REVIEW -- BloodRayne: Betrayal

BloodRayne: Betrayal is a 2011 side-scrolling action-adventure game by WayForward, who were responsible for the A Boy and His Blob remake on the Nintendo Wii and their contribution to the Contra franchise from their past partnership with Konami. It is the third title in the BloodRayne series. Unlike the previous 3D hack 'n slash games before it, this game is a 2D side scroller.

Plot Overview: (Minor Spoilers)

The original video game femme fatale, BloodRayne, has returned to battle and feed in a brand new hack ‘n slash adventure. BloodRayne delivers over-the-top stylish action with a healthy dose of bloodshed. You are Rayne, the sexy dhampir with superhuman strength, speed, and agility, recruited by the vampire hunting Brimstone Society for one last mission. The target is a lavish, yet sinister, ball in a secluded castle with plenty of dark surprises. With the help of a mysterious friend, and members of Brimstone, Rayne must infiltrate the manor, take out the fiendish horde, and stop an evil master plot once and for al

The Verdict: 

Gameplay:

Truth be told, I have played both of the original BloodRayne games on PlayStation 2, but never finished them as they grew VERY repetitive and boring.

This title managed to peak my interest when I noticed that they borrowed elements from the Castlevania series, notably the fan-favorite, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. That was blended with the difficulty reminiscent of Team Ninja's current iterations of the Ninja Gaiden franchise. I honestly didn't find the game to be "hard" but just frustrating in terms of cheap deaths and the requirement of precise execution of Rayne's moves during platforming segments late into the game. This game will make the average gamer toss their controllers at the wall in frustration in no time at all, especially by Chapter 9.

Rayne's combo strings are pretty basic and leaves a lot to the imagination, especially for fans coming from other over-the-top action games, such as Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. Fortunately, Rayne has enough to keep things interesting for the most part. You have launchers, air juggles, and Rayne's tried and true dash attack. Seriously, if you're not spamming the HELL out of this move, then you're not playing this game right at all.

Despite the obvious Castlevania influences on this title, you only get roughly two new skills/weapons by the end of the game. Rayne acquires the ability to transform into a raven to fly through some hazardous areas (but this is quickly limited by the devices that instantly kill ravens in later chapters) and new firearms, a shotgun and the Sun-Gun (which is primarily used for puzzles late into the game, but can be used on enemies).

Much like Castlevania, exploration is rewarded with treasure and collectibles, but if players wish to receive high performance grades on all of the chapters, they must have flawless performances on the stages. This means collecting all of the treasures AND completing the chapter in the shortest time possible without getting hit while maximizing Rayne's combat bonuses as well. This is a feat that 95% of all players will NOT be able to do on their first playthrough of the game. This fact alone adds multiple hours of replay to this title for players to continually test and push themselves to reach the top of the leaderboards or beat their own personal best scores/grades on each of the stages.

The game sports beautiful hand-drawn, comic-book style graphics, but often times, the backgrounds would be more of a distraction than an asset and hide environmental hazards or enemies from your field of vision. The final chapter of the game is the perfect example of bad game design where you can barely make out the enemies among the red hue washed over the screen and the objects hindering your vision as Rayne's expected to dispatch numerous foes before the game's finale. Trust me, go watch a playthrough of Chapter 15 (that's NOT me playing) if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Seriously, FUCK YOU WayForward for that level. That wasn't even cool at ALL.

Sound: 

I was rather surprised that this game had an amazing heavy metal-influenced soundtrack that would definitely feel at home for any fan of these Castlevania-style games.

Sadly, I was pretty disappointed that this game had NO voice acting. Come on, even Mark of the Ninja has full voice acting AND cutscenes and that game seems to use less resources than this.

Controls:

This is the area where roughly every review that I have seen on this game criticizes the game for. There is a common misconception on the game's controls. It's not that the controls are unresponsive and "horrible" - it's that WayForward made the controls require an extreme amount of precision with little to no leeway, especially on platforming sections. This fact, coupled along with the fact that Rayne has a ton of recovery on most of her offensive actions, especially her "skidding/slide" animation to change directions (which is required to help players as a visual cue on her "super jump"), it could lead most players who aren't welcome for a challenge to become easily frustrated.

Closing Words:

Hardcore gamers will definitely want to pick this up, just for that unforgiving old school gaming challenge. It's not hard as Dark Souls, but challenging nonetheless. It also sports some of the hardest platforming sections that I have encountered in gaming in recent memory. For everyone else, I humbly suggest downloading a demo of the game before you invest purchasing the full game. The first few levels aren't that bad in terms of difficulty but the difficulty spikes up dramatically a few levels in out of nowhere. Seasoned hardcore gamers will welcome the challenge, but casual gamers will be completely turned off. That's where I can understand where the bulk of the negatively surrounding this game comes from.

Considering BloodRayne's lackluster outings in her history of gaming, BloodRayne: Betrayal has been the only title in this series that has managed to hold my interest from start to finish. It's not quite Castlevania in terms of exploration and it's not quite Devil May Cry in terms of combat, but there's enough here to sink your teeth into - no pun intended. If you're not afraid of a challenge and the game not holding your hand throughout the experience (much like NES era gaming), then give this title a shot.

I'm giving BloodRayne: Betrayal a 7.75 out of 10.