Kain almost had it all, y'know. Backed by a ferocious and Powerful army, he had the land of Nosgoth within his grasp. If it wasn't for those pesky Sarafan, the Young Conservatives of Nosgoth, who banded together and rose to oppose his Power-greedy advances...

The two forces clashed for years, until the Sarafan triumphed, Kain fell to their leader in battle and was chucked off a cliff, for a laugh.

Two hundred years later, a group of underground resistance vampires opposing the fascist rule of the Sarafan revive him. They need Kain and his super-Powers to topple the Sarafan and their evil schemes. Conveniently, this plan makes a good backstory for the latest of Kain's video game romps - Blood Omen 2.

But a couple of centuries of kip has sapped his strength, his memory and most of his deadly vampire skills. And his Scottish cousin has the monopoly on the Oven Chip market.

This all means that a surprisingly large part of the 3D action adventuring is spent regaining Kain's vampiric talents, mostly by sucking neck, defeating high-ranking vampire fiends and stealing their Powers like a 13-year-old nicking your mobile phone.

But in your first boss encounter at the end of the second chapter (there are eleven chapters in total), it becomes apparent just how sketchy the combat is in Blood Omen 2.

By the third or fourth chapter, it also becomes apparent that the game doesn't really know whether it wants to be an action title or a platformer. Committed to neither, the resulting mix is less enjoyable than it really should be.

Let's look at the combat. It's fairly deep in scope, allowing you to lock on and circle a target, block attacks, perform combos and grapple. You can put the boot in on a downed opponent, pick up their weapon for some extra clubbing fun and execute some grisly fatality moves when their energy is low.

Most of Kain's Dark Gifts are central to this combat and piling up the injured by the ward-load with berserk assaults. In practice, though, it feels very stilted and sluggish. Someone attacks; you block as they take their three swings at you. You say 'thank you', drop your guard and then return the favour, hoping that they choose not to block.

Sometimes the enemies will glow, which means they've got a special attack brewing - it's unblockable, so you just jump out of the way, then follow up and hack out bad guy chunks.

This simple technique really becomes obvious with the second chapter boss. Just dodge and block to build up your Fury, then unleash it and repeat - go through the motions. At first it's frustrating and then, when you know how take care of yourself, going toe-to-toe becomes repetitive very quickly. Now take the bits in between the fights, the puzzles. Kain spends much of the first few chapters doing little else but glorified factory work - pushing switches and moving blocks. It feels like a prettified Tomb Raider, with tired puzzling we've seen plenty of times before.

The Dark Gifts add variety, but they don't seem to up the sophistication of the riddles. The hardest part of a puzzle is finding the actual pieces. Once you've got all the bits together, jumbling them around to squeeze out a solution is a simple matter. In many cases, the first guess is usually the right one.

It's a shame that the average elements of Blood Omen 2 count so strongly against it, because when the game clicks, it works well as an atmospheric action adventure.

With the basic tasks and overall exciting atmosphere of the opening levels, a promising trail of story-and-gameplay breadcrumbs is scattered, hinting at the fact that the game could become brilliant during its later stages when Kain is at full Power and has a wide range of interesting abilities at his disposal. While it does get more enjoyable, it never does reach the heights teasingly trailered early on.

The game world is huge and each chapter spans a lot of Nosgoth miles. But while Kain's world is a gorgeous, detailed and moody place, full of stunning buildings, lush shimmering shadows and scurrying vermin, it's a very linear land to play through. Follow the only path available, keep to it and don't bother straying - progress in Blood Omen 2 relies more on persistence rather than any skill or clever tactics.

The chance to bust down doors and peel virgins from their bodices as you romp should be there - anything to really get across the feeling of a rogue vamp running amok. But you don't get the opportunity.

Seeing the latter levels is slightly rewarding, but it's not enough. Like Crystal Dynamics' other Xbox title Mad Dash Racing, it's obvious that lots of effort and consideration has been slathered on Blood Omen 2, but there's the gameplay is lacking. It displays flashes of imagination, but doesn't require that much of yours.

1. Impressive, smooth graphics
2. No loading times
3. Spangly lighting effects

1. Repetitive combat and puzzling
2. All a bit too straightforward

Power
Some grand graphics that run smoothly, and mighty levels that stretch into the distance.

Style
Classic goth tertitory. Dark, grimy and sloshed with blood. People talke lyke thyse.

Immersion
Gameplay and story pan out much too basic for the game as a whole to (wait for it) suck you in totally.

Lifespan
Eleven bulky chapters to explore, which you'll look at if you don't get a bit fed-up mid-game.

Summary
A good adventure game, but the linear gameplay puts a dampener on the otherwise vamped-up action experience.