Adam Tyner Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 For the home theater crowd, Buffy does have a 16x9 mode this time around on the XBox, and it presumably supports 480p, though I haven't tested that yet. Wow, Willow's voice is terrible. I'm only a couple of minutes in, but I'll post more when I've played it some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 I loved the first game up until the "dream sequence" with the dumb jump puzzles over infinite drops. I'm not buying the sequel until I know for sure there's no repeat of that style of "challenge". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Tyner Posted August 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Did you manage to play through that level? I wasn't all that fond of that aspect either, but the maze that followed was even more excruciating. I'm well into level two on "Chaos Bleeds", and...I dunno, I've found all 5 secrets, but I'm not certain if it'll ever actually end. I don't know if I've ever played a game with this many puzzles in a single level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Nope, never got past the jumps - it was enough to make me throw down the controller in disgust many times, and that was that. I've been meaning to go see if there's a level select code to try & get past it as I *loved* the game upto that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Tyner Posted August 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Some quick impressions: The character models are very inconsistent. Xander and Willow look great in the cut-scenes, but others like Spike are lacking in detail. The cut-scenes are also kind of crudely animated and look kind of awkward at times. In game, the models vary as well. Willow's face has an undetailed, plastic-ish appearance, for example. Also, some of the stances and movement look a bit off as well, such as Spike's very non-threatening appearance when he lurches around with the sword, to name one. There are definitely some camera concerns. In the first level, when I was playing with Spike, there was a creature off-screen (in 'front' of the TV, kind of like where I was sitting) that was hitting me, but I couldn't see him. This is the type of game where before I walk into a room, I have to swivel the camera around to see where the enemies are. They don't make their presence known, at least not as consistently, in quite the same as the first game. I also had a problem intermittently where I'd have several vamps around me, and I'd start mashing buttons really quickly...but if I found myself facing the wrong direction, my character couldn't be reoriented easily in the middle of all the mashing. I took some hits that I probably shouldn't have. And there are other oddities, like being able to stake vampires in the kneecaps (don't remember if this was an issue in the first game), a vibrating screen if a character butted up against a solid object in certain situations, or...to name one random instance, I was punching a vampire, knocked him up on top of a chair, but I couldn't stake him until he got back up, even though I was more or less on level with him. The puzzles were what I found most annoying, though not really to the point of frustration. The weird thing is that the puzzles aren't all that hard or complex, and they're often even kind of obvious, but they still gave me quite a headache. Level two in particular seems to have a dozen different puzzles. It took me almost an hour and a half to get through it, mostly due to aimless running around trying to solve extremely easy puzzles. To rattle off a few examples -- in the first level, Willow finds a key and is told that it opens a cabinet (or something). So I ran up to things that looked like cabinets, kept pressing 'Y', but no luck. I kept scouring. Again, no dice. Then, I decided to rub Willow against the perimeter of the room, pressing 'Y' quickly and waiting for something to eventually open. Still nothing. I think I was on my third or fourth try doing that when I eventually opened the item I had been looking for. When I did it, it looked obvious enough, and I'm surprised I didn't activate it earlier, intentionally or inadvertently. Still, kind of a pain. The items you search for glow slightly, but the places where you put them aren't. There were more moments like that in level two. I forgot where the busted sundial was, so I kept running around and around. It was right in front of me several times, but it didn't stand out enough for it to catch my eye in earlier attempts. Then, I spent a while trying to track down the third piece of the sundial, which was hidden behind a tombstone. It's not always like a lot of games where you get keys by killing certain enemies. At least one of the necessary items was hidden inside a crate, which veterans of the original will be busting open anyway, but that's mildly annoying. One of those items was a valve thingie, which I found before having any idea why I had it or where I needed to put it. The destination didn't take much time or effort to find, but it's not one of those cases where there's a sign that says "Main Valve" and a very noticeable hole where the valve should be. When looking for a missing fuse and the 'key' to opening a triggered lock, I could've sworn I'd pressed 'Y' at least in one or two different attempts in the places where I eventually picked up the items I needed, but for whatever reason, they didn't 'take' before. Maybe I have to be facing a particular angle, maybe I'm just an idiot...I dunno. Buffy does toss out a couple of quips about puzzles and finding keys, which were actually pretty funny. Audio gripe: Ack! Dialogue, both in-game and in the cut-scenes, appears in four speakers at once. Stop it! Or at least it is on my system. Maybe my receiver dislikes me. I made the same complaint about the previous Buffy game, but someone on one of the eight billion forums I read told me I was mistaken. If anyone can verify, it'd be appreciated. Short summary -- I'm not as immediately smitten by "Chaos Bleeds" as I was with Buffy's previous outing on the XBox. The complaints I have now seem bearable at the moment, and I think I'll enjoy it a lot more the second time through when I have a clearer idea of exactly what I need to accomplish...I can actually play the game rather than just run around aimlessly like I have been tonight. I'll have to play it more to really have an opinion firmly cemented. I seem to like it enough for the moment, though, and I'm looking forward to giving the game another spin tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamsappel Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Originally posted by Adam Tyner@Aug 27 2003, 09:18 PM Then, I decided to rub Willow against the perimeter of the room I bet you did. IBTM (In Before The Monkey). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romier S Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 The character models are very inconsistent. Xander and Willow look great in the cut-scenes, but others like Spike are lacking in detail. The cut-scenes are also kind of crudely animated and look kind of awkward at times. In game, the models vary as well. Willow's face has an undetailed, plastic-ish appearance, for example. Also, some of the stances and movement look a bit off as well, such as Spike's very non-threatening appearance when he lurches around with the sword, to name one. Completely agree. Willow is by far the worst offender with Buffy herself getting a bit of downgrade from the previous game. A bit of a disappointment off the bat only to be faced with an even worse enemy than your garden varitey vampire: There are definitely some camera concerns. The camera does not have issues....it has subscriptions. I'm on the 4th level thus far and the most engaging combat I've been in has been with the camera. Constant hitches on the walls around the environment, inability to follow the action on screen, constant readjustment just to get a "behind the back" view which at times you can't even do without major work. The first game did not exactly have the most user friendly camera system but this is a serious step back in my humble opinion. The puzzles were what I found most annoying, though not really to the point of frustration Again I completely agree. The puzzles are very simplistic but require a good bit of backtracking through the environment just to complete. Items dropped on the ground can be difficult to see and the developers intentionally hide some items in difficult to see places (ie behind a grave, tree, etc..). I did not have too much trouble completing the puzzles per se but I couldn't help but feel it was all a bit of a chore. Though to its credit this does get better as the game goes along and the puzzles become a tad less infuriating. Ack! Dialogue, both in-game and in the cut-scenes You've covered the sound format issue now I'll cover the horrendous voice actor they hired to play Willow. Can we say ear shatteringly terrible? She gets worst and worst as the game progresses. Which is ashame because one very big highlight to Chaos Bleeds is Willows ability to cast magic. She is one of the more fun characters to play. A few comments of my own: Eurocom really seems to have "dumbed down" the combo system in the game. The first game was a bit faster but it was really open for experimentation. You could take your time to find different ways to use your moves and create some really stellar looking fights. This game thus far meets the "plentiful" moves quota but it seems..souless.... for lack of a better word. You have many moves available but the chaining abilities of the first game have been reduced almost to nothing. For example: One of my favorite moves in the original game was a three kick combo followed by a bicycle kick and a thrown stake to the heart right after. You could variate that with punches and really have a great time creating the battle. Maybe throw in a holy water splash or hellfire bottle for the hell of it. The combat controls here are less responsive and the bicycle kick is almost impossible to chain into a combo much less attempt to lock on for a splash of holy water. Just in case I was going crazy I threw in the first game and had a go through the first two or three levels and well, I have to say the first is quite a bit more satisfying :? So far I'm disappointed. Mind you my expectations were not high with this one, I'm a Buffy fan and the first is one of those fun action games that suprise you. I'm going to give it more time, hopefully things will improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Sounds like I did the right thing by leaving this on the shelf when I was in preordering the new Rogue Squadron game tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Originally posted by dogbert@Aug 27 2003, 09:27 PM Sounds like I did the right thing by leaving this on the shelf when I was in preordering the new Rogue Squadron game tonight. since when did you get a GameCube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamsappel Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Do we know the reason why The Collective didn't handle this game, too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Originally posted by adamsappel@Aug 27 2003, 10:09 PM Do we know the reason why The Collective didn't handle this game, too? I'm sure it can be sumed up into either a few things: A) Buffy 1 didn't sell well so Vivendi decided to try a diferent developer. The Collective was too busy to do the game when Vivendi wanted to have it do. C) The Collective wanted too much money to do the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFo Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 I must admit that I'm somewhat disappointed to read some of the impressions in this thread. Although I never played the first Buffy game, this new one did interest me a bit. I had hoped that they would have taken the successful elements from the first game and polished them up, bringing them to a new level. Now, it appears as though that has not happened. Well, it looks like another rental for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark E Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 The weird thing is that the puzzles aren't all that hard or complex, and they're often even kind of obvious, but they still gave me quite a headache. Just put a bullet in the head of this game, it's done. One thing that really, really pisses me off is when games have puzzles that are insanely obvious but are stupid-hard to actually figure out. I've got two words for that one: poor design. That really bites, I was hoping that this would be a good title, given that it's now multi-platform and all. Damn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnemaEms Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Well, it looks like another rental for me. Yup, me to Jeffrey. The 1st Buffy game is still one of the best X-box titles. Too bad this one sounds like it is just a shadow of it's predecessor. -Dean- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 since when did you get a GameCube? I didn't, it's getting shipped to a mate back in the UK who wants the preorder disk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Originally posted by adamsappel@Aug 27 2003, 10:26 PM I bet you did. IBTM (In Before The Monkey). I'm honored, sir. I think. I was about to ask whether a new team do this sequel, but a quick scan with my Mk1, Mod 0 Eyeball reveals the answer. Is it a new engine as well? -j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Tyner Posted August 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Originally posted by Robot Monkey@Aug 28 2003, 06:00 PM I was about to ask whether a new team do this sequel, but a quick scan with my Mk1, Mod 0 Eyeball reveals the answer. Is it a new engine as well? -j Yes, it was developed by Eurocom this time around instead of The Collective. I believe I read in an interview somewhere that it was a new engine, despite the very noticeable similarities between the two games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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