Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds

By way of personal background, I am a huge fan of the TV series on which this game is based (as well as the "Angel" TV series), and I've completed this game as well as 2002's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" game for the X-Box. "Chaos Bleeds" looks very similar to the earlier game, has a good storyline, and is a good game, but the earlier game (by a different game developer) is significantly better, for the following reasons.

First, the camera movement in "Chaos Bleeds" is problematic. The camera (unseen) seems to be positioned within whatever room your character is in, and the camera has a habit of running into walls. Because of this, 360 degree rotation of the camera around your character doesn't work if your character is too close to a wall. The earlier game didn't have this problem.

Second, the hand-to-hand combat is somewhat clunky in "Chaos Bleeds", as compared to the earlier game. Punches and kicks are far more likely to miss their mark in "Chaos Bleeds", as compared to the earlier game. Also, in the earlier game, your character (always Buffy) could simultaneously fight multiple enemies positioned at angles up to 180 degrees apart with fluidity of player control, but not so in "Chaos Bleeds".

Third, in "Chaos Bleeds", Buffy isn't hampered much by the law of gravity, unlike the earlier game. In "Chaos Bleeds", despite the presence of a ladder at the edge of a 25 foot high platform, your character can walk off that platform and fall safely to the ground, landing uninjured on his or her feet, as if the character had just stepped of a sidewalk curb onto the street. In the earlier game, Buffy would have landed face-down and been slightly injured.

Fourth, whereas in the earlier game, Buffy couldn't fatally stake a vampire or demon until its life force was almost entirely depleted by kicks, punches, etc., in "Chaos Bleeds", all a character has to do to fatally stake said vampire or demon is get it on its back (easiest done by a simple throw) and stake it once, no matter where the enemy's life force bar is. And throwing enemies in "Chaos Bleeds" is child's play. A note regarding staking enemies lying on their backs: whereas in the earlier game, Buffy always staked enemies in their hearts, in "Chaos Bleeds", your character will stake an enemy in its leg, lower torso, etc., and the vampire/demon will still be dusted.

Fifth, although it's great that "Chaos Bleeds" allows players to play as Faith, Spike, Willow, Xander, and Sid the Dummy (as well as Buffy), the game-play flaws earlier described take away the necessity of using each character's unique fighting style to defeat enemies, and characters who should be relatively poor hand-to-hand combatants (Willow and Xander) are able to vanquish enemies with the efficiency of a slayer or a vampire (using the "throw and stake" technique).

Those are what I feel are the game's significant flaws. A minor flaw is that Allyson Hannigan, who played Willow in the TV show, doesn't provide the voice of Willow in "Chaos Bleeds" (unlike in the earlier game), and the voice performance of Willow suffers greatly by comparison.

The strong points of the game are the graphics, storyline, level designs, music, and sound effects. Whereas the earlier game was set during the early part of season three of the TV show, "Chaos Bleeds" is set during the late part of season five of the TV show, and the characters and character relationships are somewhat different between the two games. Show fans will probably enjoy the game despite its flaws.

I absolutely love this game! It's great to play with just enough challenge. The walkthroughs online help as well.

Also, when I'm stressed, it's really fun to just kill vampires! It releases a lot of tension.

I would say the last level is my least favorite. You have to run around in a gazillion circles which makes it more stressful and slightly less enjoyable.

The best levels on the game (for killing vampires) are: Level 1: The Magic Box Level 5: Downtown Sunnydale

and if you're up for having a big-bad challenge at the end... Level 10: Sunnydale Mall (GREAT FOR USING MAGIC) Level 11: Sunnydale Zoo

Basically, if you're a Buffy fan you'll love it and if you're not, you'll still love it. Just remember to check out the walkthroughs online on Gamespot. They make things a lot less confusing.

The graphics in the game, as far as I can tell, are great! The vampires basically dust in the action they're currently in. I once killed one as it was kicking me and it dusted beginning in that position! It's very realistic. Also, when throwing vampires/other demons or when you're being throw, you can smash into things and break them (if they're wood) or shake them (if they're a lamp).

The sound effects in the game were also great. Everything sounded different whether its falling into a chair, staking a vampire, punching them, or hitting them with a shovel.

Some of the voice overs in the game for Buffy's character can get very repetitive! Beware that by the time you're done with this game, you'll have memorized her "puns". Willow's as well. I feel that because SMG and AH were unable to do voice recordings, the actresses who did theirs did less. Everyone else had a nice selection of responses and hearing NB and JM on the game was really great.

Overall, I love the game and will continue to love it! Take my advice, this is a game you want.

I have been a fan of "Buffy" for a long time. I had always wanted there to be a game, then there was. The bad part is, i don't have an XBox, i have a PS2. I was very sad and had hoped for a while for a Buffy game to come out for PS2. Then it did. I absolutely love this game. I got it 2 days ago and i'm already on level 10. Don't get me wrong, this game isn't that easy. Each level takes about an hour to beat. I have become addicted. Once i beat story mode, I will spend my time trying to unlock all the secret characters for multiplayer mode. Speaking of multiplayer mode, this is where the game really shines. Nothing is better than beating the crap out of your friends in an all out brawl. I highly recommend this game to anyone, especially "Buffy" fans. It's out for all systems, check it out! 10/10

this is a sort of game that you don't find at every game store. it is tough to beat and when you do, you can unlock extras like multiplayer characters, interviews, voiceovers and outtakes. then you also get a chance to keep playing the levels over and over until you find all of the secrets and unlock all of the extras. but don't find any cheats because that just takes the fun out of it.

the only problem is that there are no save points in the game and you cant use any different characters when playing a level, except for multiplayer. otherwise, the game is very complicated and has excellent graphics

This game is very cool. The only bad thing is that Sarah Michelle Geller is not the voice of Buffy. This game is really challenging. I am on level 6 or 7. I had to get help from a walkthough and my brother because it was hard. I am excited they made a Buffy game for PS2 because I have a PS2 and not an Xbox.