12 Sep, 2011
Title: Bloodrayne Betrayal
Platform: PSN, XBLA (reviewed on PSN)
Developer: Way Forward
Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
Tagline: Grind you up and Spit You out, tough as nails platformer.
Family Friendly: There is dismemberment, fountains of blood and gruesome finishers, and yet it still gets a T Rating. Cartoon violence is prevalent, but I would recommend this for 12 and up, due to some of the material.
Bloodrayne Betrayal is a game that I should not like at all. It is a platformer that lives by its ridiculous difficulty, time objectives that require you to bend the time space continuum to acquire them and of course, grinding you into submission with repetition. I loathe these games, and none of this was ever mentioned at any showing of the game. I knew it would be a difficult game, but I had no idea that they were going for obscenely difficult. And yet, I continue to want to play Bloodrayne Betrayal, no matter the frustration. I have cursed and screamed at deaths, and yet I continue to come back. It is by no means perfect, but for those looking for an old school, hard as balls challenge, you will find it here.
I would love to give you a synopsis of what is happening in Bloodrayne Betrayal, but I will admit that I have no idea what is going on. I do know that Bloodrayne is asked to kill a lot of things, and work her way through difficult corridors, lined with spikes and countless enemies. Lord Kagan, Bloodrayne’s maniacal dad, shows up as well, looking to let all hell break loose. To be honest though, the story really is here for window dressing, as the whole focus surrounds the massive amounts of slicing and dicing that Bloodrayne performs throughout the game.
And Bloodrayne Betrayal does give you a lot to kill. Enemies will come at you, wave after wave, with little let up between areas. A sample of the chaos in Bloodrayne goes something like this – wave of enemies, wave of enemies, wave of enemies, short walk, rinse and repeat. As you move on, you will also find yourself navigating levels with little room for error, as there will be spikes and all sorts of other environmental hazards.
While there are a ton of intricate moves that Bloodrayne can perform, the game does it while using the minimal amount of buttons. You punch/kick, shoot and feed upon your enemies. You slowly add more attacks to you, but it never overwhelms you and you could make it through most of the game with the basic attacks. Of course, you never just end up fighting normal enemies. The game provides you with some tough as nails bosses to fight and they will take all of the moves and powers that you gain throughout the game to beat them.
While it goes without saying, the look of this new Bloodrayne title is far different from its predecessors. Way Forward, known for their work on A Boy and His Blob, amps up the frames of animation to over 4000 frames, just for Bloodrayne herself. This makes for not only a beautiful experience, but a fluid experience as well. It is a game that you catch yourself noticing the details, which of course, will end up getting you killed.
While the game is beautiful, it is not without its faults. While I was surprised that I would enjoy a game this difficult, I was not happy with the cheapness that is associated with death. Numerous times, I felt that my death came not at my poor play, but from the game stacking the deck against me. There is a level where you have to fly a bird through a 10 minute sequence of corridors that are lined with spikes. Three to four hits will send you back to the very beginning of it all. The game throws waves of enemies at you, and leaves you constantly on your back foot. Even boss fights can feel cheap as you are fighting not only a boss, but environmental hazards and regular enemies as well.
Bloodrayne Betrayal was a game that completely surprised me. I loved it in spite of its difficulty, but I also found myself loathing it all at the same time. The game is definitely geared towards those that love the difficulty of games like MegaMan or Castlevania. The game will push you to your boiling point with its fondness for being cheap, but I thought it was an okay balance. I would love to see a sequel that cleans the game up a bit, but for now, Bloodrayne Betrayal may only appeal to those looking for an extremely difficult challenge.
The Good:
- Gorgeous looking game
- Challenging
- Much needed change in gameplay
The Bad:
- Can be very cheap
- Obscenely difficult
- Frustrating boss battles
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