Some kind sucker sold me the Buffy the Vampire Slayer PS2 game for less than ten bucks and it's aged surprisingly well

GamesActionBuffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos BleedsSome kind sucker sold me the Buffy the Vampire Slayer PS2 game for less than ten bucks and it’s aged surprisingly wellWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. GamesActionBuffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos BleedsSome kind sucker sold me the Buffy the Vampire Slayer PS2 game for less than ten bucks and it’s aged surprisingly wellWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Sierra Games) “Must be Ash Wednesday!” These are the words Xander Harris speaks after dusting a bad guy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, and they make me deliriously happy. I clock Nicholas Brendon’s dry, sarcastic drawl almost instantly. If anything is going to sell me on a Buffy game, I think to myself as Xander kicks another vamp in the crotch, it’d be hearing the original cast reprising their roles. With the exception of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, the mostly full bingo card of actors kicks things off to a brilliant start.Buffy the Vampire Slayeris perhaps my favorite show of all-time, so in a way, I was destined to adore Chaos Bleeds no matter what. But I didn’t expect the gameplay to still feel fun and satisfying some 21 years on from launch. I’m loving it so much that instead of playing it for an hour of novelty, as I usually might for one of these PS2 throwbacks, I’ve decided to play Chaos Bleeds in full and live out the Buffy beat-‘em-up fantasy I didn’t know I’d been craving. Getting the wiggins (Image credit: Sierra Games) PS2-good(Image credit: Electronic Arts)This PS2 game might just be the best James Bond game ever made, and you’ve probably forgotten all about it PS2-good (Image credit: Electronic Arts)This PS2 game might just be the best James Bond game ever made, and you’ve probably forgotten all about it (Image credit: Electronic Arts) This PS2 game might just be the best James Bond game ever made, and you’ve probably forgotten all about it When I set out to acquire Chaos Bleeds for PS2, it wasn’t without some serious research. I had been toying with picking up Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice for the Nintendo DS, or maybe even Game Boy Advance’s offering The Wrath of the Darkhul King. At one point I was considering getting all three, pitting them against each other to see which holds up the best, but one opinion permeates the fandom: it’s far from perfect, but Chaos Bleeds is the true winner of the bunch when it comes to ultimate slayage. The fact that it only cost me £9.99 for an in-box copy, complete with a manual and collector’s card? Well, that is just the icing on the eBay cake. Three hours in, I’m already impressed. Released in 2003 for Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2, Chaos Bleeds takes place during the series’ fifth season. Story-wise, it’s a relative midpoint for the show. Season 5 sees us recovering from the weirdness of the Initiative storyline, winning points with me for focussing on my favorite character, Spike, despite trying and failing to keep Buffy’s ex-supernatural military boyfriend Riley interesting. It’s also home to the most upsetting episode of all: Joyce Summers' death in The Body. Thankfully, Chaos Bleeds seems to take place before this monumentally depressing moment, and so far, I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of the gloomy love interest. Also, I’m told that surprise sister Dawn is markedly absent in the game, which is a little strange given how her existence as The Key is the crux of BTVS' fifth season. What can’t we do if we’re together? (Image credit: Sierra Games) Chaos Bleeds is the true winner of the bunch when it comes to ultimate slayage. Chaos Bleeds is the true winner of the bunch when it comes to ultimate slayage. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Having made it to the third mission, I’m finding Chaos Bleeds' combination of linear exploration, puzzles, and melee combat an absolute joy so far. The game does a great job offeelinglike Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the quippy barbs dealt between Buffy and her prey to the dramatic musical score. Buffy has always stood out as a show that effortlessly balances light-hearted humor with darker themes of life, death, and the heavy weight of heroism, and Chaos Bleeds pulls it off with such pitch-perfect style that I can forgive the odd bit of pathfinding and puzzle-solving clunk. 20 years later, the combat is fun in its simplicity. Sure, the storyline pales in comparison to the feeling of hearing the actual characters back at it again, but overall, this might be thesecondbest eBay purchase I’ve ever made. Now if you’ll excuse me, Buffy’s on patrol again. 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