The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Developer's Cut

"Best movie license game"

The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is a FPS developed by Starbreeze and released by VU Games. It isn't a pure action title but a blend of stealth\adventure and first person shooting\melee fighting kind of game. Almost 90% of games based on movies are extremely awful and where only created to make some money from fans who would buy anything that had anything to do with their favorite movie. Does this game fall in the same category?

Story: 7.4/10
Presentation: 10/10

Although a movie license game, in Escape From Butcher Bay you won't have to relive the experience of Pitch Black or The Chronicles Of Riddick. The story is actually a prequel of Pitch Black. All events in the game are actually a flashback of Riddick who currently lives in a cold snowy planet, similar to the one in The Chronicles Of Riddick movie. It focuses in Riddick's escape from the triple-max desert prison Butcher Bay and also gives you some info about Riddick's past and actually is getting you ready for the events of The Chronicles Of Riddick movie.

Although a typical action story, it is presented in such a good way that you'll actually feel you're watching a movie. Each cutscene gives you more info about the story and will make you wanting more. Also there are some plot twists that make the game more interesting. Each character, from the NPCs, (guards, prisoners etc), to the main characters bring Butcher Bay to life. You'll actually feel you're in a prison full of desperate, violent, dangerous criminals and stupid, arrogant and abusing guards and officers. Overall the story unfolds in such a good way that will make you feel like you are truly a prisoner who tries to escape from a dangerous prison where anything could happen.

Graphics: 9.2/10
Design: 10/10

From the very start of the game you will surely compare Escape From Butcher Bay to games like Doom 3. It is actually that good! Everything is extremely detailed. Great photorealistic textures for everything, machinery, scenery, skin, everything! The sky images although rarely seen in the game, since you'll spent most of your time underground, are beautiful and look similar to places from the movies. Every character and creature has excellent animation quality and variety. Especially Riddick is a clone of Vin Diesel something that makes the main character even more real. Each time you see Riddick in a cutscene or just performing a simple action like climbing some stairs is like watching Vin Diesel himself doing it. Special effects are quite good also. Great lighting and shadows, explosions, fog, bullets hitting walls and many more. Something that looks quite good is when using the famous eyeshine that makes you see in the dark, making every light source brighter. Also there is no HUD, something that makes the game even more appealing to the eye. Your ammunition is displayed on your weapon, your health is displayed only when being hurt or cured and instead of using a notification icon when being in stealth mode the screen just becomes a bit more bluish making you actually feel that you are hiding in the shadows. Something that this games lacks in the Graphics sector is its variety. Having to spent most of your time in Butcher Bay's main facilities makes everything looks the same, although very good.

Sound: 9.5/10
Music: 7/10

Good work in the sound section too. Ranged weapons sound quite powerful, melee weapons make whooshing sounds when swinging them and nice bumping or cutting sounds when hitting an enemy. Voice acting is perfect. Having Vin Diesel himself voice acting for Riddick makes the main character sound very good. All characters, from prison inmates to guards, have great voice acting. You'll hear them have small conversations with each other, taunt you or shout orders and many more. Also sometimes hearing what the guards say when they attack you can be quite funny, like when shooting an armored guard he says, “I'm armored you stupid jerk!”. The Music section isn't something extraordinary but fits quite good to the game. When nothing happens music just fits with the mood, but when you fight or being chased, a louder and faster action music theme will start.

Gameplay: 8.6/10
Replay Value: 6/10

Most games that tried blending different genres into one have failed but not this one. Although fans of pure FPS games like Quake, Serious Sam or even the first 2 Doom games might not like this game, the ones that like FPS with stealth elements will love it. Also keep in mind the total absence of Multiplayer. The game's developer's focused in making a single player game and that's another reason this game is so good.

In 90% of the game you'll be using your hands or a small knife or screwdriver to kill your enemies and after finding other weapons you'll have to be careful with your ammunition. The best way to defeat an enemy is by hiding in the dark, (or create dark by destroying the lights), and then walk silently behind him and break his neck or cut his throat. Your character has many ways of attacking with melee weapons. You can block melee attackers and then counter attack, use combos to hit your enemies faster or perform powerful uppercuts. You can even turn an enemy's gun towards his face and then pull the trigger. In some cases you will be able to reach a certain area by following a different path like, for example through a ventilation shaft. You can climb crates, climb stairs or even hang from a wall's edge and move sideways, but every time you perform any of the previous actions the view turns to third person allowing you to observe the wonderful and smooth animation of Riddick.

All characters, (apart from some creatures that blindly run towards you), have great AI, meaning that they take cover, use flashlights in the dark, (and blind you when you use the eyeshine), block melee attacks, hear sounds and respond to lying corpses, (that you can actually hide). There are also some great mechanical enemies that have great design and are almost impossible to destroy with simple weapons.

You'll have the opportunity of interacting with many characters in order to obtain more quests or obtain info about something. Each NPC behaved in a very realistic way giving the player the feeling that Butcher Bay is a real, populated area. Also when you are in the main prison facility your every move is being watched by cameras that detect every sign of aggression and alarm the guards or even shoot at you. Great level design that makes everything look great. Blood stains and writings in the prison walls, dirty cells and old facilities. Dark, gloomy caves and some shiny and very Sci-fi areas.

One thing that keeps me from giving this game a higher score is its replay value. Yes this game is short but that's not the only problem. In fact more hours would be unnecessary and could make the game boring and lose its feeling. The bad thing is that being such a straightforward game, after completing it you'll probably won't feel like going through the whole process again. Little difference between difficulty modes and even when choosing the commentary mode which lets you hear comments of the game's developers while playing the game, is something that adds no fun at all. You can also find many cigar packs that unlock extra context like trailers, artwork and making of videos but that could be easily done with a cheat code, (but be sure to check on each packs name, they are quite funny and have warnings like, “Sure death after usage”.

Finally something that doesn't have to do with the overall score of the game is that Escape From Butcher Bay has many compatibility problems with new Graphic Cards and Dual Core processors that cannot be solved with just the official patch.

Positives:
-Great graphics with very good animations
-The story unfolds like in a great action movie
-Many possible ways of killing enemies or completing quests
-Good action\shooting\stealth\adventure blend

Negatives:
-Very short and with little replay value
-No environment variety
-Many compatibility issues and some glitches

Also Play:
Deus Ex (PC)
Doom 3 PC)
F.E.A.R (PC)

Overall: 8.5/10

A great game that combines pure action with stealth and adventure games and that is obviously one of the best movie license games. If it wasn't so short or at least had a better replay value we would be talking about a classic game, but still I highly recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/07, Updated 04/17/09

Game Release: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Developer's Cut (US, 12/08/04)