Bloodrayne: Betrayal First Impressions

I tried to think of several ways to tweet how I feel about this game, but 140 characters just doesn't cut it. That, and I haven't actually blogged in awhile so I figure I'm doing myself a good service here. To save you some time, this game is fucking awesome. If you'd like to know more of why I feel this way - then by all means, keep reading.

First off, forget every image of Bloodrayne you may have in your head. Forget that there was a sub-par platformer from a few years back, and definitely forget there was ever a character with the same name on the big screen. Put this into your head; this is our protagonist.

See how awesome she looks? Yeah. In fact, she kinda reminds me of X-23 in Marvel vs Capcom 3, except instead of two claws on each hand she's got a pair of retractable swords. Plus there's the whole half-vampire thing. Okay, she's actually pretty different from X-23 in a lot of ways, but the way Rayne fights and moves reminds me of X-23's moveset from MvC3.

On that note, when you see screenshots of this game you gotta remember that for almost every game out there a screenshot does not do the final product justice. More so in this game than others, the cel-shaded look does wonders for this game. It's fast, fluid and violent.

The sounds and the music? Par for the course. There's plenty of gothic metal pounding away while you slice and shoot baddies on screen. It's nothing amazing here, but it fits very well.

When it comes to gameplay, all you have to do is watch one trailer and you'll instantly (or rather, you SHOULD) think of Castlevania. This is not a bad thing. This is probably the best thing that's happened to this series. I got a soft spot for vampires and half-vampires so it's always great to see a character with a shoddy past get a second chance. I'm still waiting on a new Darkstalkers game, but that's for a different rant. Anyway, when you're playing this game, it's pretty straight forward. There's little popups on screen when you first start out, but after that you're on your own. This is not a game that's gonna hold your hand and walk you through. This is not the game that will beat itself. Similar to the game it's styled after, you better be prepared to put in a lot of effort if you want to get through the whole thing. Funny thing is, I've only beaten the first level. Hey - like I said, this is a first impression write up and not a review.

If you're on the fence about it, play the demo and you will not be disappointed.

Oh, and before I forget: fountains of blood. Everywhere.