Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:30 pm
That full title is "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay." Its a FPS for the X-Box.
This game is the first story told in the Riddick timeline. It details part of Riddick's history with Jones (the cop/bounty hunter from Pitch Black) and his escape from Butcher Bay (duh), a prison set on some strange world.
The story begins with Riddick already in custody. (Sidenote: expect a prequel to this prequel. That's just a guess, but it makes sense because the designers LOVE Jones and Jones, well without spoilers, Jones isn't in the latest film.) Jones is taking him to Butcher's Bay where he will be locked up. Upon arriving Riddick begins his quest to escape.
This game is really well designed and props to Vin Diesel since his company made the game. The story flows very well, the level design "feels" right, and the dialogue is never too corny.
The graphics are, by far, the best ever in an X-Box game. They aren't PC level, but Tigon has done a great job making this game look good.
The sound is also very good, with the exception of whispering. Some characters whisper and some don't, which causes you leave the sound way up or you have to continually grab the remote. This always causes you to leave the sound up resulting in a clap of thunder the next time you fire a weapon.
The control is actually excellent for a console FPS. We're talking leaps and bounds ahead of Metroid: Prime. It would still be far superior to play with a key board and mouse, but the designers made it very easy to access all of Riddick's abilities at the push of a button. Although, in a firefight, I did have a habit of accidentally turning on my night vision, but it really didn't hinder me.
The storyline does a fine job of pulling you in and making excuses for you to go to one place or another. Pay attention though, don't hit that "skip" button. Sometimes you'll miss instructions and you'll be lost.
The level design is linear, but good and well made to utilize your abilities. However, I must warn players to make sure they look around. I remember a few times when my course wasn't exactly crystal clear and it got me into trouble or had me roaming around levels in circles.
The action is intense and while the weapons you can use are standard and uninspiring, the way you can use them is inspired:
-First, there's your fists and no game has done them better. Its an absolute blast to beat the shit out of people in this game. Also, there's the breaking of necks using those hands of yours.
-Second comes the counter technique. I don't know why it happens, but say you're against a guy with a gun. Hit the right button move and you'll grab his weapon and turn it under his chin...bam.
-Third is the tranq gun. I've honestly never had so much fun with a tranq gun in a game. Why? Because it handled well, I never ran out of ammo, and most importantly, it was dark.
-That brings me to number four, the dark. Yes, Riddick loves the dark. Using my tranq gun or any gun to knock out lights was fantastic. Guards would start freaking out and switching on their flashlights. Little did they know that Riddick comes equipped with night vision. The sneaking around is better done here than any other game I've ever played. That includes Splinter Cell and the Thief series. The AI not being the smartest helped, but more importantly, I could hear and see when I was easily spotted. The screen would be blue when I was invisible and turn to the regular color when I was visible. Well done.
You should never get too frustrated playing as a quick examination of a level should reveal a way around or to beat whatever has you stuck. You will, however, get a bit frustrated at Riddick's apparent man-love for Jones. To go into detail would be to provide spoilers and I just can't do that.
The cool part of the design is that nothing gets too old because its never around for very long. So if you hit a part that you're hating, wait 10 minutes and that enemy or play style will be long gone.
The main complaint people have is that its short. Very true. I beat it in a matter of about 10 hours. Hardcore gamers like myself will finish in the same time frame. More casual players will get a couple of days out of it.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable, game playing experience. I recommend it for any fans of action, stealth, FPSs, and the movies. Still, its tough to recommend you buy it due to the short length of the game.
8 out of 10.
FYI for parents: Lots and lots of written/spoken cursing and violence.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, you collect cigarette packs to unlock bonuses like art and videos for the new movie. It doesn't really add to the replay value, but they're interesting to collect in game.
This game is the first story told in the Riddick timeline. It details part of Riddick's history with Jones (the cop/bounty hunter from Pitch Black) and his escape from Butcher Bay (duh), a prison set on some strange world.
The story begins with Riddick already in custody. (Sidenote: expect a prequel to this prequel. That's just a guess, but it makes sense because the designers LOVE Jones and Jones, well without spoilers, Jones isn't in the latest film.) Jones is taking him to Butcher's Bay where he will be locked up. Upon arriving Riddick begins his quest to escape.
This game is really well designed and props to Vin Diesel since his company made the game. The story flows very well, the level design "feels" right, and the dialogue is never too corny.
The graphics are, by far, the best ever in an X-Box game. They aren't PC level, but Tigon has done a great job making this game look good.
The sound is also very good, with the exception of whispering. Some characters whisper and some don't, which causes you leave the sound way up or you have to continually grab the remote. This always causes you to leave the sound up resulting in a clap of thunder the next time you fire a weapon.
The control is actually excellent for a console FPS. We're talking leaps and bounds ahead of Metroid: Prime. It would still be far superior to play with a key board and mouse, but the designers made it very easy to access all of Riddick's abilities at the push of a button. Although, in a firefight, I did have a habit of accidentally turning on my night vision, but it really didn't hinder me.
The storyline does a fine job of pulling you in and making excuses for you to go to one place or another. Pay attention though, don't hit that "skip" button. Sometimes you'll miss instructions and you'll be lost.
The level design is linear, but good and well made to utilize your abilities. However, I must warn players to make sure they look around. I remember a few times when my course wasn't exactly crystal clear and it got me into trouble or had me roaming around levels in circles.
The action is intense and while the weapons you can use are standard and uninspiring, the way you can use them is inspired:
-First, there's your fists and no game has done them better. Its an absolute blast to beat the shit out of people in this game. Also, there's the breaking of necks using those hands of yours.
-Second comes the counter technique. I don't know why it happens, but say you're against a guy with a gun. Hit the right button move and you'll grab his weapon and turn it under his chin...bam.
-Third is the tranq gun. I've honestly never had so much fun with a tranq gun in a game. Why? Because it handled well, I never ran out of ammo, and most importantly, it was dark.
-That brings me to number four, the dark. Yes, Riddick loves the dark. Using my tranq gun or any gun to knock out lights was fantastic. Guards would start freaking out and switching on their flashlights. Little did they know that Riddick comes equipped with night vision. The sneaking around is better done here than any other game I've ever played. That includes Splinter Cell and the Thief series. The AI not being the smartest helped, but more importantly, I could hear and see when I was easily spotted. The screen would be blue when I was invisible and turn to the regular color when I was visible. Well done.
You should never get too frustrated playing as a quick examination of a level should reveal a way around or to beat whatever has you stuck. You will, however, get a bit frustrated at Riddick's apparent man-love for Jones. To go into detail would be to provide spoilers and I just can't do that.
The cool part of the design is that nothing gets too old because its never around for very long. So if you hit a part that you're hating, wait 10 minutes and that enemy or play style will be long gone.
The main complaint people have is that its short. Very true. I beat it in a matter of about 10 hours. Hardcore gamers like myself will finish in the same time frame. More casual players will get a couple of days out of it.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable, game playing experience. I recommend it for any fans of action, stealth, FPSs, and the movies. Still, its tough to recommend you buy it due to the short length of the game.
8 out of 10.
FYI for parents: Lots and lots of written/spoken cursing and violence.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, you collect cigarette packs to unlock bonuses like art and videos for the new movie. It doesn't really add to the replay value, but they're interesting to collect in game.