98. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Xbox, 2002)
Into every generation a Slayer is born…
Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies must work together to fight vampires and demons throughout Sunnydale after an ancient being named Laibach uses the vampires Spike, Drusilla and Malik to do his bidding.
The players control Buffy, who must kick, punch, and slay her way through 13 levels while relying on her friends for help and using her “Slayer Power” to make her town safe again.
This is the only exclusive game from Xbox that made my list. I have just not been a fan of the system. I am, however, a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So, I bought an Xbox for this game and figured I would try Halo as well. Buffy was easier for me to get on board with and has stuck with me for years. Halo did nothing for me, I know, I know, I am in the minority. In fact, I wouldn’t buy another Xbox game until Conker: Live and Reloaded in 2005…
Buffy perfectly captured the spirit of the show. By using writers who have worked on the show and getting most of the cast to voice their roles, the biggest omission, however, is Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy. Giselle Loren, who did voice Buffy, did a remarkable job getting the cadence of Gellar down.
The gameplay was tight and never boring or monotonous; the game chugged along to a satisfying conclusion.
Graphics
The 3D models look really close to their small-screen counterparts. The environments are also very Buffy-esque, and the whole presentation looks like a video game representation of the show.
Sound
It’s easy to miss Gellar as Buffy, but as I mentioned before, Loren does a great job sounding just enough like her. The rest of the main cast is pretty much intact, which lends credibility to the project. The music and the sound effects are on point.
Gameplay
When fighting demons, zombies, and vampires, you need tight controls. Buffy delivers those. The world is easy to move around in, and the camera isn’t too finicky for a game made in 2002.
Fun Factor
Sometimes, established and beloved IPs are not given the respect they deserve. That is not true for Xbox’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The game perfectly captures the tone and the fun of the show, and what’s more fun than killing a bunch of vampires as one of TV’s greatest heroes?
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