May 14, 2003 - There is little to argue here: Buffy the Vampire Slayer has continued to be a huge success on TV, and with each new DVD that hits retail, the slim, suburban girl who just wants to fit in during the daytime (and who fights vampires at night), is a undeniable worldwide phenomenon. Perhaps what's more interesting to gamers, however, is that on Xbox last year, Buffy didn't fall into the horribly wide gap of TV series turned games...that usually all suck.
Instead, Buffy managed to be a pretty good game afterall. It boasted clean, good-looking models and textures, a fighting engine that was relatively robust, and a fully-fledged game, story, and well, the whole kit and caboodle, all surprisingly well presented. That bodes well for another Buffy game: This one being the multi-console effort in development with Eurocom (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The World is Not Enough) dubbed Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds.
Due in Q3 2003, Chaos Bleeds is a third-person action-adventure that delivers a well-to-do cast of favorites from the TV show; it features a solid story and a mixture of good combat and spell-casting in what looks like a game that could improve upon its predecessor in many minor ways. Taking place in the dreamy suburban location of Sunnydale, California, Chaos Bleeds sees Buffy discovering that a dimensional "bleed" has let slip an evil force so devastating it will consume humanity without her and her friends' help. What's a skinny blond girl to do? Kick some ass, naturally.
Utilizing the honed penmanship of the show's writers, Chaos Bleeds is what's considered a "lost episode" taken from Season 5 of the TV series. Given the writers' intimate knowledge of the show, players and TV fans alike will receive authentic Buffy dialog, witty banter and sincere, longing adoration or nasty hatred for one another in genuine "Buffy" fashion. A considerable cast of celebrity voiceovers are on tap, and the likenesses of five playable characters are remarkable, including: Buffy, Angel, Willow, Xander and Spike. Each of these characters sports his or her special abilities to help them get through the hordes of vampires and freaks out to kill them.
Players switch from character to character as they progress through the story, integrated with combat, physical puzzles, and an elaborate weapon system. The game's main staple is, naturally, hand-to-hand combat, but throughout the its many levels players collect a multitude of useful weapons, such as mystical knives, swords and battle axes as well as baseball bats and electricity blasters.
If you dig the multiplayer scene, than you're in for some vampiric good fun. Combatants can select either Vampire or Slayer in numerous mini-games challenges, from One on One Combat and Last Man Standing to Team Survival, Domination and Bunny Catcher. The multi-player might be good fun, if it's packed with weird and wacky extra characters and special items.
So far, the game is visually pretty impressive. Though much of the game takes place inside, a goodly amount of textural variety pretties up the game considerably. Eurocom's special effects should not be missed; whether it's the lovely volumetric fog, the many animated textures, vertex lighting or image reflections, this game apparently has it all.
Buffy no doubt has a place in modern pop culture. The TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the highest rated UPN show for males between the ages of 18-34 years of age, and as many as 10 million people watch the show in North America every month. The show appears in 54 countries worldwide and more than 3 million VHS and DVD units have been sold. It's clear Buffy has her audience in rapture.
So, can this game make the cross-over? It all depends on how fun, engaging and addictive Eurocom makes it. It depends on the show's writers creating a compelling story, one that's authentic and true to the Buffy universe. And it depends on whether the game is ready when it's supposed to be, in other words, not too early not too late. Do I think it can happen? Well, it's to argue with 10 million Buffy fans, really hard, but given Eurocom's solid performances in the past, this one could come through with flying colors.
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"We haven't found Saddam Hussein, and I don't know anyone who's running around saying he didn't exist"
~Rumsfeld
Posté le : 10 Mai 2003 20:43
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