The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

"One of the best FPS Xbox has to offer."

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is a prequel to the movie Pitch Black. Before Pitch Black Richard Riddick was put in Butcher Bay. A topnotch high security prison that was said to be inescapable. Well your time has come to prove that myth wrong.

GAME PLAY 10/10
For the most part The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is a First Person Shooter(FPS). Though the camera will go into 3rd Person during certain moments to give a more cinematic feel. There are 3 different difficulty settings, Easy, Normal, and Hard. The controls are responsive and solid. You will have to use a variety of tools and weapons to escape. Weapons include Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Tranquilizer Guns, Brass Knuckles, Shivs and so on. You can even throw punches in First Person view. You can equip weapons while hand to hand fighting. During the course of the game you get the ability to see in the dark. You can shoot out all the lights and stalk guards in the dark. You can snap their necks or hit them in the back of the head or shoot them. The choice is yours to make. Speaking of choices you are given quests that are optional and if you do them you get money. With this money you can buy items or cigarettes that unlock bonuses. Game play is very solid.

STORY 10/10
Richard Riddick, everyone calls him Riddick, is sent to Butcher Bay. A top security prison said to be inescapable. This shows what Riddick was doing before Pitch Black. Riddick is trying to find ways to escape from Butcher Bay anyway possible. I don't want to spoil anything but there are a few twists and surprises. The story is well done and thought out.

GRAPHICS 10/10
The BEST the Xbox has to offer at this moment. Everything is bump mapped well. Special effects like bullet holes and smoke are very nice. Gun models and character models look real and the cut scenes are movie worthy. Once again, graphics are the best the Xbox has right now.

SOUND 10/10
Gunshots sound like you would expect them to. The voice acting is well done. Riddick's voice over done by Vin Diesel makes the game Riddick feel like the Riddick from the movie. Music is done well, like when you are fighting there is fast paced music and dramatic music during stealth segments. A lot of time was spent on sound and it shows.

PLAY TIME and RE-PLAYABILITY 8/10
One of the few problems are how long it takes to beat The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. On Normal it should take the average player 8 hours. Personally I beat in 2 days and I played it for about 3-4 hours a day. You will want to replay it on different difficulty settings or find the hidden cigarette boxes for unlock ables. There are also different ways around things that you can do a different way. The second problem I have is there is no support to download new maps or guns off Xbox Live. I could have overlooked this but there is not a multi player mode at all either. Other than those 2 problems you will want to play it again.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION Buy
If you can overlook the 8 hours average play time and lack of Xbox Live options, I would say it is a buy. It's so hard to put it down. You will want to play it again at least once. There were only 2 problems I had with The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay they are just minor problems though. A near perfect game that should be in everyones collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/04