BloodRayne: Betrayal Videogame Review

Review by Colin Moriarty on http://ps3.ign.com/articles/119/1192226p1.html



I have a confession to make. I have absolutely no idea what BloodRayne is about. OK, so there's some sexy vampire lady in the game, and she hunts other vampires. I think. But after hearing a great deal about her mediocre gaming exploits and her terrible film, I gave BloodRayne an indefinite pass in my head. Then I played BloodRayne: Betrayal at this past year's E3, and it left an indelible mark on me as the single biggest surprise of the show.



I've since gotten my hands on the final version of the game and worked my way through it in its entirety. And I really enjoyed myself. One word came to mind pretty much every second I played it -- "Castlevania" -- because BloodRayne: Betrayal reeks of an old-school entry in the series. In fact, with developer WayForward's relationship with Konami already established with its Contra offering, something deep within me says that BloodRayne: Betrayal was most certainly meant to be a Castlevania game, one that never got approved.



Like the Castlevania games that clearly inspired it, BloodRayne: Betrayal is a 2D side-scrolling action-platformer. And much like those games, BloodRayne: Betrayal totes brutal difficultly. Be warned: BloodRayne: Betrayal will challenge gamers lacking an old-school pedigree. If you prefer the brand of contemporary games that tend to beat themselves for you, you're barking up the wrong tree. But if you enjoy sadistic, at times heinously hard romps from the days of yore, then you may just be in luck with Betrayal.



The game consists of 15 stages that take place in, around and below a castle. And getting through each one will test everything you've learned in-game up to that point. Enemies get progressively harder, and the volume of bad guys increases. Platforming becomes more extreme, and random puzzle elements get introduced that spice up the gameplay a bit. And then there are the boss battles. Oh, the boss battles.



Rayne, the main character, has two basic weapons: her blades and her pistol. Blades are used for hacking and slashing enemies from up close, while pistols blast bad guys from afar as long as she has the ammunition to do so. Combat is simplistic in premise but actually quite deep, requiring you to mix up techniques to remain alive. Rayne can heal herself by biting the necks of most enemies, which is a necessity if you're planning on getting very far in the game. She can even poison her foes and turn them into living bombs.



Aesthetically, WayForward always pleases (just look at A Boy and His Blob on Wii), and BloodRayne: Betrayal follows in that tradition. The game looks simple yet beautiful. The camera is occasionally wonky in terms of zooming in too closely, but crisp animations, great character and enemy designs, and compelling environments make it easy to overlook that. An admittedly-forgettable metal-inspired soundtrack could detract from the experience, but you'll find yourself so floored by how the game looks that you probably won't care very much about the music (and hell, you may even like it).



BloodRayne: Betrayal clearly totes solid gameplay, but what I really enjoyed about the game the most is how it gives you several reasons to go back to levels and try again. You'll be revisiting stages for reasons other than mere Trophy-hunting. Each level has collectibles strewn about in the form of red skulls. For every five of these skulls you collect, you'll be given the option to upgrade Rayne's health meter or the maximum amount of ammunition she can carry. And online leaderboards and an in-game grading system will have you trying harder and harder to get through the stages quickly, while killing as many enemies as you can and sustaining as little damage as possible in the process.



BloodRayne: Betrayal isn't just a one-off old-school action experience. The game doesn't change after you beat it, but you'll still want to try to better your scores because of Betrayal's addicting gameplay. It's certainly easy to get frustrated with certain parts of the game -- my co-workers certainly enjoyed watching me scream and yell at a few specific points -- but sticking with it and seeing each level through brings a great deal of satisfaction.



Closing Comments



One thing concerns me about BloodRayne: Betrayal. Many gamers won’t give it a chance because of the BloodRayne moniker associated with it. But it would be a mistake to ignore a game like this. Betrayal isn’t for everyone, but for classic gamers looking for a hard romp, it’ll prove to be a great success.