BloodRayne 2

Blood. Dismemberment. Gore. Come on, you know you love it, you sick little bastard.

Blood. Dismemberment. Gore. Come on, you know you love it, you sick little bastard. And ? good news for you ? BloodRayne 2 has it by the bucketful! This sequel to Terminal Reality?s third-person action game once again stars the titular sexy half-vampire assassin, though things have changed quite a bit since she last wreaked havoc in the moonlight.

The first big change to BloodRayne 2 is that it takes place in the modern era ? that?s right, no more Nazis, no more prototype jetpacks, no more backwater 1940s Louisiana bayous. The storyline jumps on one of the loose ends of the original, and has BloodRayne hunting down her siblings?and ultimately her father?in order to prevent something called ?The Shroud? (a veil of eternal night that would let vampires be outside 24-7) from being unleashed upon the world.

A lot of what?s new in BloodRayne 2 comes as a direct response to what fans (and critics) thought could be improved in the original. The level designs here are more focused, taking on a more Prince of Persia-inspired ?acrobatic playground? approach rather than the ?sprawling maze? approach of the original, since many gamers found the original game?s level layouts to be too confusing. A brand new art director is on board, too, and the early version we saw definitely had a more distinct Underworld//Vampire: The Masquerade feel to it. Style, in fact, seems to be a lot more important overall, with an improved BloodRayne model and special kill cams that trigger any time Rayne pulled off a particularly interesting/disgusting dismemberment

BloodRayne also has some new moves up her sleeve, including a right trigger lockon mechanic, new combos that don?t involve just bashing the same button over and over again. Her new guns that are ?blood powered? rather than ammo pick-up powered?you replenish ammunition by ?feeding? the guns the blood of your victims; and if you can?t find victims, then the gun feeds on you. She?s also got new moves for her harpoon weapon that let her fling enemies sideways and pull objects down from the environment. Majesco says that ?kill puzzles? will be a big part of the BloodRayne 2 experience as well?the ones we saw involved Rayne whipping enemies into fans and garbage trucks with her chain until said harpoon/garbage truck exploded and revealed a new passage. (Why would a garbage truck explode from having people thrown into it, you ask? Just one of the mysteries of the supernatural!) Bloodrayne can also do some pretty fancy firework while hanging from poles, sort of like Nova in the coming-out-eventually Starcraft: Ghost.

Rayne?s four vampiric powers are back too, of course, but with a twist: After killing each of her siblings, BloodRayne will earn an upgrade to one of her powers. Aura vision, for example, eventually becomes Ghost Feed, which sends out spectral versions of Rayne to suck blood out of her enemies. Her ability to slow time eventually turns into an ability to freeze time (which, by the way, makes for some particularly cool-looking death scenes). Additionally, Rayne now has ?experience bars? that let her increase her health capacity as the game progresses.

It seems like Majesco and Terminal Reality have definitely been listening to their fans and critics in crafting BloodRayne 2. The game should be coming out sometime in October for Xbox and PS2 (no GameCube this time)?look for more coverage as E3 gets closer.

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