Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A grade-A beat-em up, and an A+, if you're a fan of the show, August 29, 2002
Buffy's a great game, whether you're a fan of the series, or not. Sure, it's more compelling to people who've seen the series, as most of the voices in the game are done by the actual actors from the series (SMG being the sole exception, but her replacement is flawless). The game also manages to capture the feel of the show perfectly, from the snappy dialogue, to the creepy environments and atmosphere.Honestly, though, all that would be useless without solid gameplay to back it up. Fortunately, Buffy has it in spades. While there is some minor switch-finding involved in some of the levels, the lion's share of gameplay in Buffy involves slaying things, whether they're vampires, zombies, or other random monstrosities. The control in Buffy is fantastically responsive, and great, even for multi-enemy hand-to-hand combat - something most games are horrible at. The controls are similar to the old Soul Reaver games, where the R-trigger locks on to an enemy. You can jump, kick, punch, or stake your enemies, or execute a variety of moves on them, which will often lead to nifty combo moves. If you let go of the R-trigger, there are moves that will hit people in virtually any direction around you, as well as special moves that'll clear everyone around you for a few moments. There's a good variety of weapons, from stakes, to crossbows, to hellfire-filled Super Soakers. Each feels right, and the ability to stake vampires from a distance with the crossbow is really well-implemented. The game's graphics are phenomenal. Neat lighting effects, wide open levels, and beautiful character models abound, but easily the most interesting feature, in my opinion, is the facial animation. The Collective (the game's developers) clearly put a lot of effort into giving Buffy & Co. a wide variety of facial expressions, and lip-synched animation to match their dialogue. The results are astonishing, and seeing Buffy grimace while staking an enemy, or giving a casual shrug when wondering why her Friday nights are spent slaughtering demons adds another level of immersion to an already fantastic game. It's the best single-player beat-em up I've played in a good long while. The controls are fantastic, the graphics are beautiful, and it's a sharply written and presented game. Excellent stuff, I'd recommend it to both fans of the show, and people who've never heard of it before alike.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Gang's All Here, August 23, 2002
Electronic Arts shows us what a TV or movie franchise game could be and should be.From the opening credits to the voice acting performances, playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer is just like being put in control of a good episode of a great TV show. Perhaps the character graphics could be a little sharper -- although I certainly have no complaints about how they rendered Buffy, and Cordeilia looks great, too. My only complaint is that Spike just doesn't look menacing enough. The scenery looks near-perfect, like it was ripped right off your WB affiliate. The lighting is spooky, and the fog effects are also quite good. There is even some gruesome humor in the graphics. Kick the arm off a zombie, and he might pick it up and beat you with it. The title music is there, the incidental music is right out of the show -- and nicely synchronized with the action. Altogether spooky. Other than Sarah Michelle Gellar, the entire TV cast lends their voices to the game. And while I don't know who provides Buffy's voice, I can tell you that you probably won't be able to tell the difference. She even perfectly duplicates Buffy's famous fighting grunts and groans. Did I mention the action? From quick jabs to roundhouse kicks, all of Buffy's moves are on display and at your disposal. You want weapons? Stakes, rakes, mops, the crossbow, the SuperSoaker -- you get'em all. The controls are easy to learn, but laced with enough combos to keep you challenged. There are enough hidden secrets to make for decent replay value -- I just wish they'd included a training mode, and maybe a two-player fight arena. Were it not for those two little details, Buffy would easily be a Five Star effort.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
About as good as a 3rd person game gets!, September 6, 2002
Buffy is an amazing action oozing filled romp with stunning visuals (4 out of 5), one of the best fighting engines I've ever seen (4 out of 5), top notch sound design (4 out of 5) and a character (Buffy) that's so incredibly adorable you can't help but fall in love with (5 out of 5). Few games can suck you in like Buffy for wonder machine Xbox (you just knew a vampire pun was coming didn't you?). What's truly amazing to me is that I've never watched the show, don't know anything about the characters or stars but it only took 5 minutes with this game to be helplessly drawn into their creepy, gool infested universe. The visuals are drop dead gorgeous, the character models are absolutely razor sharp, so brilliant in fact that I quite often catch myself stopping mid level to spin the camera back on Buffy to marvel at her brilliant detail and quirky fully animated facial expressions that seem to say with some annoyance 'I know I'm cute but would please in the name of all that's holy, get on with the bloody game already?' And bloody it is, but not to a distracting fault, sure you get to kick the undead stuffing out of a fair share of teenage mutant vampires and crush the bones of zombie skeletons to dust with relish but it's very tasteful and the lighting and graphic effects that follow the evil doers demise only leave you screaming for much, much more and you get it. The environments and lighting are striking, the camera is solid and although it can leave your back uncovered from time to time it's never enough to distract from the over all glory of the visuals and game play. And the attention to detail from school hallways with trashcans ablaze to goose bump-inducing cemeteries is WAY above par.
The action is driven along by great music; the stunning soundtrack taunts your pounding heart with every step you take and corner you turn, with ambient sound used to great effect, filling every hallway and outdoor venue with chirping crickets, distant wailing train horns, creepy creaks, groans
The weapon's are quirky and cool, ranging from the obvious vampire stopping stakes, racks, cross bow and skull crushing shovels (very cool). Buffy's control also offer a buffet of options for throwing, kicking, spinning and my favorite the double kick, spin Matrix bad guy smash!
The play is just difficult enough to keep it fresh and drive you on with making you pull your hair out in frustration, with level bosses offering fair but beatable resistance. And there's just enough save points allow you an occasional and much needed potty break.
Buffy's a blast, Buffy's great silly fun and to top it off a pleasure to look at and play. Matter of fact the only thing that keeps Buffy from earning 5 stars is that she can't cure cancer.
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~ Various Artists - Soundtracks - Television
