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Greg Goodrich of Vivendi Universal Games. - Chaos Bleeds' Executive Producer interviewed.
Meeting the challenge
What challenges were involved in giving the game the genuine Buffy feel?
With the level of support we received from 20th Century Fox and from Mutant Enemy Productions it was quite simple actually.
The game was written by Buffy comic book writers Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski as a lost episode from season five. It actually takes place between the episodes Forever and Intervention, shortly after the death of Buffy's mom and prior to Spike's Buffybot.
Eurocom took the script and did an amazing job of developing the game to feel like you are actually playing an episode from the show. More importantly, if you've never seen a single episode of Buffy, the game stands on its own as a great action game with over 150 fighting moves and combinations, and over twenty weapons for the six playable characters in the single player game alone.
Puzzling times
What's behind the increase in puzzles since the last game?
The first game was certainly fun, but we found that most people felt that it was extremely repetitive. This was the result of having a game where 95 percent of the gameplay was staking vampires.
Our number one goal in Chaos Bleeds was to extend the gameplay and make it feel more like an action adventure than simply a button masher. That is why we extended the playable characters from one to six and doubled the amount of moves and combinations.
There is an adventuring component to the game that was absent in the first, and I'm not talking about the simple "find the key open the door puzzles." In Chaos Bleeds you may need to open a door, but this time around it's more about creating alternate routes, like using dynamite to blow through walls or combining objects to create a device to pass through obstacles.
Expert opinion
Tell us about the process of working with the game's scriptwriters.
Chris and Tom have an incredible amount of knowledge of the Buffy universe as authors of the official Watcher's Guidebooks and novelizations, and series regulars on the comic books.
It was important to create a story that lent itself to good gameplay and not create a disk full of non-interactive cinematics. First and foremost this had to be a great game and they understood that from the very start.
I think we've hit a perfect balance between story and gameplay. The character switching in Chaos Bleeds makes sense to the story and is not an arbitrary thing. Furthermore, each of the main characters may face obstacles in the game in the form of "bosses" but the cool thing about having such a strong story is that each of these obstacles are as emotionally tough as they are physically tough for each of the characters. This is not something you normally encounter in games.
What's your feeling about the place of narrative in games generally?
Generally, to tell you the absolute truth, I'd rather have a great game with no story than a terrible game with a great narrative. When I want a truly great story, I'll read a book instead of play a game.
A game has to be really great regardless of the characters. Chaos Bleeds, at its heart, is a great fighting game and a great action and adventure game regardless of the story.
Our game rates just as high with people who have never watched a single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As a matter of fact, on a few occasions we've created new fans. Just recently someone told me they went straight to the store and purchased the entire collection of Buffy episodes on DVD after playing our game.
Character choice
What led you pick the characters who appear in the game?
The characters were a simple choice, considering we are in the latter half of season five.
I'm sure most Buffy fans out there will immediately say, "But wait, Faith was in prison during season five". Well, we broke her out because she was a unanimous choice for everyone.
As for Sid, who wouldn't want to play a three-foot tall ventriloquist's puppet made of wood? You'll understand why we included him the moment you start playing the game. There are also a number of long dead enemies and forgotten foes that make an appearance. That is the great thing about dimensional "bleeds". You can do pretty much whatever you like.
Distinguishing features
How does this game distinguish itself from the first one?
We've taken everything that was wonderful about the first game and expanded upon it for Chaos Bleeds, from the number of playable characters, the number of moves and combinations, to the number of weapons and enemies.
This game is much, much more expansive than the first Buffy game. Beyond that, it looks better, it plays better and is a much more balanced and feature-rich game. We've also included an expansive multiplayer component.
And for kicks, we've also squeezed in over an hour of DVD-style bonus content on the disc that includes cast and creator interviews, making-of footage, outtakes and bloopers, cast photo galleries, and the Chaos Bleeds comic book adaptation from Dark Horse Comics that was also written by Chris and Tom as a prelude to the game.
We certainly couldn't have done any more to make this the definitive Buffy game for the fans.
Multiplayer mayhem
Tell us about the multiplayer modes - especially Bunny Catcher!
Chaos Bleeds' multiplayer component that includes four different modes of play, four arenas per mode and twenty-four unlockable characters (both good and evil) to play. The game supports up to four players (with the use of the multi-tap on the PS2).
The four different multiplayer modes are Survival, Bunny Catcher, Slayer Challenge and Domination. There are also sixteen different Quake-style pick-ups to grab in each mode, varying from things like Speed, Double Damage and Invulnerability to Controller Confusion, Point Swap and The Chosen One.
That's a pick-up that allows you to tag another opponent and start a countdown towards death. The Chosen One in turn must tag someone else before the time reaches zero and instant death occurs.
Star sounds
How did you find working with the stars of the show on the voice recordings?
Everyone was quite wonderful. James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Nicholas Brendon and the others (I say others not to spoil the surprise) were all great.
Amber Benson was especially wonderful and provided us with one of the most insightful Buffy interviews ever. Eliza Dushku also was kind enough to come in and perform her voice and was responsible for making Faith one of the coolest characters in the game.
Firing on all cylinders
What did you find the most fun about working on the game?
Working with Eurocom was probably one of the best experiences I've had working with an external developer. They are some of the most intelligent and talented people I've come across in the last ten years I've spent in this industry.
It is a rare thing that when things go so extremely well, and the development team hits on all cylinders, that the product seems to develop itself. It happened with Chaos Bleeds.
I can't wait for this product to hit the shelves. We've created a game that everyone can enjoy, even if you've never watched a single episode of the show. And as for the fans, well, they ought to be extremely excited because we've just given them everything they've ever wanted in a Buffy game.
How do you feel about producing a Buffy game just as the show itself ends?
To me this is only the beginning. Buffy is indeed coming back this fall on the PS2, Xbox and GameCube. All you need to do is decide which controller you like the best!