It started as a cult movie of sorts, with Kristy Swanson in the shoes of Buffy, battling the likes of Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens and Rutger Hauer for the fate of the universe. Then it shifted directions, putting Sarah Michelle Gellar in the role and becoming a phenomenal television series. And then, earlier this year, it came to a fitting end, with the Hellmouth getting closed at the hands of the vampire slayer and her crew of friends and vampire killers. Yep, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has had a great legacy for several years now, all at the hands of its creator, Joss Whedon. Fortunately, this guy's been smart enough to make sure the licensed video game has followed suit, as last year's Buffy game for Xbox, done by The Collective, turned out to be a welcome surprise for Microsoft's game library. It was a sweet action game with the kind of puzzles and kick-ass gameplay that fitted the cute vampire killer to a T. Now, a year later, Buffy's back with an all new game, Chaos Bleeds, and, needless to say, Joss' touch can be seen from a mile away, as it's another good game.

This time around, Buffy and company are taking on The First, a group of vicious vampires straight from The Hellmouth (which, of course, exists in this game probably because it takes place before the series finale). There are vampires galore, along with a few other monsters and the man behind it all, the series' own Ethan Rayne, ready to wreak havoc and take down Buffy for good. The storyline was nicely concocted by Joss and a couple of the show's screenwriters, so you know it's faithful to the Buffy universe and not straying off in a direction of nonsense at the hands of an amateur programmer.

With Eurocom at the helm, I was wondering if the same kind of gameplay The Collective cooked up would stay intact. Well, fret not, Buffy fans, for it is still solid. In fact, it's been slightly diversified, as this time around you get more characters at your control. Spike, Willow, Faith (ahhh, Faith), and even Xander get into the mix along with the cheerleader, each with their own unique (if still somewhat similar) attack methods. The single-player game starts you off in a random order with each character so you can get a hang of each of them, and then, after letting you play Buffy for a while, you get to control them again for later missions. Each one has tap-tap combos that work with the press of attack buttons, as well as some special attacks with weapons, like stakes, spears, and whatever else you can pick up. You also have puzzles to solve and items to find, although it's nothing I would consider strugglesome, like spending hours crawling around looking for that last piece of the road map or what have you. No, it's simple pick-up-and-play action, but it still works, especially fine-tuned for this vampire killing pack. Kudos to Eurocom for shaking things up without spilling them over.

The graphics in Chaos Bleeds are faithful to the first game's as well, retaining a solid graphic engine with some good animations here and there, nice detailed environments (those graveyards look damn spooky), good-looking story sequences and some nice little visual effects here and there, especially with Willow's flame attacks. The slowdown is a bit bothersome, but nothing that the GameCube can't overcome as the game progresses. My big problem within the game is the camera, which strays behind the fighter and can be adjusted, but still manages to get stuck in spots and sometimes causes a problem when you're fighting multiple enemies at once. Why couldn't Eurocom have tightened this up a little? Did they think this was the standard? The game still looks good but the lack of a fully functioning camera is about as painful as Spike's breath. At least the game's got 16:9 support, which is cool.

Sound-wise, Buffy fans are in for a treat; or not. The bad news is that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, two of the show's big stars, both took rain checks for voicing their characters, but the good news is their sound alikes, well, sound alike, so that's not too noticeable. Plus, the rest of the voice cast has taken up the task, including James Marsters as good ol' Spike and Eliza Dushku (whose voice could melt a surround sound system) as Faith, among others. The dialogue is excellent, although some quotes by the Buffster get way too repetitive. You can only take so much of the "little pigs" line as you're attempting to open doors...although the "long shaft" comment is pretty funny. The music Eurocom scored for the game is excellent and well-suited for the game, nice orchestral pieces that carry a sense of doom with them. The enemies sound corny, which they should, and the sound effects are typical vampire-killing variety, with some good flame effects and weapon sounds that fit.

The game has plenty of extras to unlock, including some fun-to-watch cast interviews, but the real treat lies in the game's multiplayer options, where a few friends can join in for a number of different games. Bunny Catch is pretty simple, but gets addictive with multiple people, chasing to catch rabbits. Domination is a fun "take your land and keep it" kind of game, sort of like a take on Risk. Survival's kind of cool, but has been done before, where so many players can take on a horde of monsters. The real treat is Slayer Challenge, where one person plays the slayer and the other three people are monsters trying to do the slayer in. It reminded me of that little Pac-Man demo they showed for the GameCube a little while back, where the challenge turns nicely on one player as the other three try to do you in; fun stuff. There's also unlockable characters galore, including Mr. Whedon himself, who holds up, surprisingly as well as Buffy. Of course, I'm sure he had some say in the matter.

Aside from the camera problems and the lack of presence for Gellar and Hannigan, I think something also has to be said for the game's difficulty. Even in hard mode, the game seems a bit like a pushover, allowing you to take on the monsters with very little challenge. Maybe it's just me and my expectations from what I experienced in the first game. Give it a go and see where it fits you.

Overall, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds continues the trend that so many of us missed once the show unfolded in its final moments. It's got a faithful single player mode and the multiplayer options are more fun than you might expect, and it's not often you can pit a heroine against the guy who created her, right? And any game where Eliza's doing her stuff can't be that bad. If you're a Buffy fan or starved for a good actioner, Chaos Bleeds is worth bleeding out the cash for.