Chaos Bleeds is a third-person action game that offers a storyline that is pieced together like a lost episode of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series. Players don the role of Buffy and the "Scooby Gang" through eleven long levels utilizing each characters' unique fighting skills to battle vampires and the undead. If you played the previous Buffy game then Chaos Bleeds won't feel too much dissimilar. Basically you have a few different strikes (punches and kicks), the use of items and added to the game for the sake of sanity and convenience - a stake button -- good for quickly selecting a stake and dispatching any nightstalker stupid enough to get in your way. The game also offers a handful on interesting weapons that players can pick up along the way and use like swords, crossbows and other disposable goodies (shovels, spikes, etc) which offer a bit more of hit then a kick to the face. While many of the other characters in the game use kicks and punches, Willow uses magic, which she learns along the way - despite being considered the weakest of the bunch, Willow is quite a formidable character - perhaps even more powerful than Buffy. Unfortunately you don't get to choose who you play in the single player storyline - each character is connected to an important part of the storyline. Liking all the characters or at least learning how to play them, is important to liking the game as a whole. If you hate Willow and find yourself stuck with her for an entire level, then bad times are ahead for you.
The gameplay is laid out in an interesting way - the action switches from one character to the next, while allowing the story to flow as it goes. You'll play Buffy in one sequence, complete your goal (getting through the portion of the level alive) and then switch to Willow. The game is all about fighting, and you can expect to do a lot of it in Chaos Bleeds. Enemies are thrown at the player as they progress through the game in small groups (usually three to four at a time, sometimes more). The enemies range from your garden variety vampires (mal and female of varying shapes and sizes), zombies, bosses and the occasional undead animal.
The controls work well for the game and players will find themselves mashing a whole lot of buttons to survive. Chaos Bleeds is definitely better suited to folks that enjoy button mashing fighting games, because the faster you are, the better off you'll be when it's all said and done. The controls are pretty decent, but the camera needs some work - it doesn't always center on the action and sometimes ends up in positions that just aren't helpful to the player. It would have been nice if the camera could be locked into a specific position instead of having to constantly rotate it manually. Luckily the camera can't stray too far out of whack, but it can be a little nerve wracking when you can't see what you are fighting.
The overall presentation is fun, but some of the voice acting comes off as a little forced, and the facial animation seems a bit constrained. Buffy fans will appreciate the voice acting, the storyline and all of the characters that make cameos in the game. I'm not sure that the story is as good as a real Buffy episode but it'll be a fun thing to follow for the diehard Buffy aficionado.
One of the biggest complaints I have with the game is that it doesn't allow you to save anywhere. The game uses a save point system whereby you make it to that location and have the ability to start from that point. This is not the kind of game that should have this kind of limitation and hardly motivates the player to continue through tougher areas because they will find themselves pouring over the same situations again and again and again ad nauseam. Having to repeat an area over and over again is not a feature, it's a punishment.
Finally Chaos Bleeds offers several multiplayer modes that allow you to go freestyle and fight up to three frinds. The multiplayer is a nice touch and offers the fast paced fighting without the save points and story to bog you down. The multiplayer is a nice edition to the game, and gives two or more players something to do besides watch you play the game. Overall a nice extra that fits in well with the game.
Chaos Bleeds offers a lot of extras for fans of the series that you can unlock and enjoy, the storyline ties in with previous episodes of the show and most of the voice acting is pretty interesting. For Buffy fans that love third-person fighting action games, Chaos Bleeds will be well received, but for fans coming into the series without thought or care for the role that made Sarah Michelle Gellar a star, this game may not be so appealing and comes off as just another beat 'em up with some supernatural elements thrown in for fun. Overall Chaos Bleeds is an okay action game for the average Joe Gamer, and an outstanding collection of extra baubles for fans of the series still lamenting its demise.
