Dom Robinson reviews

for Xbox

Distributed by
Fox Interactive

At least they all look right and many of her usual haunts are here, including her high school, Angel's mansion and The Bronze, but what does strike you quite early on is how the gameplay is almost entirely derivative of the Tomb Raider series. You run, jump, climb up and fight the baddies, although it is largely well-blended into the Buffy ambience, the climbing onto ledges suffering because it just involves running up to them, not pressing a button to climb. The graphics aren't quite as perfect as they could be, as there are some jaggies where there shouldn't be and it just doesn't look as polished as it could be. Also, the game is only presented in 4:3, so any cut-scenes are letterbox and not anamorphic. However, there is good attention to detail when it comes to the walls fading to reveal where you are behind them, so you don't lose yourself within the scenery and I do like the way the scenery spins round but doesn't always face forwards for you. While you can correct this yourself easily, I prefer to hit out in all directions if I'm surrounded rather than keep retraining the camera every time I turn to hit someone.

Soundwise things are better, with spooky noises all over the shop in Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as brilliant ambience from the background soundtrack. The gameplay is, well, like Tomb Raider, except that here the baddies can nick the weapons from you when you drop them, eg. a rake. Also, if you think the game isn't saving your position, it does - it autosaves between levels. When you come to reload the last saved game, you choose "resurrect", given the theme here. And for those not familiar with the ins and outs of the show, first choose "Buffy History 101" to get up to speed. Overall, I'd say rent this first before you buy, given that it's not the most original game and, as such, it'll mainly have long-term appeal only for fans of the programme.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2002.