BloodRayne

Overview

The BloodRayne franchise quickly built a cult following with its debut title, which revolved around a half-vampire woman (named Rayne) who was recruited by a secret organization to fight vampires and Nazis. Gore and sexuality were a large part of the first game's appeal, which included a cheat called "JUGGY MODE" that increased the breast size of all the female characters and another cheat that made every attack end with lopped off heads and limbs. That, and the fact that the game featured unique abilities and engaging combat, beings to explain why this under-the-radar release quickly became a sleeper hit. BloodRayne 2 attempted to capitalize on the first instalment with a frenzied publicity campaign that put the cult hit in the spotlight. From music videos to a nude spread in Playboy, little was left to the imagination. The sequel met with mediocre reviews and comparable sales, but, for a while, the stage seemed set for a third installment. Things soon took a turn for the worst as BloodRayne for the PSP was canceled and the game's publisher Majesco announced that they were turning to the casual market in hopes of saving their ailing company. Eventually all hopes of a third game where crushed when director Uwe Boll released the much-maligned movie version of BloodRayne, which terminally damaged the franchise's credibility.

Gameplay

The first game featured a wide array of weapons and wide environments to navigate. Also the player was able to utilize supernatural abilities to solve puzzles and slaughter the Nazi menace. The main ability which set the game apart was being able drink the blood of your enemies. Instead of health packs BloodRayne allowed the player to drain the enemies to restore her health. This played a vital role in the gameplay and added more sexually suggestive moments than one can count. The sequel retained many of these same gameplay features, but dropped the Nazi angle and moved the action to the present day - as a dhampir, Rayne appears to be ageless, looking much the same in the early 2000's as she did in the 40's. BloodRayne 2 also presented a much more linear experience, rather than having the player backtrack throughout more massive levels. It also removed the ability to use enemy weapons and replaced the multitude of firearms from the first BloodRayne with a single gun that used blood as ammo, thereby increasing the need to feed. As the player moved through the game, the gun increased in power and could change from a machine gun to a rocket launcher, but still didn't bring the amount of combat options seen in the first installment. Instead, variety was provided by BloodRayne's blades—which could slice and dice (and possibly even mince) enemies very quickly—as well as the occasional acrobatic challenge.

Movie

Three BloodRayne movies have been released with awful quality, embarrassing sales, and critical and public ridicule. The movies bear little resemblance to the games and are reputed by viewers as possibly some of the worst movies ever made. The embarrassment of the movies have all but killed any possibility of a third game. Director Uwe Boll has released several other movies based on games, each failing on all possible levels. Controversy and fanboy outcries against the director have gone unheard by the owners of the game's I.P.

Trivia

The character BloodRayne appeared nude in Playboy as a promotion for BloodRayne 2. She also appeared in a music video for the rock band for Evanescence and had a short-lived comic book series. Her last appearance in 3D form was in the PSP game Infected.