Don’t judge a book by its cover on this one. Buffy delivers the goods when it comes to action packed vampire slaying. Based on the TV show that was based on the movie about the latest in the line of slayers, Buffy has been chosen and endowed with extra human power to combat the forces of evil. Ooh…yes, I know, it’s all pretty corny and, if you’ve ever seen the show, you know it’s a rather tongue-in-cheek affair, but this is a great game.
The graphics shine as a testiment to the great eye candy and cool particle effects the Xbox’s graphics card was designed for. The characters are well modeled and pretty well detailed. Everything from vapires to demon dogs look great and animate well. The graphics do a great job of creating the atmosphere of the Sunnydale nightlife.
The sounds are suberb. The ambience is nice and creepy and the music is situational and changes well in time with the onscreen action. The voice acting is true to the show…for all you fans out there. Crisp clean sounds thanks to the great audio processor in the Xbox.
The game plays suprisingly well and that’s what makes the game a worthwhile and fun experience. Controlling Buffy is a breeze and her moves are easy to execute. The easy to impliment combo-system makes for some fierce combat. Kicking the snot out of a vamp, throwing him against the wall and then spinning around to plant a stake in his chest are all well realized and look great, too. For distance attacks, Buffy also has her crossbow. You can also pickup various objects like bats, shovels, rakes and brooms to swat down your foes. The gameplay is so good you won’t feel embarrassed to own a game with the name Buffy on it.
Overall then, the game is great. High production value equals a great looking game, with cool gameplay–and an interesting previously neglected licence make for a game for fans of third-person action/adventure games and for Buffy fans alike. In my opinion, this is the first ‘must have’ Xbox title to come along in quite a while. The difficulty factor is there but it’s not so hard as to be frustrating and not so easy as to be dissapointing. It was hard to put down and I really can’t find a major flaw in it anywhere. If you crave action, make a date with Buffy, she will no doubt show you a good time and make you beg for more.
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