Buffy the Vampire Slayer XBOX

[seqiro]

If you are a fan of the show and a fan of action games, this game is for you!

I've been playing it for a couple of days now as time permits and I have to say that this is one of my favorite XBOX titles. Imagine killing vampires by staking, squirting them with holy water, shoving them into a branch, throwing them into the sun, breaking a boarded up window to let the sun come in and cook them, and more.

You can pick up a rake and start beating enemies over the head with it. After a while, it breaks and turns into a spear. A little while later that breaks and turns into a stake. Many of the moves are just like in the TV show if you can pull them off using combos like a fighter.

My biggest peeve is the save system. It auto saves at certain points, but sometimes those points are too far apart and if you die, you get to do a whole lot of stuff all over again. On a hard drive based system, it seems like they could have come up with something a little friendlier, but I guess it just means you get to play more.

Control is very good, although aiming the crossbow is difficult for me because i'm used to games where the Y axis is inverted. There doesn't seem to be a way to change one element, but instead you can choose between three different configurations.

The models look fantastic and the voices were all performed by the actual actors with the exception of Buffy. Her voice double is pretty good, although despite most of the reviews I've read which claim she is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, I would say it is quite obviously not Sarah Michelle Gellar. The voice is similar but she just speaks differently. Still, it doesn't detract from the game.

The visual effects are very well done. When you run down the hall with a torch, burning embers fly off of it much like you'd expect. The vampire "dusting" looks very much like the effect used in the show.

Overall the game is very faithful to the TV show and shouldn't be a disappointment to fans of the show OR action/fighting games. As a fan of both, I am very pleased.

[sbp]

Thanks for your thoughts on the game seqiro.