Overview

BloodRayne II was described as 'bigger and better' than its predecessor by most. But in the audio department, while the game offered more music, the features pieces weren't a substantial improvement in quality. Once again, Kyle Richards and Chris Rickwood created a range of ambient tracks to accompany the various scenes and fights in the game. The soundtrack was eventually released a downloadable bonus with the game through GOG.com

Body

With no thematic material to define itself with, the soundtrack starts off with seven ambient cues. These tracks take a range of approaches. "Amb Cue 1" and "Amb Cue 3" capture the dark mood and gothic influence of the game with their choral parts. In contrast, "Amb Cue 4" and "Amb Cue 6" seem more inspired by Silent Hill with their distorted beats and experimental samplings. Most of these tracks make some impact in the scenes that they are used, in contrast to most on the predecessor, but they lack somewhat in terms of exuberance. For instance, the chorus is clumsily written and synthesized, while the electronic sampling is rarely imaginative.

Unlike the ambient cues, the trio of boss themes actually sound like they are building into something. "Boss Ferril" grabs one's attention with its pressing pace and howling synth parts, while Kagan's theme provides a taste of the epic with its choir chants. The composers also show their flair with electronic stylings on the bubbly "Wavefight1", pulsating "Wavefight3", and bass-punctuated "Wavefight3". These tracks do their job effectively in the game, and even sound fresh and propulsive enough to be listenable on a stand-alone basis. Yet again, they're nothing special — stylistically derivative, melodically barren, and rather underdeveloped — but they're the best in a mediocre bunch.

BloodRayne II emphasises contemporary elements much more than its predecessor, though it fails to use them in an interesting way. While electric guitars were only a small part of BloodRayne, they take a central role in "Wavefight4" and "Wavefight6"; sadly though, both are incredibly typical thrashing metal pieces and absolutely lack in development. Four pieces of club music were also created for the game. While convincingly composed, they could easily have come from a stock music library and lack any special features. Emphasising GOG's lazy approach to the presentation, three of these pieces are presented in one long track ("Club 2 3 4") when they could have easily been separated.

Summary

Just as with the games, the soundtracks to BloodRayne II and Devil May Cry are quite comparable. After all, both focus on moody, groovy hybrids of ambient and contemporary sounds. But in every sense, BloodRayne II falls down compared to its Japanese counterpart. It focuses on generic stylings than novel hybrids, shifts from memorable melodies to dull soundscapes, and rarely makes an impact in the game. The soundtrack is effective in context and does improve on BloodRayne, but the changes are too few to be worthwhile. Only download this soundtrack if you intend to purchase the game.