BloodRayne 2

Everything the original should have been two years ago but wasn’t: intense, gritty, ultra-violent, stylish and a lot of fun to play through... ONCE!

Had a lot of potential but didn't do enough with it. They focused a little too much on Rayne's abilities and not enough on trying to make the game more difficult, and more challenging.

For a lot of players, the excellent graphics and high levels of violence and sex appeal will be more than enough to keep Bloodrayne 2 spinning. It's really a shame that the A.I. is so daft, and even with all the acrobatics, the very linear levels don't truly captivate.

Despite Rayne’s new abilities, you’re still doing pretty much the same thing as before—slashing up wimpy guys, defeating bosses, and then doing it all over again after the next save point. (Even worse, the old camera problems are still there—you’ll get blindsided by enemies all the time simply because you had no advance warning of their presence.)

Qualifies fine and well as a Barbie for boys, but as an action game it is dull and mediocre, and sinks into the oblivion where it belongs. Pretty graphics, though. [May. 05]

As great as it is to be sliding down a banister firing off both guns before holding out your blades to slice into two anyone unlucky enough to be standing near the bottom as you pass, the sloppy controls and quirks in the design do prevent BR2 from being anything more than a reasonably-decent third-person action-slasher.

Sex and violence are the stars, but clever, well-delivered dialogue carries an entertaining vampire apocalypse plot well above current game standards. [Holiday 2004, p.106]

The attempt to add depth to the game hasn’t really succeeded, but the combat still feels fun.

The game is a showcase for the lead character and not an inspired one at that.

While other games have moved onwards and upwards ("Ratchet & Clank", "Jak" etc), Miss Rayne is treading water.