5-Jun-2003 Goths eh? Despite the fact that The Sisters of Mercy and their pasty-faced black coat-wearing ilk have long since been resigned to bargain bin obscurity, our American cousins are still under the impression that spraying patchouli oil about the place and looking miserable is 'cool'.
Hence here's Dallas-based Terminal Reality's BloodRayne - a third-person action game starring a sexy leather-clad vampire dominatrix taking on hordes of hellish nazis bent on the resurrection of a terrifying demon who can lay waste to the earth. OK, so the plot doesn't exactly have the sophistication of Jane Austen, but the ability to dispatch Hitler's barmy army in unthinkably gruesome ways, is hugely enjoyable and laugh-out-loud funny.
BloodRayne, you see, is a tad on the gory side. With two large razor-sharp metal blades attached to her arms, any lightning-quick acrobatic jumps and spins can neatly slice and dice nearby enemies, sending chunks of man-flesh arcing into the air and spraying walls with gushes of crimson liquid. BloodRayne can also pick up and fire enemy weaponry, including shotguns, grenades, machine-guns and pistols - useful for completing the missions which vary from an assault on an undead-infested German castle, to a raid on a Nazi submarine depot.
Fancy a pint? A major advantage that BloodRayne has over wimpy 'alive' videogame characters such as Lara Croft, is that whenever she finds herself short on health, all the garlic-hating heroine has to do is feast upon the warm blood of any fresh victim for an instant inhuman pick-me-up. Also, if you wade through enough enemies in hand-to-hand combat, BloodRayne can be sent into a Bloodrage - an intensely violent state where she literally makes mincemeat of any unfortunate souls who cross her path.
In addition, BloodRayne has supernatural powers that can be called upon to help you in particularly tough battles: Aura Vision allows you to see enemies in the dark, Extruded Vision can be used to scout ahead and Dilated Vision is a bullet-time effect allowing you to perform more accurate kills and watch the gibs fly in glorious balletic slo-mo.
Enemies in BloodRayne include your classic "Schnell, Englander Dog!" Nazis, as well as unearthly spider-like swamp creatures, zombies and scary, floating demon heads, which you meet in the later levels. Graphically, BloodRayne doesn't render anything particularly mesmerising, but the Infernal Engine seems solid and smooth, with large indoor and open-air environments, and detailed character textures. Also worthy of note are the sound effects, which accompany the ultra-violence with the thuds of bodies hitting the earth, gun shots, splattering blood and ear-bursting screams of agony from BloodRayne's victims.
Terminal Reality has acted like a magpie in the development of BloodRayne, stealing shiny ideas from other games - you have the Tomb Raider-style action hero, the Max Payne-style shoot-outs, the vampires from Soul Reaver and the Nazis from, well, every other title at the moment. It's basically a console game, but none the worse for it, with mouse-look added to this PC incarnation. We'll have to wait and see if Terminal Reality manages to sort out the sometimes-iffy AI, and the distinct lack of any mid-level saves (very annoying), but the wickedly satisfying blood-thirsty kills should ensure BloodRayne has loads of bite.
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