Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"Pretty good game, but I expected more!"

Buffy the game is quite obviously based on the TV show featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar. For those who haven't being outside for a while this is a very popular TV show which is in its 7th series; has led to a spin-off series (Angel) and is based on the very old Buffy movies.

The story begins with the 'slayers', women who defeat vampires, zombies and so on. When they die the slayer power is passed onto another person; and in this case it’s Buffy Summers. The very pretty Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Now the characters are all back; everyone from Buffy to Willow, Spike to Angel (gasp). Almost all have their original voices; the only non-authentic one is Buffy believe it or not. This isn't really a spoiler as the voices are listed in the back of the manual but it is quite cool to see them in animated form. The problem is whilst you can recognise them from each other; Willow looks totally wrong; and Giles... well he looks younger than he is. Fans of the show may be slightly disappointed with this but there are many more things which make up for this shortcoming. The dialogue for one is quite good; it resembles the show and although it’s not the real Sarah Michelle Gellar; her double does a pretty good job of conveying emotions (but you can easily tell it’s not the real deal). The other characters, notably Giles seems a bit off-putting but many things remain the same such as the way Giles always moves his fingers when he talks!

Some of the cool things are the way the game is structured. You pick up items to restore health, you pick up weapons, you can shoot weapons, you can combine items, you can use your 'slayer power' to do super combos to defeat enemies and so forth. The environment looks very nice but I've seen better graphics elsewhere; but compared to PS2's graphics this game is stunning. There are no signs of anti-aliasing problems (note that I'm still new to the Xbox dimension). The environments are also very interactive and there is a lot of use of 'fire'. For fans of the series you can explore the schools and buildings as if you were on the set; so this is a big bonus for fans!

Now another cool thing is the introduction CG. It’s just like the show introduction (well the BUFFY logo and the moon in the background are); but it has the same music and shows the entire cast members in their new 3d-computerised forms which is damn cool to see.

The only gripe I have about this action-adventure game is it can be a bit short if your not a fan and not wanting to see the whole world. If you’re a fan you have many ideas how to beat zombies but if your not; you simply kill however you see fit. The game play is fun but it’s not 'that exciting', the camera is reasonably good for most of the game and the levels are quite different and well structured (except for level3; I agree with IGN that it was wrong to have a boss battle at the beginning).

The sound effects are pretty good but I'm sure there could be more ambiences. I would review it with 5.1 but I don't know if it supports it; and I am yet to get the surround sound optical cable from Microsoft yet (sold out). But from what I've heard the music is adequate and the sound effects good; but the speech is a bit blurred but thanks to subtitles it’s still understandable.

There is a tutorial for those who need basic help with these games but it should be a breeze for most. And yes it is buffy-themed just like the show; but I won't spoil it for ya. The fight scenes are fun but short; and although they can be a bit hard (due to Xbox’s controller's styling) it’s still pretty fun to play; but again it’s very short the fights. There are too many easy ways to win.

In the end, after its short game play, this game is really for fans only. People who aren't fans of the game will probably play and find it very short and not explore the game like fans of the series would. The character models aren't 'extraordinary' in any way but if you’re a fan I guess you will probably goggle at them and be 'over the moon'. One interesting thing is that instead of saying 'loading', the game uses interesting words like 'summoning' and 'resurrecting' in the cool buffy font. This is another novel feature of a fan-targeted game.

If you want a comparison, this game is just like The Bouncer on PS2. A slow fighting game with a lot of story; but unlike Squaresoft's game the CGs are interesting; have Buffy-content and are totally skippable if you so desire.

So is this game for you? If you’re a fan you probably already bought it and are looking for reviews which support your purchase. If you’re not a fan, this game probably won't convert you but it'll give you something to rent for a weekend alone. And no there is no multiplayer unfortunately.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/03, Updated 01/04/03