Blade II marks my third movie-licensed game review here at Xbox World Australia, and I have likely played more than twice that number of movie-inspired games on my Xbox. While a few titles that I came across have been memorable, most only stood out in a sore appendage kind of way. And if you have read the majority of the reviews going to town on Blade's second console outing, you would probably have it already filed away as unworthy of your time. Well, I am here to tell you that even though Blade II is more of a bruised thumb than a fond memory, it is not without some charm – the kind sharpened to a fine point for your staking pleasures.

The third person action game actually takes place several months after the events that occurred in the Blade II film, so maybe it would have been more appropriately dubbed as Blade III... or maybe the game Blade II is in reference to the original Blade game on the Playstation? In any case, knowledge of the plot in the two excellent films or the previous game is not at all necessary because this game does not rely on a riveting story to get along. In fact, if the story is the legs of Blade II, it would be a dwarf whose feet grew right out of his hip bones! Umm... before I get even more sidetracked, here are all you need to know going in: Blade is what the vampires call a "Daywalker”, he kills vampires in the name of all that is good and proper, with the aid of Whistler (a great character you will undoubtedly come to loathe in the game due to the "protect Whistler while he does stupid things” missions to come). Evil stuff happens, and Blade has to kill it. Alright-y?

The levels in Blade II are usually fairly linear, and missions can be completed simply by traveling from point A to point B. There are some variations such as the "protect Whistler as you move from point A to B” mentioned before, and "destroy objects as you move from point A to B”. Ultimately though, the missions themselves feel fairly repetitive to play through. So, it is a good thing that Blade II incorporates a variety of locations for your demon slaughters, from the obligatory sewers, to office buildings, car parks, and even a night club.

Speaking of demons, you will be fighting a variety of vampires during the game, but apart from different skins, they act and react in the same way for the most part - the enemy AI being the single biggest flaw in this otherwise polished product. Enemies will only attack you based on proximity triggers, and sometimes line of sight, but not always. Therefore there will be times when you enter an environment where you expect the worst as the place is crawling with vamps, but it turns out that you can easily take them on in small clusters while their compadres go about their usual businesses. To its credit, sometimes a lone enemy will run away from you and bring back some friends to play, but this alone does not make for intelligent AI.

Now, what's some demon slaughter without the vampire hunting gear? Well, fans will be happy to know that the Blade II action figure comes complete with a delightful arsenal. As Blade dusts his way through missions, he accumulates points that can be spent in between missions on new devices of pain. Some of my weapons of choice include the mach pistol and the glaive (a boomerang that can be thrown in an arc for some multiple decapitations), but you may be more impressed by the firepower of the shotgun or the mass appeal of the UV grenades. Note that you have a limited number of slots for equipment you take into a mission, and so choosing the right gears for each mission becomes important to your success.

Perhaps the most controversial, as well as the most negatively reviewed feature of Blade II is no doubt the 360o combat controls. Instead of the usual attack buttons that include a punch button and a kick button and so forth, Blade II requires you to push the right analogue stick toward your opponents in order to issue attack moves. For example, say you are surrounded by four vamps, instead of dealing with them individually, you will push the thumb stick forward to punch the pale-faced bloodsucker in front of you, move it backwards to stab the guy behind you, then swing the stick clock-wise to swipe the remaining two vampires off their feet with your leg. Sounds great? It is, despite the many detractors to the concept, provided that you give it some practice. Many reviewers have complained that this scheme just does not work because instead of moving the stick faster in frantic battles, you actually need to stick to a slow rhythm in execution as speeding up will force Blade to lose momentum during a fight. Again, this really does not amount to much of a problem IF you give it some time to sink in. It was only after progressing through several levels in the game that I myself found the joys of this combat scheme!

A few other noteworthy aspects of combat are your rage meter and the kill animations. The former is a meter that fills up as you put down the hordes of vamps coming at you that once topped, gives you the ability to execute some gruesome instant-kill moves with that sword you carry on your back. You didn't think it was just for show, did you? The kill animations are weapon-dependent, meaning that if you were empty-handed, Blade would often pull out two stakes and dust the evil minions. And if you are equipped with a pistol, Blade might place a vamp into a headlock and pump two rounds in its head. It is all quite violent and pleasing, for the first few times at least, then it quickly becomes repetitive and often breaks up the charge during a fight.

I will not go into depths on the sights and sounds of Blade II, as nothing here is all that remarkable. That is not to say that they are not up to scratch, as the graphics in the game are adequate but far from striking. If I had a bone to pick, it would be with the animation, most notably our protagonist, Blade. While he is able to pull off some nifty moves, they mostly appear a little stiff as if you can spot the joints between two supposedly connected maneuvers. And in terms of the works in the sound department, again, it all does the job, albeit in a fairly weak and forgettable manner. The voice actors (not to be confused with the actors in the Blade films) do a good job, but as the story is far from interesting and they are not given much of a chance to shine.