Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
(GC, also for PS2, XBX)
Fang you. Fang you very much.
by Libe Goad

PLATFORM: GC, XBX, PS2

PUBLISHER: Sierra

DEVELOPER: Eurocom

GENRE: Action

ESRB: Teen

SCORE:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds is a game you can take home to Mom. It looks handsome, sounds good and won’t terrify weak constitutions with too much messy gore.

Vivendi Universal’s next entry into the Buffy video game franchise takes all of you favorite aspects from the TV show and puts you in control. The game is set up like a lost episode from the show, in which Buffy and her crew of spooky kids find out a former baddie, Ethan Rayne, has been resurrected from the dead and that the most evil of all evil in the universe, The First, wants to hand the planet over to the ghouls. Typical of any Buffy episode, the crew then sets out to put a stake in evil’s plan with an plentiful arsenal of wood stakes, pick axes, crossbows, shovels and guns that shoot holy water or hellfire.

Chaos Bleeds sticks to the slash-and-stake formula found in the first game, released in 2002, and contains simple puzzles, most of the locate-a-fuse, find-a-key, empty-a-cesspool variety. Each character can still kick depraved butt with a combination of fighting moves, all of which can be accessed through each character’s inventory. These combinations will be invaluable when surrounded by blood hungry monsters, with one exception. Once you enter a combination move, you’re locked in position until the combination is completed. This may not seem like a big deal on paper, but it can be devastating if, say, you unleash a killer attack on an agile vampire who quickly moves behind you. Then you’re stuck doing fancy footwork in one direction while the real danger is at your back.

The most compelling aspect of Chaos Bleeds is the ability to play multiple characters in the game, each with special skill sets. Throughout the game, you’ll be required to save the world with Buffy, Willow, Xander, Spike, Faith and Sid, the possessed dummy doll. Buffy still makes for the best gameplay, thanks to her supreme Slayer speed and strength. Taking the controls as Willow is also a refreshing change of pace; she must use her magic abilities to keep baddies at bay. Xander’s molasses-like reflexes prove to be the most challenging parts of the game and if you’re not careful with him, you’ll be back at the last save point before you know it.

Speaking of saving, it’s no longer “challenging” and “fun” to have long-winded lapses between save points. Chaos Bleeds’ developers tossed in Continue Points at various parts of longer sections, but—assuming you have other parts of your life to tend to—there’s no way to save your progress. That leaves you with choosing between shutting off the machine and losing significant ground in the game or leaving your machine for days until you find more time to play. There must be a better way to extend gameplay.

If you played the Buffy games side-by-side, you’d notice that the new game has seen a few graphic enhancements—though nothing you’d notice on its own. Either way, the game still features attractive character models that actually looks like the show’s cast members (unlike the recent Charlie’s Angels game). Chaos Bleeds also shows a respectable level of background details. The game sounds great as well. Fanatics will be pleased that the background music sounds like it was imported directly from the TV show and that is has effectively been utilized to maximize suspense and overall creepitude.

Buffy believers will froth over the game’s extras, which include a new multiplayer mode and unlockable cast interviews and photo galleries. The multiplayer mode is the most substantial of these extras, which will pit up to four players against each other in four modes—survival, bunny catcher, slayer challenge and domination. Bunny catcher makes for the most unique of the four modes, in which the competitors chase after different colored bunnies, each designated with a certain number of points. With all of its amusement it offers, the multiplayer seems like it was thrown together as an afterthought, which doesn’t make it a selling point for the title.

The chick-appeal is obvious. You play the game as a butt-stomping vampire killer with a sense of humor and a knack for fashion. Plus, with the ability to play as Willow and Faith, Chaos Bleeds becomes a virtual who's who of butt-stomping game babes in 2003.

If you've legally changed your middle name to Buffy, you should be the first in line to pick up Chaos Bleeds. Everyone else is on their own—even good old mom.