Willow and Tara in video Game

[kajo 2000]

feena191: Thanks for bringing over Chris's reply to my message.



I'm not really sure what to make of it. Does it make it OK that we get both good and bad Tara in the same game? The main part that bothers me is Willow having to fight an evil vampire that looks like Tara.



It sounds as if most of the good Willow/Tara stuff has been cut, which would have been my main interest in purchasing the game.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[xita]

Thanks kajo for asking and feena for bringing the answer and to Chris for his quick response.



I can say honestly I've lost all my enthusiasm for this game. I don't intend to play a willow who has to fight a tara, any tara. Like Kajo said, my interest was the w/t interaction and if most of that has been cut then it really doesn't sound worth it to me. Too bad.

[WebWarlock]

Thanks once again to the intrepid Kitten News Network.



Yeah my desire for this game has also sank. If I see it at a used game store in a few years then maybe I'll pick it up. Or play it at Walmart.



As much as I would like to support something that Amber, Chris and Aly contributed to, this won't be it. I'll go buy another Chris Golden book instead.



As soon as screen caps are availble I am sure they will be here.



Any chance we could get Chris to share what he wrote?



Warlock

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

[kajo 2000]

Chris and I have exchanged messages again and he has provided a bit more detail regarding the game:

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Thanks Katherine. Just to be clear, I don't think that MOST of the good W/T stuff has been cut. But some of the sweetest moments did end up being left on the cutting room floor, so to speak, much to my great sadness. Anyone who's read my W/T comics, or Wisdom of War, or even Monster Island, knows how I feel about the characters. As for Willow fighting Tara . . . come on!



It's ABOUT how much they love each other. If you want, check out the upcoming comic book PREQUEL to the game to see how Tom and I handled it. We absolutely positively did not make Tara evil. Tara's still there. Instead, what we've done is given Willow a chance to feel what it would be like if such a thing were to happen. If it's hurtful to experience for the audience, well, it's meant to be. But only as a reminder of how strong their love actually is. Trust me when I say that the other playable characters are also forced to face opponents that speak to their own darkest fears.

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If anything, he's only put me off the game even more now - especially the "If it's hurtful to experience for the audience, well, it's meant to be" comment. He must have been listening to Joss too much.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 5/20/03 8:59:11 am

[sprhrgrl]

With all of this I keep going back to how much I trust Amber and hope that her participation in it all was for the good. . .

sprhrgrl.com

she's my everything

racism=sexism=homophobia

The truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off. - Gloria Steinem

[xita]

I want to trust Christopher and Amber and maybe under a different context it would be ok. I just think that give what we have gone through and given what has said about us having to experience Willow's loss , I am going to be skipping this. Joss also said it was about showing how strong that love is, well I think there are other ways. I might look at the novel since I know there will be more w/t moments there than in the game, but I don't know. It's extremely disheartening given that some of the sweetest moments have been cut. It's typical and god I am tired of it. I can't wait till technology allows us to make our own w/t games and we can render those things easily.

[drlloyd11]

I'll go to the source..

I'll find out .

I will..

Cause this info is out of sync with what CG told me to my face.

Edited by: drlloyd11 at: 5/20/03 10:54:31 am

[kajo 2000]

I really don't know what to think. Chris and Amber have always been so supportive of W/T. Maybe Chris is just describing the game badly and it actually plays better than it sounds.



I just don't understand why someone can't devise a game where Willow and Tara fight on the same side (the side of good), with Tara portrayed as an equal partner to Willow and not relegated to the background, as she so often was on the TV series and in most of the "Buffy" novels.



That is the sort of game that I would definately want to buy.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[WebWarlock]

Makes you wonder how many sales have been lost on the bungled press release alone.



Again. I trust Chris and Amber, but I'll give this one a pass.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

[drlloyd11]

duh!

I havent got my reply yet but..

The game is about an alternate evil wish verse bleeding over into our world.

I would keep the faith on this kids, I know I bring nothing but bad news, but keep the faith on this until cg mails me back.













from mr golden (thanks to kajo)

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It seems to me that whoever interviewed Greg for that piece both A) misconstrued some things he said and B) didn't get the whole story. The game is DEFINITELY NOT season seven. What he was saying is that it was difficult for us to keep up with the changes the show made to the mythology surrounding the First because they kept adding to it in season seven, altering what we knew. We had chosen The First as our major villain long before anyone knew that the character was going to be the final Big Bad.



As for the vampire Tara thing, damn but I wish he had not announced that. It's really a shame. In any case, do you see a vampire Tara in the game? YES. But it isn't what you're thinking and I believe in context with what else is going on, when you see what the other characters are dealing with, you'll understand. Is TARA in the game . . . normal human Tara? Yes. Absolutely. Is she in there anywhere NEAR as much as I'd like? No. Not that she was ever intended to be a part of most of the action scenes, but there was an entire level where she played a MUCH larger role in our original script than she does now. She's still involved in several levels/scenes and she still plays a role in that level (this is normal, human, sweet, loving Tara we're talking about), but some of the best stuff we wrote for her and Willow ended up being cut by the game folks both for time (we went a little overboard on the dialogue, heh) and because of the technical difficulties involved in some of the things we wanted to do.



Rest assured, though, she's definitely there. Amber recorded her voice, and because of the circumstances of how it plays out in the story, Amber had a great time playing it both ways.

Edited by: Warduke at: 5/20/03 1:43:04 pm

[kajo 2000]

Chris Golden has posted another reply to me on his message board - so it might be partly my fault for his delay in replying to drlloyd11's e-mail:

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Katherine, let me first say that in no way am I trying to convince you to buy the game. It is, first and foremost, a video game. Are there things I wanted in the game that aren't there? Absolutely. Not just W/T things . . . LOTS of things that were cut because there wasn't the time or technology for them to be included, and some things that were cut because the producers and game designers thought they would slow the action down.



Also, it is a BUFFY game, NOT a W/T game. I would LOVE to write a W/T game that was all "two hot magic chicks in action" . . . ummm, video game, fighting, playing action, not, y'know . . . anyway . . . That isn't this game. It was decided, from the beginning, which characters would be playable. While Tom and I had a say, we weren't the ones to make that decision. The playable characters are (with one fun, goofy exception) the MAIN characters. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike. Much as Tara might be vitally important and wonderfully fascinating to you and to me, to the powers that be and the viewership at large, she's more in Anya's league than in Faith's or Willow's.



Again, I hope you'll hold judgment until you've had a chance to gauge what we've actually done. And also again, I am in no way attempting to get you to buy the game. Video games cost a lot of money. You either want it or you don't. I think anyone who likes Buffy and likes games is going to love it. But, that said, did we get as much Tara as we'd like? Nope. In fact, to be honest, I think we were lucky to be able to get her in there at all. (Dawn's nowhere to be seen.)



Rest assured, however, that we dealt with her the same way we and I always have.



(On a side note, you might like to know that there are lots of "unlockable" characters who you can play AS in, as I understand it, arena levels . . .possibly in the main game too, though I have no idea how that sort of thing works. I assume this includes Tara, though I don't know for certain.)

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[xita]

It's disappointing. I'll wait on a kitten's word on this. In some ways better no Tara than the expectation of good bits of Tara and getting vamp Tara. That's my opinion. I trust them, I do but bleh that's a tough call.

[drlloyd11]

Well you get both good and bad Tara. I am willing to trust CG and Amber, since they seem to be on our side.

Still planning on getting it.

[sam7777]

I'm also dissappointed by the latest news on the game. CG's statement: "If it's hurtful to experience for the audience, well, it's meant to be" really gives me the willies. Sounds too much like Joss for my comfort level.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[kajo 2000]

This appears to be Tara in the game.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[xita]

Oh, it's tempting. She looks good.

[the vamp nurd]

nice.

Willow (with pointy ears): "NO kissing and gay love?!!!! That's illogical!" The Sci-Fi Bard W/T trekkie ramblings.



Bardlet no #27



"Why Mother because I won't be baking cookies for the mental patients at the county Hospital?" Alex It's In The Water

[Avern1]

Kat are you sure that is Tara ? I dont be critical, but Tara has alltimes long hairs.....

[xita]

looks like it is in a ponytail

[kajo 2000]

Avern1: No. I am not 100% sure it is her because none of the images have captions describing who they are. That is why I said it "appears" to be Tara.



But the facial features look similar to Tara's and I don't know who else it could be (it doesn't look like Buffy, Faith or Anya). Maybe her hair is actually long but she has it tied back? You can't see the back of her head to make sure.



Like I said, I think it's supposed to be Tara but I'm not absolutely certain that it is. I may be wrong.





Edited to add: I asked Chris Golden about this and even he doesn't seem totally sure:

Quote:

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Katherine, I don't see any of these images any earlier than you do, but I think that's probably Tara. Looks like Amber at least somewhat. As for the "hair up" thing, the controversy started with Faith already. Unfortunately, with video games you'll find that female characters nearly always have their hair up or short, because they simply can't animate it right yet. If it was down, when she moved you would see it cutting through her shoulders and things like that. So . .. is this Tara? Probably.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 5/22/03 2:49:08 pm

[SJ]

Looks great,probably is Tara

[kajo 2000]

There is a review of the game at IGN:

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Previews

E3 2003: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Hands-On

The sequel to one of the better games of last year is looking good

May 13, 2003

by Hilary Goldstein



When last we left Buffy Summers she was staring in a lost episode from Season Two, conveniently titles Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Skip ahead a year now as the next game in the franchise is set to hit stores this fall with the lovely subtitle of Chaos Bleeds. This one serves as a lost episode of Buffy Season Five, so you get Spike as a good guy and there's no Angel in sight. The good thing is, Willow's a full-on witch now.



Chaos Bleeds is incredibly similar to the Xbox Buffy in terms of control, interface, and look. In fact, anyone who's played that version should have no trouble picking this one up and kicking some vampire ass. Buffy can break chairs for some nice table leg stakes just as before and can use her awesome slayer powers for good (never evil).



But Buffy is so much more than that this time around. After defeating a few vamps inside of a small house, a cut-scene shows Willow and Xander coming in to talk Scooby business. From the sound of things, the original voice actors are all there, minus Sarah Michelle Gellar. Yeah, that's cool, but not as cool as when the cut-scene ends with Willow having been left in the house to search for a vital clue. Yes, Willow is all alone and you are controlling her.



Willow has only a fireball spell at first, which can be performed by hitting A twice. She learns more spells as the game goes on, I'd assume, but the fireball is quite nice. Flaming a vamp instantly incinerates him. But magic isn't free and must be regained by sucking up the essence left by fallen foes.



New moves for Buffy and the enemies are in there, including baddies who will simply throw you to the ground with one easy shove. New animations, new moves, and new slayer powers - yeah, that's what we wanted.



Visually, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds looks cleaner than the previous version. There's a difference in the textures that is subtly off from the last version, but it does look better.



Outlook



Chaos Bleeds shares enough from the original Buffy and enough new stuff that it should please both fans of the series and the video game franchise. I'm definitely looking for more of this one and so should you.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 6/7/03 12:38 am

[drlloyd11]

feeling better about this.

[JJtheCool]

Willow looks nice, too.

JJtheCool

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*Sigh*

[kajo 2000]

From BBC Cult:

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Golden on new Xbox game

26 May 2003



Christopher Golden, co-author of the Buffy Xbox game, revealed how he became involved in the sequel - this time from the very start.



"On the first Buffy video game, Tom Sniegoski and I were brought in after the story had been plotted and we provided the dialogue," Chris told us. "Chaos Bleeds is something we built from the ground up so we're extremely excited about it.



"There are a lot of things that were cut from our original plot," he added, "things that were perhaps a little too ambitious for current technology (like the zombie version of the giant serpent demon the Mayor turned into chasing Buffy through a cemetery and being blown up in an exploding crematorium)."



The game, which will feature several playable characters in addition to Buffy, is due for release in August.



"I think Buffy fans are going to really enjoy themselves," says Golden. "There are more than a few surprises and some fun trips back down Buffy's memory lane."

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Edited to add: Chris Golden has posted this cryptic message to his official message board:

Quote:

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Christopher Golden

Posted: May 30 2003,10:30

Topic: Hmm/Chaos Bleeds



Well, folks, just a quick note to say that I've just been informed of a couple of changes in the game that should make the W/T fans VERY happy. Can't say more, but I'm quite pleased.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 5/30/03 11:14:11 am

[chilled monkey]

Intriguing. What do you suppose he means? Has EvilTara been taken out? Do Willow and Tara have more scenes? Does the game now feature Tara as a playable character?



Can't wait to find out. Thank you for letting us know.

[xita]

well I trust chris, so I know they tried hard to give w/t as much as they were allowed. So, you know what? I'll buy it cause as drlloyd pointed out to me, I am having w/t withdrawls.

[feena191]

Chris posted again after your reply kajo

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Katherine, it is 99.99% finished. In the stage where everything is being tested. When they find things that could be made cooler for players, they tweak. And if they find errors, they fix them. A couple of the minor tweaks made me a happy boy. Not big changes, but they alter the tone of a couple of things and made me smile.

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I'm looking forward to this



Feena

-x-

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How's he gonna read that magazine rolled up like that?

~ Famous last words of an insect

[WebWarlock]

I am certainly feeling better about this.



I will trust Chris' word. He has been good to us time and time again.



Tim

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Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

[kajo 2000]

There is another review of the game at GameSpot:

Quote:

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Impressions

06/05/03 03:06 PM

By Ricardo Torres



We had the chance to get a peek at a new build of Vivendi Universal's upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer game, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds.



The game follows on the heels of last year's promising Buffy the Vampire Slayer game from Electronic Arts and The Collective. This year's version is being developed by veteran studio Eurocom, whose recent conversions of Nightfire and Harry Potter have kept it busy on the latest batch of consoles. We took a look at the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions of the game to see how they're shaping up.



The story behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds follows the pattern of its predecessor in that it is being billed as a "lost episode" of the series. Buffy enthusiasts hoping to place it in the series chronology can catalog it as an episode from the fifth season that fits between episodes 17 and 18. The narrative follows Buffy and the gang as they work to deal with the combined threat of the First and Ethan Rayne. The story will actually tie into a Dark Horse comic of the same name due shortly before the game's release. The tale will have maximum fanboy appeal thanks to the time-tested sci-fi and fantasy device known as "the alternate universe." As a result, you'll see a variety of familiar faces during the adventure. Anyone looking for Dawn, however, may be disappointed that she is "away at camp" for this adventure.



The game will build on the previous Buffy game by offering more playable characters, a wider variety of moves, a multiplayer mode, and a variety of unlockable extras. The single-player game will offer six playable characters: Buffy, Faith, Spike, Willow, Xander, and Sid the dummy. The game's story will determine which character you play as during a level, in some cases requiring you to alternate between two players in order to clear an area. For example, in one section you'll start out as Buffy but will be joined by, and eventually switch to, Sid, who can access areas Buffy can't. The characters will each have their own set of moves. For example, Willow will be able to cast spells in addition to engaging in fisticuffs. Buffy and Faith will share some similarities due to their slayer abilities. Unlike in the previous game, Buffy won't be earning new slayer moves as she progresses - she'll gain new weapons instead. This time out Willow will be the one learning - she'll learn new spells as you go through the game. The gameplay will be similar to the previous Buffy game, although the ratio between hand-to-hand combat and puzzle elements will shift a bit. At present the game is expected to consist of roughly 60 percent action elements and 40 percent puzzle elements. The puzzles in the game are bit more involved this time and will require you to do more than find a key or a switch. In addition to offering a story-driven single-player game, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds will offer a multiplayer mode with four different game types: survival, bunny catcher, slayer challenge, and domination.



The game content will be beefed up by a solid helping of unlockable extras you'll gain by playing through the game. You'll be able to unlock 24 characters to use in the multiplayer mode as well as video segments that feature interviews with the game's cast. Speaking of the cast, you'll find most of the television show's cast voicing their virtual selves. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan are the only major no-shows. Fans will recognize the vocal stylings of Eliza Dushku, Anthony Stewart Head, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, and Amber Benson, who capably give voice to their alter egos.



The graphics in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds are shaping up pretty well across the board. Eurocom is doing solid work on each of the platforms, with each version of the game featuring console-specific tweaks where possible. The PlayStation 2 game is look surprisingly solid, although there are some frame rate inconsistencies. The GameCube version is on par with the PS2 version, though it's a bit cleaner and has a few smaller visual touches. The Xbox version is the most visually striking, with an improved frame rate and more-refined special effects. Control is pretty solid in all versions of the game, though the PlayStation 2 version actually fares the best because of its controller. In spite of general issues with button placement, the game handles well and even has some new features, such as a "quick stake" button that actually helps the flow of combat.



From what we've seen so far, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds is coming together pretty well. The story and gameplay are solid, and the graphics do a fine job of re-creating the Buffy universe. At present all three versions of the game will feature roughly the same content, although the PlayStation 2 version of the game will feature an extra video interview with James Marsters. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds is slated to ship this August for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Look for more on the game in the coming months.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 6/7/03 12:27 am