BloodRayne is a half-human, half-vampire vixen with looks and blades that can kill. To be sure, specifically whom she's killing would make good ol' Indy proud: pre-World War II Nazis. The Nazis are pursuing - no surprise here - an ancient and "supernatural" relic that they hope will give the Third Reich limitless power.

If the parallel to Raiders of the Lost Ark weren't blatent enough, Terminal Reality threw Indiana another bone by including a 3D model of the Lost Ark in one of the Nazi bases. And just as in the first Indiana Jones movie, the Germans' plan falls apart due to supernatural powers, sealing their fate and upending their grand plan. Enter BloodRayne to clean up the mess. And, of course, make a few of her own bloody messes in the process.

Gameplay
The first hour or so of the game takes place in the Louisiana bayous, which seems out of place with the rest of the Nazi-oriented game. In a sense, these first few levels are a training ground to familiarize players with the controls, but if you've played any third-person shooter in the past year, you'll have the controls down pat in about five minutes.

Attacking is relatively simple, with one button commanding blade attacks and another controlling gunfire. Although this single attack button leads to some sore fingers, the variety of moves is admirable (though not controllable) and will make you wish the game also had a replay feature. Jump and "feed" round out the two initial actions, with feeding involving using a Nazi as a feedbag rather than fodder. This is a particular treat due to the animation of hopping upon a soon-to-be-lifeless body and knowing that any Nazi you encounter can act as an impromptu health powerup.

The ease with which you control attacks is helped by the game's auto-targeting feature. When an enemy is nearby, BloodRayne automatically points her gun in the attacker's direction. This is especially handy when you're surrounded, because if BloodRayne has more than one weapon she'll auto-aim them independently. Also, if you opt to use only the blades attached to your arms and heels, auto-targeting will still help by indicating the direction of the nearest enemy.

The number of weapons at your disposal is impressive but ironically unimportant given the pleasure you'll find using your blades to decapitate, dismember and disembowel Nazi scum. Just about the only time you'll really need your firepower is for the major boss battles.

And about those boss battles: expect them to turn into button-mashing fests. For that matter, expect that from most fights in the game. Partly because of the number of enemies on screen and partly because BloodRayne herself is just so overpowering, repeatedly pressing the attack button in most circumstances will virtually assure your victory. Bosses are an entirely different story. Let's just say it's a good thing the game features unlimited continues.

That's not to say the enemy AI is lacking until you get to the bosses. Quite the contrary, Nazis will pick up fallen comrades' weapons, and if you eliminate a group of bad guys, one or two survivors may run away screaming "I don't want to die." It really is a nice touch, topped only by BloodRayne's sarcastic response of "Well, you should've thought of that sooner."

Another feature that's well-executed and fun to do is altering your vision. The default view is what you'd expect, and it looks entirely normal. As you progress, though, you'll unlock three additional options. Aura Sense allows BloodRayne to see enemies through walls, view their energy levels and get a visual cue of where her next objective is located. Dilated Perception gives BloodRayne the ability to "slow down" time similar to Max Payne, with the notable difference that her ability is unlimited in duration once it's unlocked. Finally, Extruded View enables BloodRayne to see far into the distance, similar to a sniper.

If you find yourself in an intense firefight, which you will if you pick up this game, Dilated Perception is a huge help because you can actually see and dodge individual bullets. Likewise, if your radar just doesn't seem to be doing the trick, activate the Aura Sense to see a glowing blue ball where your next objective is located.

This latter option comes in rather useful during many of the solid yet somewhat disorienting levels. Nazi bases and outdoor areas are for the most part well designed, but at times they wander to maze-like puzzles and begin to look similar. In many games these shortcomings might go unnoticed, but BloodRayne focuses so heavily on non-stop killing that the "interruption" of navigating a series of hallways or finding a switch seems a bit artificial.

Graphics
BloodRayne is a beauty to behold. Hands down, the game has the best use of shadows I've seen. Shadows not only are cast in real-time by every moving character, but they also distort realistically based upon the light source, corners and your relative position to the light. Move away and your shadow will elongate; move closer and it will shrink. It sounds simple enough, but you have to see these shadows to believe them.

The various vision modes (Aura Sense, Dilated Perception and Diluted Perception) are also impressive, particularly Dilated Perception. This mode, the equivalent of "Bullet Time," has a slight radial blur around the outside edges of the screen while the entire gameplay image stays as crisp as the standard view. Some people may actually opt to play half of a level or more in this mode just to see the detail in BloodRayne's clothing, attacks and jumps.

The textures in BloodRayne are hi-res and crisp, and the floors and walls make good use of bump-mapping. Particle effects are in full force, with fog rolling along the bayou and smoke rising from explosions, chimneys and grenades. To top it all off, BloodRayne's framerate never wavers from 60 frames per second, even with vision filters on, guns blazing, characters jumping, and hair (and other parts) bouncing accordingly.

Sound
BloodRayne does "sarcastic" better than most video game voices, but the majority of the dialogue is a bit uninspired, despite its creativity and dark humor. The Nazi voices are a bit of a high point, though, particularly as you pounce on them to replenish your energy and listen to them gargle blood in between yells of "Oh God, no! Get her off me!"

The in-game soundtrack amounts to a mix of the score from Blade and the theme song from any action movie during the past decade. It sets the pace, it sets the mood, and it fits the title, but as you struggle to find the solution to an out-of-place puzzle, you'll notice that it's droning on and on and on.

Replayability
Without an effective way to add multiplayer to this type of title, BloodRayne's lack of the replayability-enhancing feature is forgivable. With that said, the game's other drawbacks limit the likelihood of anyone playing this game after defeating it. The levers you need to find to access certain doors will always be in the same location. Furiously mashing your attack button will always be the way to move through a level. And although enemies will not always attack in the same group or manner, you'll quickly learn how to defeat them rather quickly. In other words, once you've beaten BloodRayne, it may sit on the shelf for a while.

Still, with the game's smooth-as-silk graphics, astounding shadows and some rather impressive filter effects, you'll likely want to play the game again just for its sheer visual appeal. At the very least, it's well worth the cost of a rental.

See more Xbox screens and movies on the BloodRayne media page