Eurocom, Fox Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games are banking on the fact that millions of hungry Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fans, suffering from withdrawal since the show's cancellation, will eat up their upcoming Buffy game, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. Judging from what we've played they might be spot-on in their assessment. Developed by Eurocom for Fox Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games, Chaos Bleeds is being billed as a third-person action game that plays out based on a lost episode of season 5 - set between episode 17 (Forever) and episode 18 (Intervention). The basic storyline is that a new dimensional bleed has been opened by Pure Evil in the real world. Before chaos reigns supreme, Buffy and her friends must battle the vampires, ghouls, and demons straight back to hell using a variety of violent moves, weapons, magic and powers. For fans of the series, this is a grand opportunity to take an active role in a Buffy storyline instead of sitting passively on the couch watching the show. Players get to choose from six different characters with well over 150 different moves, including Buffy - our favorite slayer, Willow - a very friendly Witch, Spike - The blond vampire who loves and hates Buffy with equal measure, Sid - the famous puppet, Zander - the guy who has no powers but manages to stay alive and Faith - the bad girl slayer who makes Buffy look like a snob, but that's not the topic of this article (thank God!).

Eurocom has taken what was great about the first Buffy title and has mixed it up with new and improved physics, navigation, interface, camera and an improved graphics engine (a whole new one, in fact). Eurocom has also thought hard about ways to improve the enemy AI in the game and have done a great job of making the evil creatures a bit more tenacious and clever. Enemies can pick up weapons that you drop and use them on you and now have the ability to find you, even if you're trying to hide… talk about a rough day. One other minor improvement worth noting is the ability to skip past dialogue and get right straight into the action. As much as players might enjoy the Buffy shows, not everyone will care in what direction the story is going. For those that are, you can still enjoy it, but allowing players with no patience for story, this is an important feature.

Chaos Bleeds offers 15 areas to explore ripped directly from the show (with some minor additions here and there). Environments are a bit more interactive in this latest Buffy game because players can use objects scattered about to cause damage to enemies. Much like the first game, breaking objects like tables, chairs, boxes and crates will yield a few rewards like stakes and fixed structures like spikes can be used to impale enemies if the right fighting techniques are used. While the level of interaction hasn't risen to epic proportions, it's been improved enough to be noticeable.

Obviously the heart and soul of the Buffy: The Vampire series is fighting and Chaos Bleeds doesn't skimp on it - ultimately that's what the game is all about when you strip away the story and the glitzy voice acting. Chaos Bleeds adds a number of new power moves to the game including combos, slayer moves, magic and a number of new fighting moves that should offer enough variety to play one or more characters in the game. While the focus is still on the queen of the Slayers, players will want to try out the rest of Buffy's gang just for check out their special and unique fighting styles. One fighting move that fans of the series will be delighted about the most is the ability to quick draw a stake with a single-button click - perfect for making quick work of those pesky vamps that just don't know when to quit. Of course, there are the basic moves that players will appreciate (beyond the combos, slayer powers and magic) like punches, kicks, jumps, blocks, and evasion. Chaos Bleeds offers a nice mix of moves for Buffy and all her friends that should give it an extra boost in the replay department.

The multiplayer game offers four modes of play. There's Survival, which lets four players slug it out against each other until only one person is left standing; Bunny Catcher - a mode that revolves around Anya's fear of rabbits; Slayer Challenge, a hardcore gauntlet-esque killfest ; and Domination - a king of the hill-flavored mode that takes place in a pentagram - for atmosphere, of course. Chaos Bleeds also offers over 24 playable unlockable characters that can be used in multiplayer - in case you want a change of pace from Buffy and her gang.

Chaos Bleeds also features voice work for the key characters, recorded using the show's original cast and the full creative cooperation and collaboration of the show's creators. That in and of itself is probably enough to grab the attention of any hardcore Buffy fan, but the gameplay is certainly solid enough to be enjoyed by non-Buffy fans as well. Eurocom has created a pretty a slick game from scratch, and when combined with an original story, cool gameplay mechanics and the collaboration of folks from the show (bot in front of the camera and behind the scenes). You'd really have to be a shambling zombie to not be excited about this game.