decent game to hit the shelves. BloodRayne 2 is a prime example of when gaming companies finally get it right the second time around!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
She Slices, She Dices, She Wiggles, She Jiggles, October 20, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
What if I were to say to you, "Hey, how would you like to play as a hot, big-breasted red-headed half-human half-vampire chick armed to the teeth who cuts off arms and legs while out for revenge against a mad vampire cult and wearing skintight leather?"
Fans of BR1 will be glad to know that number two in the series delivers more of the same, only better. Bigger, bloodier, more ambitious and epic while still remaining true to its splatter-horror-game roots, BR2 has a lot to offer.
There are a good variety of nasty fatality moves and ways to harpoon enemies onto spikes, fire, and electrocuting circuits. In the beginning you might think all the game does is throw hordes of easy-to-kill thugs at you, but variety is mixed up in the second half with plenty of other acrobatic vampire enemies and minor boss monsters. The game succeeds not just as brutal fun but also as a cinematic experience - the story and script are creative and interesting and the voice acting is fantastic. The dialogue is mostly driven by Rayne's dry sense of humor and is hilarious.
On top of that, it's just plain sexy - they address every conceivable fetish known to man. From leather S&M to blood to same-sex to oral fixation (gratuitous girl-on-girl bloodsucking). Even the killing and gore has some inexplicable sense of sexuality to it.
I've beaten the game several times and it has a lot of replay value. There's always that one move you didn't use, after all. My favorite is "Curtain Twice Torn", which splits your enemy clean in two, right down the middle. The puzzles are pretty obvious and yet tons of grisly fun. The main bosses are somewhat challenging until you figure out the "secret" to beating them, except the Unravveler, which was the only disappointment. I thought there was a secret, but after hours of playing around it seems the only way to beat him is to use the blood hammer over and over. If anyone finds some easier secret to beating him, please e-mail me.
Highly, highly recommended. I'll bet the movie will be crap though.
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