BloodRayne ReVamped review

BloodRayne ReVamped tells the story of Rayne who has been recruited by The Brimstone Society which is a top-secret fraternity that hunts down and destroys supernatural threats at the dawn of World War II. Rayne is on the hunt for a sinister man who wants to bring about a new age of domination for the Third Reich.

BloodRayne ReVamped is a third-person action game that mixes melee combat thanks to Rayne’s sharp blades and shooter. While the blades are her default attack, Rayne can also pick up a decent variety of guns throughout the game from pistols to shotguns. Using the LB bumper attacks with her melee weapons while RB lets you shoot your gun. You can switch between guns with LT and RT.

And of course, as a dhampir, our heroine has a few special skills up her sleeve. She can highlight points of interest when you’re stuck, and also enemies. Once the meter is filled, players can trigger Rage mode where Rayne will get a slight attack and defence increase giving you a chance to get some quick damage onto bosses or overcome a horde of enemies.

Rayne also has her trusty spear akin to Scorpion’s favorite toy. As a general rule, it can be used to stun enemies from afar, giving you a chance to run and attack them. Or as a fast way to jump on close enemies for a quick snack. You can also fling them left and right, but it’s unfortunately unclear and very clunky. Also, enemies serve as health refills; given that Rayne is a vampire, or dhampir to be exact, with the press of a button near a humanoid enemy, our protagonist can jump on her enemy’s throat and suck their blood. You can also move around in circles and shoot nearby enemies at the same time.

The game’s biggest problem, which seems worst, is the controls. While you can change the controls for the character movement, you can’t remap the buttons. So it’s a clunky control scheme where you need to press the LB to melee attack and the RB to use your guns while the triggers are delegated to switching between weapons. Also, it’s a reminder that older games were much more cryptic than recent ones. The game vaguely tells you where to go, but once you get there, you’re on your own.

Given that the game was first released in 2002, the game does look outdated, but the developers did do a good job with what they were given. They managed to polish it enough to look acceptable by today’s standards. However, a few bugs can be encountered through the experience; especially at one point where I was trying to destroy a bug’s nest inside a house, but I clipped outside. The soundtrack is a dark and brooding score that might send some chills down your spine; it sets the tone perfectly for the dark setting and upcoming carnage.

So has BloodRayne aged well? Absolutely not. Is it still a fun game? Definitely, once you get over the game’s archaic-ness. Combat feels loose like a good, jumping feels like you have no control of where you’ll land, although the screw-like movement mid-air is definitely a great addition for navigation. But yes, the game does show its age, however, once you get a grasp of the clunky controls and familiarize yourself with the game’s cryptic-ness, you’re in for a fun and bloody adventure.