It is hard to think about videogame vampires without BloodRayne springing to mind. This vampiric vixen is a product of the time she was create. This third-person hack ‘em up screams 2003, with the titular Agent BloodRayne clad in a skin tight leather bodice and leggings, shoulder length gloves, and bright red hair.

Run and gun - and pirouette

But for all of BloodRayne’s over-sexualization of its star, the game is fantastic fun.

Playing as Agent BloodRayne you have been trained by a government agency to stop the Nazi menace and their occult experiments. To help in your task you get access to two huge blades mounted to your forearms, you are well versed in every gun you come across, and possess a dramatic range of acrobatic skills.

The last of these skills allows you to nimbly cartwheel and pirouette your way through the game's many enemies.

*A 19 and a 13 I believe

Foes range from zombies to Nazis (*both of these net you a great Scrabble score incidentally), and they all require different tactics to handle. One of Rayne’s more unique abilities is to wrap her legs around her foes and get up-close and personal to drain their blood – a skill that also recovers her health.

The adventure takes you from a flooded Louisiana, through Argentina, and even Germany as BloodRayne battles the forces of evil and tries to find deserving victims for her thirst for human blood.

Still fun... but skip the films

It may look dated now, but the speed and fluidity of combat still make for an entertaining action game. Plus, BloodRayne remains one of the most iconic Vampires in gaming.

The original game spawned two further games, and no less than three movies… although the less said about these three Uwe Boll directed abominations the better.