First Impressions: The Xbox is thirsty for blood…
After the recent slew of vampire-centered entertainment releases, such as Blade 2, Blood Omen 2, and Soul Reaver 2, it seems that the whole blood sucking theme might get a bit tired. However, if you were to add a hint of Max Payne, some Devil May Cry, and a high-poly and very curvy female character, you’d have BloodRayne.
In this 3rd-person shooter you take the role of Agent BloodRayne, your goal to take out Nazis before they take over the world. Only difference between this and say, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, is that it just so happens your half vampire. You also inherit some awesome vampire skills – like sucking the blood from your enemies when you’re low on life, using a Max Payne-like “bullet time” effect, super-human vision, and being able to enter a “blood rage.” Each of these has some neat little sub-features as well, such as being able to suck the blood of your enemies before turning them around to take a few bullets for you.
BloodRayne controls pretty much like your typical FPS, with the left joystick moving you around and the right stick altering the camera. There is also a built-in auto aim, as you can pick up guns of dead Nazis, and in fact hold (and use) two at once. BloodRayne will automatically fire at two enemies when appropriate, though you can turn off this impressive feature for a less Tomb Raider-ish style of gameplay and do all the aiming yourself. You also have a blade attached to each arm, useful for slicing, dicing and pureeing your enemies, and you’ll pack a spear-gun as well, allowing you to pull your enemies towards you instead of having to run over to them.
The gameplay shown so far looks very impressive, accomplishing Max Payne’s fun-filled style while adding some cool vampire elements to the dynamics of the game. You can even run at a wall, jump towards it and bound off it in another direction (though developer Terminal Reality does admit that’s still in the works, as it’s slightly imprecise at the moment). The graphics would appear to be equally impressive, with sharp textures, high-poly models and some great special effects. Cloth is simulated well, and rather destroyable, along with a good portion of the game’s environments, such as wooden boxes, shelves and the like. The game won’t feature any power-ups, since all you need to regain your health is a body of two, but the blood rage and super-human vision will still add some more dimension to the game.
The game certainly isn’t shooting for an “E” rating, as body parts (organs and all) have a tendency to spill out everywhere should you decide to dismember your enemies rather than just quickly kill them off. However, it is a vampire game, and there is always the possibility of an adjustable gore level like that found in many other shooters.
