Bloodrayne For the Nintendo GameCube Like Vampires ? Like World War 2 ? This game combines both, in one spectacular failure. Game Info- 1 Player Adventure game (3rd Person View) 1 Block on Memory Card ESRB rating: Mature Let's see, the game is filled with blood, guns, and sexual suggestive themes. Oh, and the many swear words the characters occasionally say. Story- You play the role of the Vampire called Rayne, or as she is known to others, Agent BloodRayne. She's a half-vampire, all the powers of a vampire, none of the weaknesses (Says that exact phase in the game and book, does Marvel Comics know about this ?) Her father (a vampire) raped her mother (a human), and Rayne was the result. Rayne is now looking for her father, so she can kill him. Game takes place a year before WW2, so uhh expect some war element in it. Mostly killing Nazis. (They "borrowed" storylines from the following movie/game: Blade and Return to Castle Wolfenstein) Gameplay- Bloodrayne is a button smasher. You use the trigger buttons to attack, and you'll build up your "bloodlust" meter (Blood Omen 2 anyone ?). When your meter is full, you'll become stronger and faster, and you'll have new moves. While you will be faster, things move a bit slower in this mode. You start off with a basic 3 hit combo, and as you kill certain folk, the combo is extended. It also works like that with the "bloodlust" mode. Oh, and guess how you fill your health bar when you've lost life (think, vampire)? You'll pick up guns from fallen foes, as well as the random gun on the ground. There are tons of guns in this game, and you can check them out in the instruction book. Rayne also uses two guns at a time, ala Devil May Cry. You can also find grenades, and you can equip one(1) special gun, be it a turret (ok...) or a double-barrel shotgun. The enemies are fairly stupid. Push the B button and they raise their arms and let you suck their blood. Talk about smart !! Luckily, there are a few smart enemies, and you can only drain their blood is you get behind them. You can also use guys as human shields, and on some occasions the enemies are so dumb they'll kill each other to get to you. Yeah... At certain points of the game, you'll have to fight a boss character. Now some of these fights can get VERY VERY annoying. You'll find yourself relying on the bloodlust meter. Certain bosses have weaknesses you can exploit, by destroying certain objects. Graphics and Sound- Graphics are pretty good looking. The characters are nicely animated, and the speech is lip-synched very well. The backgrounds aren't very nice looking, often boring and bland. There are some graphic glitches, such as being attacked through a solid surface... Alright... Sound ? What sound ? Certain voice actors, such as the one that supplies the voice of Rayne, are super boring, showing no emotion whatsoever in their voice. Not even when she threatens people. Even when she swears it makes me want to fall asleep. The enemies on the other hand, are voiced pretty damn good. But one thing bugs me... Why the hell do all the Germans speak English ?! Common foot soldiers speaking perfect English !! I was expecting some cool speech like in Battlefield 1942, but no, it's English... Oh and as for the BGM, there is none. You might hear the faint sound of some techno beat, but it will pass quickly. Replay Value- Uhh none. Unless you wanna see what the cheats do, which, by the way, is in a password system. Or you like listening to swears and the sexual motives. Rent or Buy- Rent. With no replay value, a boring story, and yo-yoing AI, this game is definitely not worth the money you'd have to pay for it. My final score - 2/10 I like vampires as much as the next guy, but this game shames the word vampire. If I want vampires, I'll stick with the Legacy of Kain series. If I want a WW2 game, I'll play Battlefield 1942. Stay away from this game folks, it's baaaaaad. Ahh, and to the games designers, when did the Nazi Army have giant mech warrior-like robots ?