Rayne, the character who first appeared in 2002 is back in her latest adventure BloodRayne 2. I must say that I love Rayne. I think for a video game character she is smoking hot. Check out this months Playboy to see how hot. Plus she kills people in all sorts of gruesome ways. She's almost my type of woman. If only she was a blonde. If you played the first BloodRayne then you saw a fair amount of violence, but that was mild compared to this game. I have never seen so many bodies chopped in half, decapitated, or with severed limbs in a game before ever. If you love gore then this game is for you. It sports a well earned M rating.

Here’s a quick refresher for those of you who forgot or never played the original. By the way, you should be ashamed of yourself if you missed the first game it ruled. Rayne's last adventure took place in 1935. She joined forces with the secret Brimstone Society, and killed hundreds of Nazi's and mutants with her arm blades and arsenal of guns. Her father, Kagan, an influential Nazi collaborator, was assumed killed in a bomb blast at the close of the war and end of the game. Since she felt cheated of killing Kagan herself, Rayne has spent the last sixty years seeking revenge by slaughtering his offspring, her half brothers and sisters. Fast forward 70 years and the remaining survivors have banded together and formed "The Cult of Kagan". They have discovered a mysterious power called "The Shroud". When released, it renders the sun's lethal rays harmless to vampires. If the plan succeeds the human race will be destroyed.

For those who have played the original you know what to expect. However, a lot has been added or improved. Rayne can now perform acrobatic maneuvers from poles and jump from wall to wall. You can also slide along rails, Tony Hawk grind style, and shoot at enemies or decapitate them while grinding. The famous Rayne harpoon returns but this time around you can do a whole lot more with it. You can impale and toss enemies into background objects like rhino horns or spikes.

The harpoon is a must when you are doing the newly introduced blood puzzles (which can be incredibly hard and a pain in the ass). These puzzles consist of you throwing enemies into wood chippers, loudspeakers, fans and the back of garbage trucks until they explode from all the human debris. Rayne has some awesome new abilities as well. One of them is the Blood Storm, a blood tornado that surrounds Rayne and destroys all enemies nearby. My favorite is the Ghost Feed in which she sends out a ghost version of herself to feed on enemies. The one change I did not like is the addition of "blood guns". In the first game, Rayne had an entire arsenal to fight with. This time she has the mythical Carpathian Dragons. These guns are powered by the blood of Rayne or her enemies. They are upgradeable, but I found the whole concept to be kind of weak. Give me regular weapons next time.

The original game had good graphics, but they have been completely overhauled for BloodRayne 2. The polygon count is much higher. The animation is much improved and looks great as well. Rayne herself looks hotter than ever plus she has all sorts of cool unlockable costumes. The blood and gore effects totally surpass the original. There are 14 feeding fatalities and 30 bloodletting combos. I love violent games and this one delivers. The environments are also destructible; Rayne can use her harpoon to pull things onto her enemies, crushing them to death. A bonus is included this time for HDTV owners. The game runs in 720p and just looks spectacular.

The in game music is Techno and Hard Rock. I don't care for game music but this one was ok. The gunfire and explosion effects are loud and believable. The best effect by far goes to the blood gushing effects. The blood shoots out with a similar sound to most bad Kung Fu flicks. You know the ‘ssssssshhhhhh’ sound. The voice over work is awesome as well. Rayne has a smoking hot, seductive voice and for fans of the first game, Rayne's "Moan" is back when she feeds. Yeah the one that sounded kind of porno.

Bottom line is if you liked the first game you love this one. If you didn't play the first game (what the hell is wrong with you?) then you must pick this one up now. Some may complain that the game is hard. Well it is hard. Stop crying and try harder or better yet pick up the hint book. The game might be a bit short for some. I beat it in about 8 hrs. I have heard some say they beat it in 4 hrs but I doubt it. Here's hoping Uwe Boll doesn't screw up the BloodRayne movie. However the movie preview included on the game disc doesn't look too promising. If this hack screws this movie up I will find him and beat him on the streets. Also someone, NECA or McFarlane please pick up the toy license. I need a Rayne action figure NOW!