Amazon.com: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds: Playstation 2: Video Games

65 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (65 customer reviews)

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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Enough, But Could Have Been Better, September 15, 2003

By	Miranda Prince "Punky Monkey" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Chaos Bleeds" is a very entertaining game, with good graphics, a reasonable level of difficulty (if I say that, it probably means hardcore gamers will find it too easy), and mostly good voice acting.

Several of the original cast members provided the voices for the game, which is awesome. Unfortunately, Sara Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Alyson Hannigan (Willow), and Emma Caulfield (Anya) weren't available. Sound-alikes were used, ranging from good (Buffy) to mediocre and affected (Willow) to downright lame (Anya).

Another problem is that the inventory system is a real pain to use. Instead of being able to pause the game and go to an inventory screen, you have to scroll through every item in your inventory to get to the one you want. There are times when you're carrying ten or more things, so this can get really cumbersome.

One last complaint -- the game's multiplayer mode stinks. You can't play the actual *game* multiplayer; instead, there are lame minigames (for lack of a better word) for two players. If they had been good minigames, that might have been cool; but they're not.

Other than that, it's a really good game that should appeal to anyone who likes horror video games, as well as Buffy fans. The characters look like themselves, the dialogue is well-written, and the cutscenes and overall plot are compelling.

The game also has enough extras to put many DVDs to shame, including unlockable interviews and voice-overs from several cast members.

Bottom line: even if you're not a Buffy fan, this game is worth checking out. And if you are a Buffy fan, it's a must.

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Garbage game design, good acting and script., October 24, 2004

By	D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds plays, well, much like an episode of the TV show. The scripting is sharp and the characters lovable, but in terms of a video game, the mechanics and progression of this game are just about rock-bottom.

First the good points: With the involvement of Joss Whedon and a large number of cast members from the show (including Eliza Dushku, James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Stewart Head), it's not surprising that the script and acting are substantially more enjoyable than that of most video games. The voice actress standing in for the absent Sarah Michelle Gellar does a fine job, though Alyson Hannigan's replacement just can't nail that elusive Willow charm. Perhaps they should have tried approaching Amy Acker (Fred in the show Angel) for the role instead? However, I agree with a previous reviewer -- the dialogue is very poorly paced. Huge gaps of air permeate the lines, in direct contrast to the brisk and enjoyable comic timing of the show. I suspect this was because of the overly slow subtitles, which are routinely one to two seconds behind the spoken dialogue.

But if I was having fun watching this game, playing it was another matter. Yep, we have another franchise game whose mechanics were underdeveloped. The camera in this game is horrible, whizzing around and around, blasting 180-degree axial shifts so that your controls get completely reversed. The designers don't seem to realize that in a 3rd-person fighting game, you can't have moves that require both analog-stick and button combinations because the game engine becomes constantly confusing. For example, to execute the multi-hit flying kick, you have to hold up and then hit a button. What if you're facing right instead? This practically means you can only execute this move when you're facing an enemy that's "above" you in the 3-D environment, and with the camera firmly out of your control, that's impossible for the player to orchestrate. And your character moves at about half the speed of your enemies. The moves just don't allow for much player control, and since this game always pits you against at least two (sometimes four or five) enemies at the same time, it feels like every character is fighting like Tara. Oh yeah, and there's no way to break blocking enemies short of using a weapon. So if your weapon broke before a certain fight, you're basically screwed, because later enemies will delightfully block you to death while its comrades beat you to a pulp. Most fights also require that you switch between items in your inventory all the time, and this game has one of the most awkward inventory systems I've seen. Items shift in position as you tap the D-pad, so you always have to look desperately for what you want. Inexcusable.

The levels are overlarge, and incredibly repetitive. I'd thought Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain made you run around a lot, but it's no comparison to this game for backtracking. I finally lost my patience during the "Xander High School" level where after playing the level for an hour and a half collecting UV filters, fumigation bombs, "alien gun" ammo, magic hats, keys, key cards, passwords...only to be unable to beat the final boss of the level. And thanks to the lack of true save points ("continue points" only work until you turn the machine off), I know I'll have to replay the entire dreary level the next time I put this game on. And that is just enough to make me send this game to the second-hand bin.

My last gripe is with the graphics. This game looks like it's one or two generations behind the competition. The cut scenes look cheap and pixellated, as if they'd captured the footage using too low a data rate. To give them some rope, they'd included a good amount of video footage from the making of the game into this disc, so maybe they ran low on storage. The bonus materials, consisting of interviews, voice-over sessions and outtakes of the cast of the game, are a blast and essential viewing for Buffy fans, so perhaps it was a reasonable tradeoff.

So this game really plays more like an unusual edition of the show. While there's fun to be had on that level, as a video game, this one really leaves plenty to be desired.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Action Title That Captures Much of the Series' Spirit, September 8, 2003

By	JC (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

Let's get this right out of the way...there is nothing truly groundbreaking in this game, in terms of graphics, sound, or general gameplay. That said, it's still a solid action/puzzle title that captures much of the postmodern spirit of the fabulous series on which it was based. I'd rate it about an 8.3 out of 10.

I'll get to the gameplay, etc., in a moment, but will first comment on the story. It does have more of a comic-book feel than the series generally does, but by videogame standards, it's well above-average, and really quite entertaining, mostly in the comedic sense (self-referential humour fully intact). Given that the villain is essentially Ethan Rayne, though, don't expect much in the way of emotional resonance...it's BtVS-lite in that regard. Now, onto the gameplay...

The fighting engine is remarkably deep, at least for the Buffy and Faith characters, which you play 65% of the time. The various combos available to you seem endless, though you'll probably do reasonably well with mindless button-mashing, so it's equally suitable for novices and more advanced gamers who like to mix it up. The staking effect is extremely satisfying, especially for fans of the series. Willow's more enjoyable to use later in the game (the Mall stage), with all of her spells firmly intact (though you'll likely fall back on the homing missle most of the time), Xander's relies more on weapons (of which there are an abundance), Spike inflicts the most damage, and Sid (used only in half of the hospital stage) is a riot to behold, with his rapid fists of fury.

Character models are good but not exceptional, and the voice work is generally solid (Anya's voice double being the only one totally off-the mark, and Willow's, though well-intentioned, sounding too much like an affectation). The backgrounds capture the series set design nicely, and the music, though somewhat repetitious (but in a quiet, subtle way), feels entirely appropriate and quite cinematic. Yes, the one-liners (usually about three-to-four for each function, such as commenting on a locked door) grow tiresome, but once you've familiarized yourself with the stages, you'll be able to keep them to a bare minimum.

As per usual with third-person fighting games, the camera is somewhat unwieldly (the only game with a near-perfect camera, IMO, is "Zelda: The Wind Waker"), and the inventory (weapons, health meds) scroll (using the control pad) will be difficult for some players to manage in the heat of battle (there's no perfect way for programmers to deal with this, really). Some puzzles in the game will frustrate upon the initial play-through (you may find yourself wandering around aimlessly on more than a few occasions), but most follow a straightforward logic and usually have precedent earlier in the game (such as in the Zoo reptile area, where you much grab the top of an escalating cage door on TWO occasions). The latter stages of the game are something of a fetch-fest, but a limited number of unlocked doors (hint: in the high school, only the doors with signs beside them and main passageways open) generally give you an indication as to where to proceed...pick up everything in sight before leaving any room.

The Multiplayer mode is well-presented, with 26 characters available (if you can unlock them all, in Story Mode), most notably series creator Joss Whedon himself. There's a definite insane randomness to the pickups in this mode, but it certainly allows for a lot of variety.

And finally, any BtVS fan is gonna love the extras: a series of candid interviews with Joss and cast members, voice-over sessions, and amusing outtakes.

So if you're a huge BtVS fan, buy it. If you're a fan of action/puzzle fighting games, give it a good long rental, and then decide if you'd like to add it to your collection.