Movie games are almost always dogs, driven to market as quickly as possible in order to cash in on the popularity of the associated license. Extensive play testing, and, oh yeah, fun and compelling gameplay are often eliminated in order to rush the game to store shelves. Blade, based on the so-so Wesley Snipes vampire flick from last year, is not only one of the worst movie games I’ve played, it’s also one of the worst games I’ve ever played.

Blade uses the Quake II engine, an aging creature that worked well for first person shooters a couple of years ago, but which has since been replaced by much better 3D game engines. While I doubt that the QII engine bears the majority of responsibility for this game’s many failings, I should point out that the designers started down the road to crapville making the decision to not go with a better suited set of tools.

Using a view similar to the one seen in Die Hard Trilogy’s third-person segments, you take the role of Blade as he fights his way through several levels full of enemies, which range from standard humans to the more supernatural vampires and their ilk. Blade can engage in fisticuffs of the punch/kick variety, and he starts the game with his trademark katana and a handgun. Better weapons and ammo are found as you progress through the game.

The gameplay in Blade is as rotten as gameplay gets – just moving Blade from point A to point B is an exercise in frustration, especially if you’re in an area with tight corridors where getting stuck on corners becomes a huge nuisance. Further compounding the gameplay problems is the fact that different enemies are weak against certain weapons, and you’ll have to be able to switch to specific weapons in the heat of battle using the game’s clunky real-time interface. This alone leads to you taking unnecessary damage while cycling through your inventory to equip the right weapon for the job.

Graphically, Blade is a mess. Most of the game is far too dark, and all of the character models lack detail and definition. Combine this with some of the worst use of colored light sourcing I have ever seen and you get a game that is incredibly ugly to look at. Pressing the lock-on button to target enemies causes the bad guy to turn an obnoxious shade of neon green, adding further optical distress to an already unsightly experience.

I’m pretty sure that Activision hired an amateur grade school garage band to provide the "pumping techno soundtrack," which loops repetitively and is just barely tolerable.

Blade is a horrible game in every respect. Avoid it at all costs, even if you liked the movie. Marvel should be ashamed to have their character associated with this drivel.

Graphics: 2 (Blocky, lo-res, no-detail, disastrous colored light sourcing, clipping galore and way too dark)

Control: 1 (It’s fantastic… if you really like getting caught on invisible corners and taking hits as you turn around slowly to face an enemy)

Sound: 4 (Actually the best part of the game, the music is awful but not intrusive on the experience as a whole, since actually playing the game is far worse)

Replay: 0 (You will not want to continue playing after even the first level)