This Game is the Oleo of Video Games
There has to a game in Blade 2 for Xbox somewhere, right? I mean it was packaged in that green box we’ve all some to recognize as an Xbox release and heck, it even said XBOX on the front. Where’s the actual game? I couldn’t find it. I beat it in 4 hours and believe me, I am still wondering where the game is.
Keep Your Friends Close; Keep Your Enemies Closer
This game takes place months after the movie sequel. And the actual storyline isn’t much different. Basically you traverse different areas taking down full-blown vampires in order investigate an exchange of blood between a local mafia group and a vampire clan. There are three campaigns and one tutorial, but it takes only about 5 minutes to finish the tutorial, making me wonder if it was really necessary and worth it. The three campaigns have their own missions and vampire clans to battle, but they all are related in some weird, weird way.
After selecting your campaign, you are given your mission. Each mission has a main objective and usually a sub-objective. Completing the sub-objectives gives you bonuses. After getting the objectives, you go to the equipment selection screen. As you earn points--by collecting glyphs, completing objectives, killing undead--you unlock other weapons. Some of the more exotic weaponry takes a while to collect and there are limited slots to carry ammo, so be finicky when it comes to shooting. After all that, it’s time to play.
They’ll Take Us Deeper Than We’ve Ever Been
The graphics are decent. Not spectacular or ground-breaking, but decent enough to get the job done. But unfortunately, you can’t just be decent these days. Environmental textures are the best feature in this game. Buildings offer nice decor while not distracting from gameplay. Cement blocks look like I could take them and use them as stands for bookshelves, and the subway tunnels could have come right out of Daylight. One problem I did have was that most of the levels took place indoors. The first time you’ll see the outside is when you have to meet Whistler (your weaponry sidekick) on the roof; but still, there were high walls and raised ledges so you couldn’t really see to far.
One special note about the in-game movies. They used the same graphics engine as the game, but they tried to make things unique by using slow-motion in scenes where they thought slow-motion would be awesome. Well, it wasn’t. Blade seemed angry because he had to use the restroom and the game makers were slowing him down.
The characters were atrocious. Did the makers only use 100 polygons to build these people? Even Blade looked a bit haggard and blocky. These guys should be on a Playstation One because I can not believe the Xbox can produce only this much power. Buffy had better characters and even Max Payne illustrated detailed characters, so I know it can be done.
Did I mention that this probably would have been ground-breaking on the Playstation One. PS1 folks...that ain’t good.
You Want Me To Fight Them...For You?
It doesn’t matter that the Xbox controller is large, sometimes actually hindering the enjoyment of a game. It doesn’t matter that you push a button or move a thumbstick because the reaction time is frustratingly slow. It doesn’t matter that combat and using weapons cannot be used smoothly in conjunction with each other. It just doesn’t matter.
There is something new in this game that sounds good, but falters. The left thumbstick moves Blade around (naturally), and the right thumbstick performs your hand-to-hand combat moves. What’s that? Yes, it seems strange, but once you get use to it, you’ll be fine. The first problem is that there’s a delay between moving the stick and actually seeing a result. The second problem is that there’s hardly any variety in the moves. Punch, Punch, Punch, Kick, Punch...well, you get the idea. Combos are available, but it’s hard to plan your attack when 5 or 6 guys are surrounding you and pummeling you beyond belief.
Using weapons is controlled by the digital pad (to select) and the right trigger (to shoot). Blade uses an automatic targeting system: move or turn Blade in the direction you want to shoot and the gun locks on for you. One issue that arose was when Blade was surrounded and I wanted to shoot a vampire, turn and shoot another. I would shoot the first guy and ready myself for the second, but as I turned as shot, I spun back around and aimed where the first guy was. Either I was way, way too fast for the controller/game or there’s a major glitch in the game. I tend to believe the former because of all the control concerns. The last issue I had with the weapon control was the bad timing on the holstering and unholstering of weapons. When I thought I had readied a particular weapon, I found Blade just standing there. Of course this was really bad in a fistfight when a gun would do.
Everyone Had a Voice-Double In Blade 2
No one sounds good. The voice-over acting is over-dramatic and the characters really don’t sound like anyone. In the movie Kris Kristofferson’s voice is raspy and cool for an old guy, but in the game, he sounds like he has a cold. Blade sounds like James Earl Jones and the villains must have went to overvoice-acting school because I wanted to shoot them not for trying to take over the world, but for thinking their voices had real acting potential.
Let’s not forget the music. The Blade movie series is known for it’s heavy/alternative/hip-hop soundtrack. If you’re expecting it here, forget it. All you’ll find are cheesy guitar tracks and mellow dance music. Nothing to get you pumped up.
I understand that with every action movie, a video game has to be made from it. But that’s no excuse to make crap. They should take their time and compare and ask questions like “Is this better than Max Payne?” and “Hey, how would this fare against Dead To Rights?” and “Shouldn’t we put a hot chick in this game?”
Do not buy this game. Do not rent this game. Do not believe for a second that this is a game because it’s not. Just because it’s on a CD does not make it a video game. And just because Wesley Snipes is in a cool pose on the cover does not mean it is a good representation of Xbox games.
But if you do decide to rent or buy, for whatever reason, at least you will get to watch a preview of the movie before immersing yourself into a worse Hell than those Vampires are in.
