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picked this one up yesterday at Circuit City for $20

Now granted, I've yet to play this on the full-size TV, so I'm willing to cut them some slack on the graphical presentation due to being played on the LCD screen -- but just about everything else is horrible!

The voice actors give the impression they have no experience with actual voice acting work -- because the deliveries of the performances come off very stilted.
this is especially disturbing considering the voice actors replacing Buffy and Willow's regular actors are probably professional voice actors -- meaning there's no excuse for them to sound this bad.

For some deranged reason, the block button was designed with the controller s in mind with absolutely no ability to change it. This means that on the normal original xbox controller you have to reach an abnormally high motion{in relation to the rest of the combat layout} to access block during combat -- rendering it useless.

The combat itself is very button mash happy and the camera is very unfriendly so even if tactical moves
could come into play, you wouldn't be able to see what you're aiming at.

The inventory is permanently attached to the directional pad, and you have to scroll through during real time to get what you want -- which is disastrous during combat as it gives the enemies plenty offree hits

also, whatever weapon you're holding can be knocked out of your hand and because of the bad camera, it can be difficult to see where to retrieve it from.

I found myself circling the walls repeatedly hitting the item interaction button just to see what can be interacted with -- and actually ended up picking up stuff I didn't know was there! {Yes, another camera issue}

In fact, I had defeated the first part of the game without knowing it because the key which was supposed to open the door to the next area was on the floor {dropped by a defeated vampire} and I was only able to find out about this by checking gamefaqs out of frustration and then manually running the camera with the right stick to an overhead view through every room I had been through previously.


So far, I've completed one mission and gotten to the first save point. This is a horrible game. I'm very grateful I didn't pay the $50 actually marked on the box for it. As a huge Buffy fan, I'll finish it for the lost episode story, but I don't expect to enjoy any of it beyond the storyline.

In fact, after playing this bomb, I'm kinda teetering on whether to pick up the first xbox Buffy at all even though I do really want to see the story.

Fair warning people: if you're not a hard-core Buffy fan, you're going to hate this -- and even then you still might

Minx, the first game is better, IMHO. Only thing is, the first one is a bit more "platformy" in parts...you'll need to do more jumping and ledge grabbing, ala Tomb Raider. I loved and completed the first one, but I'm only about 1/3rd of the way through CB and I just can't seem to muddle through it. Eurocom really took CB backwards in a lot of ways.

Well its seriously not that bad. I haven't had many problems with the camera, and it is a decent platformer. My gripes come from the difficulty level being off (like LOTR:ROTK) and the horrible voice work from the voice-doubles.

Minx, why are you using the big Xbox controller?

Anyway, thanks for the info. I was thinking about trying out the game but I'll probably try out the first one instead.

because the little one hurts my hands

unfortunately, there's absolutely nowhere to buy the large ones anymore unless you want to pay a small ransom -- so when my current one goes, my xbox will be rendered useless

I still see the Dukes from time to time in Best Buy and TRU.

hmm, looks like I'm going to have to do a seperate topic on why CB isn't all too bad, you now a second opinion or something like that, but then again I haven't played the first one, and the way people talk about the first one I'm begining to think that I'd prob hate the 2nd one if I had played the first one.

BTW; I have a duke that I'm currently trying to be rid of. I'm looking for a controller s, maybe we can trade? PM me if interested.

you gottalove it when buffy says "just what a girl needs, a long hard shaft.......wait, that didnt come out right."

Originally Posted by minx because the little one hurts my hands unfortunately, there's absolutely nowhere to buy the large ones anymore unless you want to pay a small ransom -- so when my current one goes, my xbox will be rendered useless

Do you have big hands?

Damnnn I just bought this and am waiting my order..

I liked the first Buffy game a lot, but I couldn't get into Chaos Bleeds. I think the camera was an issue - in Buffy 1 you could move it freely a full 360 degrees, and in Chaos Bleeds it kind of gets stuck when theres a wall next to you. The combat also felt less satisfying, like there was less strength and weight in your attacks. I lost interest in it after a few hours, even though you could play as other characters like Spike and Faith. Faith rocks!

I've just started playing Chaos Bleeds myself and would agree that it is nothing special.

For fans of the show (like me) it is fun. Willow's voice doesn't bother me too badly, you can tell the actor is trying her best to sound like her, but I see where the complaints are coming from. But the actual dialog is pretty good, faithful to the show so far.

As far as gameplay it suffers pretty badly from design flaws I guess you would call them. Some of the puzzles so far have been pretty arbitrary, IMO. Just not well crafted.

And take the cemetery, some of the headstones you can smash, others you can't. No real rhyme or reason to it. And some ledges or edges you can jump up and grab onto. Some you can't. Sometimes you need to open a cabinet/locker/etc. using the action (Y) button, other times you need to smash it open with a punch and hitting Y doesn't even give you a hint like 'Huh, this is locked...' Other times hitting Y at a door the character will say 'Locked, but it looks pretty rotted...' Some objects you can push or pull, but the game only lets you grab hold of them on one side. So you may not realize something can be grabbed until you happen on the proper side to try (and I'm talking symetrical objects here). Inconsistencies like these just make the game seem pretty unpolished.

Another semi-drag is that you can't save mid-level, you only get to save at the end of each chapter. Personally I like to be able to play for 20-30 minutes at a time and then take a break if I feel like it. They do space out continue points, but don't let you save at them, you just respawn there.

Still so far I've found the game enjoyable, just a bit of a shame that it wasn't executed a bit better. I'd say if you were a fan of the show you'll enjoy the game. If you weren't, I'd steer clear.

And I can definitely relate to what minx says about running around everywhere hitting the interact button.

The first Buffy game on Xbox was EXCELLENT, Chaos Bleeds is pretty disappointing.

The first game was quite excellent. It was developed by the Collective and served as the same engine for the Indiana Jones game (which I also enjoyed).

lol i bought it at Eb games a few weeks back for 10 bucks hardly worthed at this price..

I agree with everyone who liked the first one and not Chaos Bleeds. Besides the horrible camera work, what killed CB was Willow's voice-over. It is pathetic. She sounds all mousey and ditzy, more like Season One Willow rather than the more confident version she became by the time of this game. I think the woman who does Buffy in both games did a very respectable job.

Well since we're reviving dead topics...

I now own the first buffy, it is in every single way superior to CB. Not to say CB sucks, its's just that Buffy 1 blows it away.