New BloodRayne: Betrayal screens and video highlight “sophisticated” new look

Looking forward to finding out what would happen if vampire-centric demon-hunting took a 2D, anime-inspired turn – but your copy of Symphony of the Night's packed up in the closet with all your old PS1 gear? It just so happens to be your lucky day, with a new batch of screens released for WayForward’s upcoming BloodRayne relaunch, BloodRayne: Betrayal. There's also a dev diary, in which developer Sean Velasco all but apologizes for the series' previously lewd tone and explains how his team came to the counter-intuitive decision of adding more clothes to their heroine for her 2D debut.

BloodRayne fans are no doubt used to betrayals of sorts by now, with every movie adaptation more harshly derided than the last and the games themselves tending habitually toward scores in the mid-seventies or outright cancellation. As Velasco explains, the team hopes to reinvent the title with a little less of the series' trademark prurience – Rayne herself, famous for being featured topless in a Playboy “shoot,” now wears more than most of the Belmonts – with a greater focus towards stylish, anime-esque action. Betrayal launches at the end of August on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network – how do you like the look of these new screens?

Aug 3, 2011