Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy : Chaos Bleeds - (Xbox, PS2, GameCube ; October 24, 2003 ; £40)

WITH preposterous plots involving hordes of demons and kick-ass characters, TV’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer makes the ideal basis for a videogame. And this is thrillingly true to the show. Gameplay involves using Buffy’s arsenal of kicks, blows and punches, plus stakes, spades and water-pistols full of holy water, to dispatch zombies. There’s also puzzles to solve involving imaginative use of everyday objects. Essential for Buffy fans, indeed all fans of action-adventure.

THE second game in the Jak & Daxter franchise is a mighty impressive slice of action-platform gaming. Jak has been experimented on by Baron Nexus, acquiring super- soldier powers. He escapes and hooks up with the underground, but because Jak is on the run, he must keep his head down - ramming a soldier’s hover-car, for example, will set the whole army on him. The style - imagine a cartoon take on Blade Runner - suggests Sony is aiming at a slightly older audience, and the jumping and fighting action is absorbing. A beautifully-made game.Jak II : Renegade

(PS2 ; Out now ; £40)