Nintendo Switch (Review)
Published by Ziggurat
Released November 18, 2021
Following in the footsteps of BloodRayne ReVamped, Ziggurat brings the same upgrades to BloodRayne 2. It is important to note that this is not a remaster but an upgraded port of the same game onto next-gen systems.
Story
After the events of BloodRayne, Rayne is still working on removing all influence of Kagan and his cult. After infiltrating a party, Rayne learns that the Cult has been developing a substance to protect Vampires from sunlight.
Gameplay
BloodRayne 2 is a third-person hack and slash adventure game where you travel each level solving different obstacles. The levels are a mixture of timed acrobatic jumps, puzzles, and villains. Each level is a different location leading up to where the Cult of Kagan is developing the Shroud.
The controls are similar in layout to the original on PS2 and Xbox. As the initial release on the GameCube, the controls for the Switch Joycons are not the best. With the JoyCon layout, lock-on, cycle through targets, guns, and refilling guns get clunky and easy to mix up. I often wanted to fire her weapons using the trigger button, as most shooters are set up and end up doing something else. Beyond those issues, the layout is pretty simple and mirrors the original.
Concerns
One of my biggest complaints is how the graphics, at times, do not look modernized or updated. An example of this is when using a dismembering kill, the blood spray is just red lines with minimal details. In some areas, you can see where it is brightened, while in others, it’s just as dark and challenging to navigate. The cutscenes are where the improvements are showcased perfectly.
BloodRayne2 is exactly like advertised. It is an upgrade port for the next-gen and not a remastered version of the game. My biggest complaint is that it is priced as a remastered version of a 17-year-old game in the Nintendo eShop. At $19.99, it is hard to justify just for one game, especially with how little extra you get with it.
Final Thoughts on BloodRayne 2 Revamped
The game plays the same as the original and would have done better bundling the first one together. It is a fun nostalgic game with plenty of fanservice like the original. After a few hours of playing, it becomes somewhat repetitive, and the scantily clad vampires and dhampir get old quickly. Hopefully, with these releases, a modern or remastered version can bring new life to the franchise. If not, it’s an enjoyable trip but with reminders of why it has fallen out of favor with gamers.