If you ever wanted to be Buffy, now's your chance.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 2002 Beat 'em Up for the Xbox developed by The Collective, published by Electronic Arts, and featuring all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast save Sarah Michelle Gellar. Taking place between the third season episodes "Revelations" and "Lover's Walk" (the gang knows Angel's back, but Xander and Cordelia are still together), it centers on yet another bid to revive The Master, with Spike being forced to help because Dru is held hostage. It was followed by a sequel, Chaos Bleeds, which has slain foes Back from the Dead as Ethan Rayne challenges The First Evil to a contest, using The Scoobies as his champions in a bid to become a chaotic god.
In the game we find the following tropes:
- Adaptational Badass: While the Master was never a wimp, in the first game, he has suddenly gained such powers as teleportation and telekinesis.
- Always Wanted to Say That: Willow gets the chance to say "Aye aye, captain".
- Back from the Dead: The main plot of the game is to do this with The Master.
- Badass Normal: Xander is easily as capable fighter as Buffy, Faith or Spike.
- Book Ends: The central villains of the two games are respectively the key antagonists from the show's first and final seasons: the Master in the first game, and the First Evil in Chaos Bleeds.
- Breakable Weapons: Most weapons have limited durability. Wooden weapons can be broken down into stakes, and stakes will eventually break as well.
- Buffy Speak: Naturally, in regards to crystals."A sparkly thingy, to add to my collection of sparkly thingies".
- Call-Back: Loads and loads of them, from Spike flipping the V at Angel to Xander's love spell to Buffy freaking at the idea her mother will be raised from the dead to Faith borrowing Willow's "bored now" Catchphrase. When Cordelia goes on about Angel being evil Angel will address this, commenting on shouldering the crimes he had committed and trying to work towards redemption. This would be shown in greater detail when the two characters become the leads in Angel's show. Part of Spike's Heel–Face Turn is also due to him being as against the game's Big Bad's plans as he was against Angelus unleashing Acathla to destroy the world.
- Continuity Nod:
- Xander makes fun of Drusilla having the hots for him. Spike angrily replies it was due to the love spell he created when he wanted to get back at Cordelia in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".
- When Angel becomes involved, all the Scoobies question whether he might go evil again. When The Master possesses him they discuss trying to restore Angel, or the possibility Buffy might have to kill him.
- When Spike makes his appearance, Buffy is furious he went back on the deal they had in "Becoming".
- One of Buffy's one-liners is "Oh look, a bad guy".
- Demonic Possession: The demons Spike works for does this to Dru to force his cooperation, and The Master takes control of Angel as a host. The
Wangst over the idea that Buffy might kill him is surprisingly toned down. - Eldritch Abomination: Laibach of the Abyss.
- Elite Mooks: Common garden variety vampires are surprisingly dangerous when compared to demons.
- Enemy Chatter: And thanks to the limited voice samples it can get real old real fast. A quick application of pine to a vampire's chest however will mean you only have to hear Buffy yap.
- Enemy Mine: Spike finally gets fed up with working for the vamps trying to bring back The Master and turns to the Scoobies to offer aid in exchange for releasing Dru.
- Evil Twin: Buffy has to fight one.
- Gargle Blaster: The mother of them all: Faith finds hellfire vials (think Molotov cocktails) and muses about drinking it like beer.
- Giant Mook: Giant vampires who hit like a truck. Forget about going into the inventory during their killing move, after knocking Buffy down they can crush her under their boot in a second.
- Giant Spider: Come in two sizes. The small ones are bigger than the ones in Australia, the larger ones are as big as Buffy.
- He Knows About Timed Hits: The beginning of the game has Giles put Buffy through basic training.
- Hollywood Torches: Buffy can carry a torch to illuminate her surroundings in dark areas as well as burn through spider webs, and light enemies on fire.
- Locked Door: Found in abundance. Doesn't make a lot of sense since one of Buffy's powers is Super-Strength and the doors don't appear particularly strong. There are, however, some doors here and there that can be kicked down.
- Opening Narration: The video game expands on the one given above, retaining Giles as a narrator:In a time when the world was young and demons ran unfettered across the face of the earth. The powers that be chose a young woman, one girl in all the world to combat the forces of darkness. Upon her death, the power passed to another and another. Down over the millennia with each inheriting the power of her predecessor. The power of the Slayer.
- Poison Mushroom: Spiders like to hide in crates.
- Power Walk: The gang (and Spike) walking into the foundry after making a door with a molotov cocktail gets used in its version of the opening sequence as the group shot.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: The upgraded Reaper Blade can be used in this manner.
- Put on a Bus: Oz doesn't make an appearance in the game, with the characters commenting that he's on tour with the Dingoes.
- Rewarding Vandalism: Destroying crates, furniture, headstones and the like will often reveal items, or makeshift stakes.
- Shout-Out: The game's music during quiet, investigative scenes resembles the library and Sedgewick Hotel music in Ghostbusters (1984).
- Shown Their Work: The amount of work put into the games is amazing.
- Sniper Rifle: Buffy can zoom in on unaware vampires and score a One-Hit Kill from afar with a crossbow if she can listen to their heartbeat and nail them.
- Standard Female Grab Area: When Willow is taken from the Bronze early in the game, she's dragged around this way. Of course, this is back when she was a shy, bookish high school student with no magical training.
- Status Effects: As you progress through the game vampires will have this ability to stun Buffy, which is kinda like the thrall powerful vampires like The Master and Drusilla have. Some demons have something similar.
- Super Drowning Skills: Buffy, slayer of vampires, able to take on hordes of demons, clearly cannot swim.
- Tempting Fate: Buffy does this at The Bronze. Xander doesn't even get to finish lambasting her for it before vampires attack.
- That Came Out WrongBuffy: While everyone bones up on sigils and resurrection, I'll head over to the mansion and bone up on Angel... That so did not come out right.
- Title Sequence: After Giles gives a brief rundown of the plot we get a remade game version of the titles, although they goof in having the traditional Power Walk and shot of Buffy switched around.
- Trick Arrow: Buffy can trick out her crossbow bolts with Hellfire or Holy Water.
- The Voiceless: Drusilla appears, but has no lines. Presumably they couldn't get Juliet Landau or find a decent replacement.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Spike is the first major boss fight in the game. This is the first fight that really forces you to conserve your health elixirs and focus on tactics and Slayer powers.
- Waxing Lyrical:
- One of Buffy's one-liners is "Oops, I did it again".
- One of the vampires wishes they could all be California Girls.
- Weakened by the Light: Due to the level in Angel's mansion taking place in daylight, the vampires Buffy encounters there can be easily dispatched by breaking open the boarded-up windows.
- What Does This Button Do?: Super-Strength is the only thing that saves Buffy from electrocution when she gets a little curious about a shorting out and sparking control panel. On the plus side the shock sending her through a window gets her exactly where she needs to go.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Spike begins reading out an incantation to summon a demon, before turning to the vampires he's working for and asks who writes this dross.
- Written-In Absence: Oz does not appear in the game even though it took place while he was still a member of the Scooby gang. It's Handwaved by Willow saying he's out of town with the rest of Dingos Ate My Baby at a gig.
