Pyramid Review
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Collectible Card Game
Published by Score
Designed by Christian Moore, Owen Seyler, Chaz Elliott, Geert Van Slambrouck, Frank Chafe
Starter Sets: $10.99; Booster Packs: $3.29
As cult TV shows go, they don't get much cult-ier than Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Now in its sixth season, it's a brilliant blend of horror, teen soap opera, comedy, and action show. (And, amazingly enough earlier this year, a musical, too.) While some fans have been less thrilled with the direction (or lack thereof) of this season's main plotlines, the show still has a loyal fanbase that dovetails directly into the gaming demographic. A Buffy: The Vampire Slayer license for any kind of game would be a natural. Hasbro put the boardgame out last summer. Eden Studios will have the roleplaying game out this summer. And Score -- the folks who brought you the Dragonball Z card game -- have come out with the CCG.
The cards themselves are very nice, with good graphics and excellent choices for card art (taken directly from the TV show, of course). The starter sets include an "Essence" card which is unlike anything I've ever seen in a CCG, printed on a translucent card of fairly thick plastic (not quite as thick as a credit card, but close). Done in gold and purple, the Essence cards are very, very nice. My only quibble with the cards is a pet peeve of mine -- the feeling of creators that any flavor text, no matter how lame, is better than no flavor text. Buffy is chock-full of witty . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 15, 2002
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