BloodRayne for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

For a long time I've heard of this really cool game called BloodRayne, seen it in the local game shops and all that, but had neglected to check it out because I'm a bit squeamish about dropping money on a game I'm unsure of. Then I joined Gamefly and ran into it again, and figured why not. Got the game in a few days and with a big goofy grin I put it in my XBox to begin my undead massacre...and that, friends, is where my troubles began.
From what little I gathered from the beginning,, the story seemed rather bland. I mean, really...I've seen that same freakin' story a thousand times. Different character, different setting, but pretty much the same ol',same ol'. Now normally that would throw me off right there, but, then, I hadn't really expected much from a blood soaked action-type game. I DID, however, expect the combat to be much more fluid.
The combat is probably my biggest gripe with this game. BloodRayne feels like it wants to be a shooter...like REALLY bad, but fails to give any real way to aim. Even when in melee with those sweet looking blades, I missed my target more often than not, unless in slow-motion, which really got old quick. More to my dismay, the gun controls are nearly nonexistent. Wait till she aims at something, mash a button and within a few seconds it's dead...what? How 'bout a targeting reticle? Or maybe a better weapon selection function?
The other complaint about the combat system was how clunky the melee combat felt. I expect a vampire type character to move with grace, fluidity, and most of all speed. What I found were horrendously unresponsive melee controls that consist of constantly mashing the left trigger, leading to a less that wonderful series of unconnected feeling attacks that tend to seem painfully slow.
Now, don't get me wrong, it's entertaining for a while, just not something I could recommend buying. I'm thinkin' this is a rental, but don't expect too much.

The gameplay was rather clunky and certain aspects of the game were incredibly cheesy, however the theme and idea was good. Although very easy, it is worth at least one playthrough...to better appreciate the 2nd installment.