Bloodrayne: Betrayal

[arun.yothin]

Official Site



I like the game a lot so far, but damn it's tough. I'm getting used to the fighting, but I keep doing moves that I don't want to do. One is a dash that has put me into terrible positions.

[Tuffty]

It's really cool. Plays like an old-school, hard as nails game with tons of challenge behind it, but all wrapped up in this lovely modern day presentation and really slick 2D animation.

And it's already begun, here's the first video I've seen of what it takes to get an S rank in one of the levels. Completely and utterly gorgeous insanity that I'll find really tough to replicate, let alone achieve.

[Tuffty]

So got up to Chapter 4 and I was like this doesn't seem that bad, don't know what the reviewers complaining about difficulty are talking about, seems manageable to me. But then you play Chapter 4 and the game's like 'Oh btw, fuck off and don't come back until you get good at this game'.  Managed to get through it eventually, but it will take a lot of replays to try and get a better rank on that one.

[arun.yothin]

I know what you mean. I was getting hurt and coming close to death a lot, but never really felt enough difficulty to not advance until level 7 or 8. I got frustrated at a section and went to play Castle Crashers instead. I've only been getting C's or F's for rankings. After watching some of the S plays I tried to go back to level 1 to get a higher score and just ended up with a higher C.

[arun.yothin]

I'm still getting my ass kicked in this game. I've been having trouble executing some of the attacks when I need to. Mainly the ones when you need to knock an enemy into a wall or the blades.

Jake Kaufman, the composer of the soundtrack has the album available for download for free or you can pay any amount you want. http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/bloodrayne-betrayal-official-soundtrack

[Yuna]

My cousin gave me the game but I just played chapter 1 so far.
Like some reviewers were saying, the controls could be a little more precise. Even so, I had fun while playing but I'm in the middle of Outland and Hard Corps: Uprising, so I'll put this one on hold for a while.

[arun.yothin]

I got to the boss, WHAT A BASTARD! I gave up after a little while to go back and collect some of the red skulls. I also went back and finally got an A on level 1. I forget what makes an S, but I'm sure I wasn't very close. I kept stomping on crawling bodies when I needed to be hitting he people in front of me. 

[Tuffty]

I've got an A on Chapters 1 & 2 now, can get the maximum from the time bonus ok, just not the health one, but as arun will tell you, going through a level without getting hit requires precision timing and execution in platforming and combat.

I keep trying to get that achievement for beating the Crab Puncher without getting hit. The biggest issue is when you destroy a node and it makes rocks fall from the top of the screen. So far as I can tell, they're completely randomised and there's no way to tell where they're coming from until it's too late. But I found that you can jump stomp on the nodes as it's doing it, and the rocks don't go out that far, so it's probably the best bet to avoid getting hit there. But then one of the flies that it spawns likes to swoop in and hit me so I have to try to remember to clear them all away first before going for it. And use the Magnum without a doubt, can take it down much quicker and thus reduce your chances of getting hit.

[arun.yothin]

I tried for a higher score on level 2 today, but kept messing up 'cause I was just rushing too much. Just like in Bayonetta, I'll do really well in the first few sections only to mess it all up in one section. I beat Crab Puncher by only getting hit once doing a similar thing in Bayonetta. I just slash away at one side while watching everything else. I think I just got lucky with the flies though.

I love kicking the coffin open. It's a great way to start the level. Though I got one at the beginning of the start of level 2 where I just dropped out of the sky. I wonder if there's a way to get that one or if it's random.

[Tuffty]

I like kicking the coffin open as it lands. Even better if it hits a random enemy along the way!

I did it! I beat the Crab Puncher without getting hit! Definately make sure to clear out the flies when they appear. Also, whenever the boss name comes up, you can still attack it and get an early start. The way the battle was going I had to attack on different sides and I actually think that's the best way to do it. There's a trick you see, one I didn't realise until it happened. The Crab Puncher stops calling down rocks if you break another weak point, and it goes into that animation where he summons more rocks. Essentially, you can greatly reduce the amount of time it does that attack if you have it damaged weak points enough that they can be broken in time.

So that's what I say, don't focus on one weak point or on one side, attack both if you can, means you have a greater chance of getting that achievement as you don't need to worry about the rocks at all and all you need to avoid is the flies, the saws and just make sure you don't fall.

[arun.yothin]

Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to try that out tonight. Can you do the air attack that knocks the enemies in the saw blades consistently ( ->+X )? I always spend so much time stuck at those areas. Most of the time, I end up doing the head stomp. Do you know if there's a specific way to doing it, like timing or something?

[Tuffty]

Yeh I constantly mess that up. I tend to launch them in the air then find myself doing a standard air combo. I think like with everything else in the game it's just timing specific. So you can't really press X before going left as that just does a standard combo, or hit left first before X cause that just makes you move to the left. Both have to be hit on time.

That platforming section towards the end of Chapter 8 is ridiculous. Must have died about 20 times before making it. Granted, I died a few times cause I was trying to be smart and making jumps that weren't high enough, thinking I could make it. But other times I'd get up to the part with the spike platforms which you have to jump on top of and they were rising up by the time I arrived, meaning I was completely screwed just waiting for the saw to reach me. I don't mind it though, mainly cause I did manage to get past it eventually.

It's early days still, but I have no fucking clue how you can get the achievement for S ranking all levels. Must be the hardest achievement I know of.

[arun.yothin]

Once I figured out the timing for the spike platform part I felt kinda dumb. I was so focused on going fast that I didn't think to just wait a second.

I finally beat it today. I was stuck at a section on level 13 so I went back to Mass Effect out of frustration. I felt dumb after figuring out this section too because I didn't know of a very simple technique. I only got a C for the whole game and I'm still missing quite a few red skulls. Overall, I really like the game and definitely want to go back through the other levels and get better scores. I think I only saw one review of the game where they said the game feels a little cheap sometimes without a crouch or block. Some of the enemy attacks can be frustrating when you get knocked down only to stand up right in the middle of an enemy attack. Sometimes I agree, but I think with the right play style and knowing to use all of your moves to attack and evade, you can avoid those situations.

I want another game like this now.

[Tuffty]

I completed it there now. The final boss itself wasn't all that bad, maybe got him on my 4th try. It's just everything else before that kept on killing me. The hardest part in the game for me was Chapter 13. Specifically those 2 scenarios where you have to fight enemies without a platform beneath you or the chase sequence with the saw.


I do hate those scenarios where you're knocked down and get up only to get hit by an enemy attack, I do need to get better at those but sometimes it can be rather cheap. Especially on those silhouette sections where you can't even see enemies off screen until it's too late and it's just hard in general to see where you are or if your attacks are even connecting.

That ending was pretty sudden Don't know what this game will do to the franchise, I don't think it's been successful enough with reviewers or connected with a majority of gamers to warrant a sequel or the curiosity for another 3D game. But who knows, the fact that this game even exists is pretty surprising in the first instance. Despite those issues I said, I did enjoy it a lot. I feel compelled to go back and get better scores. I'm pretty excited to see my name up there on the leaderboards for some levels (think my highest is in the overall top 20 players in one level) and I think I'll go back and do better.

Here's something for you if you haven't already discovered it, there's a secret achievement in the game where you need to press and hold down on certain buttons on the chapter select screen:

360: LT + RT + LB + RB + Left Stick + Right Stick + Select + Start
PS3: L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 + Left Stick + Right Stick + Select + Start

Doing so unlocks the achievement, and the stage music redone to sound like an 8-bit game. Here's an example of Stage 1's music:

[Asmodai]

I started playing it - but got put off a bit by the difficulty curve. I return to it after I play some other games. At least I know it's not just that I suck.

[Tuffty]

I got my first S rank! It's on Chapter 6 and if you look at this minute, my score is 4th in the world!