Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds

"It's not what it looks like. It's 'magic' weed."

Do you miss Buffy: The Vampire Slayer? Would you watch or play anything just to relive the show or see something fresh about the storyline? Then Chaos Bleeds is probably for you.
Although it is not a perfect game, it is entertaining nonetheless and worth considering. If nothing else you get to play a game where you use bunnies to defeat a boss. Now how often can you say that?

Story: (7/10) If you are a fan of the different dimension stories from the show, or that kind of story period, this game might be up your alley. A lot of semi-recurring characters appear in the game, such as Ethan Rayne, the dummy and almost every major villain from the series. The game takes you to many different locations that were seen throughout the series, so in that sense there is no repetitiveness. You also use multiple characters throughout the game, which also keeps the game fresh, even if some characters are more fun to use than others.

The Buffy creators wrote it, but it is not their best work. At the same time, you can tell they did in fact write it, as there are funny parts and the dialogue is worth listening to.

Graphics: (8/10) You can easily tell who the characters are. The detail in the game is good for a
Gamecube game, and the characters mouths move pretty well with the dialogue. We all wish Buffy's body was dead-on realistic, but alas.

As for glitches, there were not any noticeable ones, but there were times when the physics/collision of characters with other characters or the immobile aspects of the level banged heads. There is a lot of destructible parts to the levels though, which makes for good fun.

Sound: (7/10) I enjoyed listening to the dialogue in the game. Most of the characters are voiced by the real actors. Unfortunately, the two that are not are Buffy and Willow, aka two of the three main characters. The actresses they had for replacements are pretty good most of the time, but you know it's not them.

The music is eerie and not dull, so that is plus. Some of the music, like the main theme, is in the game, which is a nice touch. The characters do start saying the same things over and over again after you kill things or fall or whatever, but they are cute comments at least.

Controls: (8/10) The controls are simple to use and the learning curve is very fast. Even when you go from character to character, you do not need more than a minute to figure out what you should be doing with the characters.

The game is a semi-platformer, but not was not difficult in that area. Being a so-so gamer in the plat forming genre, I'm glad I did not have levels were I was stuck trying to make a jump for hours. More games need simple controls like this.

Challenge: (4/10) If you are looking for a challenge, this game might not be for you. It's really easy at points, but there are a few bosses that might give you some trouble. One nice feature is that you can go back and try to beat your best times going through each level, and in the process find the other secrets and unlockables without having to play the entire game over again.

It would have been nice if there was multiple difficulty settings, which might have provided more of a challenge if you did choose to play the entire game again.

Fun Factor/Replay Value: (5/10) The game is a lot of fun. There is something about going around killing vampires and werewolves and everything else that was conjured up during the series that provides entertainment. Again, with the simple controls, you don't get frustrated or the like unless there is something that you cannot find, and that doesn't happen often.

As for replay value, this is hard to say. There is a multiplayer mode. But the stages are so small. There are multiplayer modes that you don't see in other games, which is a plus. But the small stages, and super random items that you pick up make more lucky to win than needing skill. At times there seems like there are more negative items to pick up than positive ones.

Being able to unlock lots of characters for the mode is nice, but it's more fun to unlock all the extras in the game, such as interviews and outtakes and the like. Those are worth going back and playing again, since the interviews are with the actors.

Overall: (7/10) The game is enjoyable. It's not a game that you are going to memorable for all time and play over and over again, but if you want to kill 20 or 30 min killing vampires one day, it's a good game to have lying around.

The story will keep you going, and the challenge is enough to keep you intrigued. Again, the unlockable movies are a huge bonus if you are a fan of the series. If you are a fan of the series, I highly recommend the title since it can be found for cheap, whether or not you find it for the GCN or PS2.

If you have never watched the show however, it's hard to recommend, unless you like beat ‘em ups. And possibly by playing you may want to look into the show, which is arguably the best show I grew up on drama wise.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/07

Game Release: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (US, 08/28/03)