Shack: Tell us about BloodRayne's new moves and weapons.

Liz Buckley: The team's main objective was to add a great deal more depth to the series so the gameplay experience is more varied and less repetitive. A lot of that depth is inherent in Rayne's many new moves. BloodRayne 2 features a true combo system whereas the original had more random combos that the player wasn't fully in control of. Now, she has high, mid and low attacks, evasive combos that become offensive, special combos that are more of the over-the-top variety, kick combos, jump combos and others. We're planning for about 30 and because there are so many, we're adding a quick reference menu accessible from the Pause screen that will include the full list of moves for those players who truly want to experiment with everything the system has to offer. Many of these moves also have variations to them depending on whether the player is or isn't using the game's new target lock function.

In addition, the sequel includes pole and rail combat so Rayne can use her environment to her advantage. While Prince of Persia really defined the navigational pole mechanic, that title never integrated combat into the mix. We're doing exactly that so we can offer players a deeper combination of skills: Rayne can perch on horizontal poles and shoot, or drop back and hang from her knees and shoot. She can also climb a vertical pole or lamppost, squeeze it between her knees and slide down backwards as she shoots. She can even whip kick her legs out from poles to force attackers back into objects or each other. Rayne can also slash and shoot from rails and those abilities keep the action fast moving in an entirely different way.

Rayne also has 12 new fatality moves that help vary her feeding and offer players a means to “finish” a front or back feed in unique and gruesome ways. And speaking of gruesome, Rayne's harpoon also has new functionality that lets her stab and toss enemies into new “killing puzzles” where they explode/mince/impale in spectacular ways.