User Reviews (1 - 11 of 64)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

STAY AWAY!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 25
Date: October 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is bad, in a really bad, awful way. First off, the controls are terrible. For a combat game that requires a good amount of fighting at times, the game designers pretty much wrecked the game by not putting enough thought and execution into a proper control system. Not only do you spend most of the time jumping and punching into the air and missing your targets, but any time you try to use the Holy Water or Hell Fire, 9 times out of 10, it won't hit it's intended enemy. And here's the worst part, the inventory system. Playing through levels you can accumulate weapons and med packs. However, lets say you are using a battle-axe on an attacker, to finish the enemy off, you have to stake them, so you hit the special stake button. Now you are left with just the stake and you may have more enemies to fight and are forced to run around while you navigate to your battle-axe, which quickly becomes tedious. Why couldn't they have simply made one of the buttons (like L2) a simple "back" button, like back to the weapon I prefer because I was kicking butt with it!?!?! Another problem with the game, the save system, or lack of save system. This game has save points, which is great, but it won't let you save your save points to the memory card, so if you run out of time or get frustrated because you can't beat the boss at the end of a level, the game makes you play the whole level over again. This is simply unacceptable. The people who "ok" this lack of a proper save system simply have no respect to the gamers who buy their games. Show some love for these people who pay good money and let them save at whatever point they are at. This way the game becomes one the gamer looks forward to coming back to playing and not one they are dreading to have to replay 40 minutes of a level they have already been through. Lastly, the boss battles. The boss battles are typical harder to kill than normal enemies with the added hook of finding the trick that will defeat them, because your normal weapons have no affect on them. I have two problems with the Buffy boss battles: 1) in general, I hate games that let my weapon of choice only work up to a point and then just arbitrarily dictate, this weapon that worked great here no longer works here. I think the game designers are just being lazy and are trying to make the boss harder by just handicapping the "hero." Devil May Cry is a perfect example of a boss battle that does the opposite. They make the boss tougher, not the gamer weaker. All game designers should work towards this goal. 2) Camera angles. The camers views are pretty bad throughout all levels, but because the normal enemies are not that hard, you can work around it. In the boss battles, the camera becomes a bigger problem than the boss. It's fine for the boss to shoot at me, but is it really fair for me not to be able to see the shots coming at me? What's the point of being able to run and jump and dodge if I'm not given a chance to do these things? At the end of the game, the camera view becomes the biggest problem because there are literally 4 different attacks you have to defend to accomplish the intended goal. Again, once you KNOW what you have to do, it should be straighforward on how to complete the task. When the camera angle and sluggish controls prevent you from completing the goal, you are no longer fighting a boss battle, you are fighting the game itself. It's at this point you are no longer having fun and now feel like you waisted $50. Stay away from this game and try something else.

This game sucks (geddit?)

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: January 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I had high hopes for this game. Almost every single review I read was positive. They talked about good graphics, good voice acting, and a generally good game. None of that is true. Sure, some of the voice acting (from the actual cast of the show) is fine, but the horribly long pauses between each line of dialogue ruin anything that might be there. And that's not even counting the game play, which is simplistic "run around and click until you find the right door to open" and "fight badly." Which brings us to what could laughably be called a fighting engine. I spent most of my time yelling: "No, don't kick the air, kick the vampire. Turn around, turn around. No, go the direction I'm pointing." I press the punch button, and two seconds later, I punch. Great. This game is horrible. Please stay away. Stay far away. Put a stake in it, it's done.

What Happend????

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: September 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well it was a different company that made this game, so that is probably the answer. Let me say i am not a Buffy fan but i bought and loved the 1st game. So i bought Chaos Bleeds on the first day of release. This one is simply not as good as the first game. I really don't know where to begin ...The graphics overall are as good as the first. Not bad but not great.The Fighting is very frustrating, You'll find yourself Punching and kicking at air half the time even with the lock on ..which really doesn't lock on anyways. That was some what of a problem in the first game but for this one it is 10 times worse. Weapons? There is no use for them here, The crossbow which worked so well in The first game is useless. If you played the first game you know how cool it was to be able to act like a sniper and target a Vampire. In this one there is no chance to do that. Remember the Hell-fire and Holly water soaker in the first game? They're back..But useless. All you really need is your stake. ..Which BTW you can't Throw like in the first game. The game itself is Harder then the first but not in a good way. For example the Mall level where you play Willow. They throw so many Vampires at you it's ridiculous. You kill 3 then try and solve a puzzle ..here come 3 more kill them..Here come 3 more. back to trying to solve...nope here come 3 more..etc. And going back to the fighting system. It's no fun to be attacked by 3 Vamps, Have your punch go through one, while another grabs you from behind throws you to the ground then the other stomps you while your character takes forever to get up. Which leads me to another bad thing. When you're in the heat of it your character is Very slow to respond to the actions you give them. There's at least a half second delay, Which in this type of game is a major problem and turns it in to a button masher game at times.This is getting a bit long so let me end with what is the worst part of the game. The save system. Yes they have check points but they do not save to your memory card. You Must finish the WHOLE level to save. ANd the Levels can seem to go on FOREVER. It's like going from point A to point B to point C back to Point A over to point D back to point B Etc.. if you want to catch a quick game before school or work forget it Unless you finish the level you'll have to play the part you finished Over.It's by no means the worst game but Not worth the $ or frustration. If you have no problem with $ and have ALOT of patience then go for it.

Have You Read The Game Editiorial?!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: August 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yes, this game appears to be quite excellent, but it is NOT a "Season 8" story. The creators have been telling us the entire time that it will be a lost episode from SEASON 5. Please only post information that you know to be true, otherwise you will lead someone to make the wrong decision.

Not a multiplayer game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I think they did a fine job implying that you could play this game with more than one person. It is only the case if you want to play the rediculous side games, the game itself can only be played solo. The websites description of the game does not specify this, and neither do any of their trailers. Pretty lame.

Garbage game design, good acting and script.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 23
Date: October 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds plays, well, much like an episode of the TV show. The scripting is sharp and the characters lovable, but in terms of a video game, the mechanics and progression of this game are just about rock-bottom.

First the good points: With the involvement of Joss Whedon and a large number of cast members from the show (including Eliza Dushku, James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Stewart Head), it's not surprising that the script and acting are substantially more enjoyable than that of most video games. The voice actress standing in for the absent Sarah Michelle Gellar does a fine job, though Alyson Hannigan's replacement just can't nail that elusive Willow charm. Perhaps they should have tried approaching Amy Acker (Fred in the show Angel) for the role instead? However, I agree with a previous reviewer -- the dialogue is very poorly paced. Huge gaps of air permeate the lines, in direct contrast to the brisk and enjoyable comic timing of the show. I suspect this was because of the overly slow subtitles, which are routinely one to two seconds behind the spoken dialogue.

But if I was having fun watching this game, playing it was another matter. Yep, we have another franchise game whose mechanics were underdeveloped. The camera in this game is horrible, whizzing around and around, blasting 180-degree axial shifts so that your controls get completely reversed. The designers don't seem to realize that in a 3rd-person fighting game, you can't have moves that require both analog-stick and button combinations because the game engine becomes constantly confusing. For example, to execute the multi-hit flying kick, you have to hold up and then hit a button. What if you're facing right instead? This practically means you can only execute this move when you're facing an enemy that's "above" you in the 3-D environment, and with the camera firmly out of your control, that's impossible for the player to orchestrate. And your character moves at about half the speed of your enemies. The moves just don't allow for much player control, and since this game always pits you against at least two (sometimes four or five) enemies at the same time, it feels like every character is fighting like Tara. Oh yeah, and there's no way to break blocking enemies short of using a weapon. So if your weapon broke before a certain fight, you're basically screwed, because later enemies will delightfully block you to death while its comrades beat you to a pulp. Most fights also require that you switch between items in your inventory all the time, and this game has one of the most awkward inventory systems I've seen. Items shift in position as you tap the D-pad, so you always have to look desperately for what you want. Inexcusable.

The levels are overlarge, and incredibly repetitive. I'd thought Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain made you run around a lot, but it's no comparison to this game for backtracking. I finally lost my patience during the "Xander High School" level where after playing the level for an hour and a half collecting UV filters, fumigation bombs, "alien gun" ammo, magic hats, keys, key cards, passwords...only to be unable to beat the final boss of the level. And thanks to the lack of true save points ("continue points" only work until you turn the machine off), I know I'll have to replay the entire dreary level the next time I put this game on. And that is just enough to make me send this game to the second-hand bin.

My last gripe is with the graphics. This game looks like it's one or two generations behind the competition. The cut scenes look cheap and pixellated, as if they'd captured the footage using too low a data rate. To give them some rope, they'd included a good amount of video footage from the making of the game into this disc, so maybe they ran low on storage. The bonus materials, consisting of interviews, voice-over sessions and outtakes of the cast of the game, are a blast and essential viewing for Buffy fans, so perhaps it was a reasonable tradeoff.

So this game really plays more like an unusual edition of the show. While there's fun to be had on that level, as a video game, this one really leaves plenty to be desired.

Back to the bargin bin with ya!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Don't be tempted when you see it in the bargin bin. It's there for a reason. I read reveiws before buying it, but figured for $20 the problems people consistently mentioned couldn't be THAT bad. So, I got this game for my girlfriend who loves the show. I like the show enough that a game based on it interested me.

Good news: The story and dialogue are exactly what a Buffy fan would want from a Buffy game. The ability to play as Sid is great -- except that it only lasts one level. I liked playing as different characters, since playing as Buffy got repetative.

Bad news: The game uses backtracking to increase the amount of time you spend playing. By the zoo level, we lost our patience and found a walkthrough online. I guess we were supposed to know that we had to grab the top of an automatic fence as it lifts up to get to the other side of a room??? Yes, my girlfriend and I got a cheap thrill by 'beating' the game by cheating. By that point we were tired of the game's poor camera and ditzy fighting engine, which makes the game approach 'unplayable' at certain points. In fact, the camera is so disfunctional that it prevents you from even using the many fighting moves that the characters all have. Since the camera was always changing, so were the directions I was supposed to be pushing on the stick.... And don't even get me started about trying to use an item in the middle of a fight -- scrolling thru the inventory while being punched in the head by toothy, spikey demons is as hard -- and annoying -- as it sounds.

Rent this game and spend a week playing it to unlock the extras. It's a shame that the extras are better than the game, but I guess hardcore Buffy fans might not care (though, my girlfriend did).

Fun - but not as thrilling as other reviews imply....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm a little startled by the reviews for this game - because although Chaos Bleeds was fine - its not the fantastic experience that the other reviews imply.

I think some of the reviewers are a little biased because the Buffy name is on it. And I'm a major Buffy fan, so that says a lot.

I think overall the game is good - but it didn't reach its potential. It was cool to see the majority of the actual cast do voice-overs, and some of the graphics are cool, but there are still numerous problems with the game.

There is entirely too much pointless running around. A fair amount of the game is running around places and opening doors.

The inventory system is intolerable. You have to shift weapons during actual game-play - you can't pause the game to shift to a new weapon(s). Ridiculous when you are in actual fight.

There is a time-delay and motion lock with moves. Sometimes character will become 'locked' into a fighting move - so ofttimes you find yourself hitting air or an inanimate object when in a fight. And while this is happening, you are getting whaled on. Again, ridiculous.

Finding clues are a bit obscure. I had to consult a cheat sheet for the last few levels simply so I could complete the game and no spend an inordinate amount of time on a level.

If you are a Buffy fan - its worth checking out - but please take it with a grain of salt. If you are a gamer and not a major Buffy fan - you might not find the payoff all that worth it.

Pretty much what you'd expect from a licensed product -- SPOILER ALERT

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Buffy fans love the TV series because it was a labor of love. Unfortunately, licensed products like video games too often aren't.

/Chaos Bleeds/, for example, has a great story line and universally interesting settings, and the dialogue and cut scenes are very reminscent of the show. The game play itself, however, ranges from okay at best to abysmal at worst. There are too many cases of "guess what the designer was thinking" in solving levels, making for lots of wandering around, trying to use the action key in overly dark corners, hoping to find something you missed and that it might somehow relate to something else you saw three or four chambers before--all while trying to survive endless vampire attacks.

The Adam section is particularly disappointing. For example, in one room, the only way to progress is to use an EMF grenade on the cyborgs, but several rooms before, an EMF grenade has absolutely no effect on an identical cyborg. (There are several such frustrating contradictions of game logic in other places.) And the battle with Adam himself is the worst: Who could have guessed that his only vulnerability would be dropping barrels on his own head? Shades of Donkey Kong!

Finally, the game's ultimate battle left me swearing I'd never buy another Vivendi-produced game again. There just isn't enough control of the character, nor enough cues to the enemy's spellcasting, to make the battle feel like much more than sheer luck. (By contrast, Willow's final battle is probably too easy, which makes it seem TOO mechanical.)

As for multi-player mode, hah!

Still, much of the game provides a sense of welcome visit to the Buffy-verse. If you can get a copy cheap, and you love Buffy, you'll probably find it worthwhile. But as far as games go, there are certainly better ones out there.

Fun Enough, But Could Have Been Better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 41 / 43
Date: September 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

"Chaos Bleeds" is a very entertaining game, with good graphics, a reasonable level of difficulty (if I say that, it probably means hardcore gamers will find it too easy), and mostly good voice acting.

Several of the original cast members provided the voices for the game, which is awesome. Unfortunately, Sara Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Alyson Hannigan (Willow), and Emma Caulfield (Anya) weren't available. Sound-alikes were used, ranging from good (Buffy) to mediocre and affected (Willow) to downright lame (Anya).

Another problem is that the inventory system is a real pain to use. Instead of being able to pause the game and go to an inventory screen, you have to scroll through every item in your inventory to get to the one you want. There are times when you're carrying ten or more things, so this can get really cumbersome.

One last complaint -- the game's multiplayer mode stinks. You can't play the actual *game* multiplayer; instead, there are lame minigames (for lack of a better word) for two players. If they had been good minigames, that might have been cool; but they're not.

Other than that, it's a really good game that should appeal to anyone who likes horror video games, as well as Buffy fans. The characters look like themselves, the dialogue is well-written, and the cutscenes and overall plot are compelling.

The game also has enough extras to put many DVDs to shame, including unlockable interviews and voice-overs from several cast members.

Bottom line: even if you're not a Buffy fan, this game is worth checking out. And if you are a Buffy fan, it's a must.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next 

Actions