Geekscape Games Reviews: Bloodrayne: Betrayal
Does anyone even remember that Bloodrayne exists? I swear, I thought this franchise had been massacred beyond repair. After a successful first game that hasn’t aged well, its legacy has been a string of awful sequels, and not one… not two… but THREE movies directed by Uwe Boll. Most games would have called it quits, (I know most gamers have when it comes to Bloodrayne,) but this vampire refuses to die. So when I heard there was a new game coming to PSN and Live Arcade, two things peaked my interest. First, I was surprised that it was going to be a 2D action platformer, and second, that it was being developed by WayForward, masters of reviving dead franchises (A Boy and his Blob, and Contra come to mind.) So for the first time in… well, ever, I was excited to pick up Bloodrayne Betrayal and see if WayForward can save the sultry vampire or if she would suck the life out of the developer.
As soon as the title screen loads up, you’re greeted with a beautiful visual of Rayne, the heroine of the story. That’s the first thing that you’ll notice; all of the animations from beginning to end are stunning and proves that you don’t need 3D models and high polygon counts to make a gorgeous game. Each animation, attack and gallon of blood splattered on the ground looks so stylish and slick. I mean seriously, just look at it!
But I’ve never been one to judge a game by how easy it is on the eyes. Fortunately, Bloodrayne plays as pleasingly as it looks. With a basic set of combos, each one can be linked and chained to manhandle multiple enemies at once. These foes do huge amounts of damage, but that’s not a problem for a badass blood sucker like Rayne. Grabbing stunned enemies and sucking their blood helps regain health, where as tapping the grab button will infect them instead, allowing you to detonate enemies while blowing up bad guys in the blast range. It becomes somewhat of a strategy, do you take out multiple enemies or do you play defensively and build up your health?
Bloodrayne isn’t all about the action though, because it has a fair share of platforming goodness that’s handled almost as well. Proper exploration through wall jumping, bouncing off of enemies and well timed air dashes reward players with extra points used for rankings and hidden skulls that can either raise your maximum health or give you more ammo for the potentially screen clearing pistol. It just is kind of bad that the castle you’re exploring is apparently made of ice, because Rayne seems to slide around at times, making it unintentionally hard to land tight jumps at times.
This flaw becomes more apparent later in the game, much like the other complaints I have. Around the 9th of 15 stages, enemies become brutally aggressive. I mean that’s usually no problem, I love a good fight. I just don’t love when my character has no recovery frames after getting knocked down and the enemy attacks are timed so they make contact at the moment you get up. Nothing is more rage inducing than getting banged around helplessly back and forth by two enemies, (don’t laugh!) It also got really annoying that as some of the stages get darker, it becomes really hard to see enemy attacks, platforms and obstacles. I know they’re going for the ever so popular silhouette effect, but at least let me see what I’m doing. I felt like I might as well have played with my TV off at times. And if you’re going to have word bubbles instead of voice acting, please don’t have the characters talk during a fight. Not only can’t I follow the story, but my need to read distracts me from the fight.
Despite these shortcomings late in the game, Bloodrayne Betrayal was, dare I say, a bloody good time? (Sorry.) Forget that Bloodrayne is in the title and look at this as a fantastic entry in a growing catalogue of fantastic 2D games released by WayForward, who are truly proving that they’re masters at their craft. By reinventing the franchise into an old school throwback of gaming greatness, gamers should be prepared for a challenging, rewarding experience with hidden goodies and top score leaderboards to keep you playing. So chalk this one up as a success, and while I can’t believe I’m saying this, I really hope to see more Bloodrayne! Just please, please no more movies! Thanks.
