The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

"Awesome shooter from a new developer, you can't ask for more!"

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is a new first person shooter from a fairly new developer Starbreeze studios. The franchise of Riddick all began with the movie Pitch Black, and the franchise is now branching out and expanding, with new movies and this game. The game is arguably the best thing that has spawned from the Riddick franchise, this is one of the best shooters that the Xbox has to offer, and that is some very tough competition. Now, onto the review.

Graphics: 10/10
I was blown away by just looking at this game. It is simply amazing. Starbreeze has used a new technique called normal mapping to make the game look amazing. Everything looks almost like like, sometimes you just want to reach out and touch it! You can see individual scratches on the walls, the blood splatters on the walls and you could swear it actually happened right in front of you! The character models look simply amazing, especially Riddick, he looks exactly like Vin himself, and those glasses look real. The edges on everything aren't jaggy, it all looks smooth, think, Need for Speed: Underground, it all looks great. Also, considering that the environments are pretty big, it just adds to wow factor. The animation also looks good, although Riddicks running animation is sort of lame(you can tell by looking at your shadow....did I mention the extravagant real time lighting?), but everything else looks good in motion, from the regular guards raising their rifles to begin shooting you, to the fist fighters brawling you in the ring, nothing looks generic or fake. The guns also look nice, you can notice the firing animation and the detail of the guns themselves(a nice touch is the ammo counters on the minigun and the assault rifle). Also, the game has some nice effects, the blue tint in stealth mode(and the blurry effects on the side of the screen while in stealth mode) and the ever so handy eyeshine, which lets you see in the dark and picks up light in a very cool way. The only flaw I could find were the PS2-like jaggies while in the cut-scenes, the in-game actually looked better than the cut-scenes! The games graphics immerse you into the game, and this is one of the reasons Riddick shines above other first person shooters on Xbox.

Sound: 10/10
The game sounds like a grade A movie. When you walk, you can hear the footsteps, hitting the floor, if the environment changes(example: metal to dirt) then so do your footstep sounds. All the sounds fit right in place and add so much to the game, the sound experience of this game is way under rated. the music really adds to the atmosphere, it adds a ton of tension, and will keep you on your toes throughout the entire game, sometimes it's downright freaky! The guns sound lifelike also, there must be real versions of these futuristic weapons somewhere on earth, because I don't know how they could make the guns sound so real otherwise. Believe me, the first time you sneak up on an enemy and snap his neck, your jaw will drop, it sounds that good. Plus, with weapons like the shiv, it makes a nice slashing noise, which makes it seem realistic. To top all of this off, the games voice acting is the best I have ever heard in a game. With voice actors like Vin himself and Xzibit you can't go wrong! All the voices match their respective characters, and every character you talk to throughout the game has a different voice, it really makes for a great addition to the game, because it just all sounds right. If you have a Dolby 5.1 setup it just adds more, you can here where your enemies are, it's amazing. Why can't more games be like this?

Control: 8/10
The controls take some getting used to, but overall they are pretty damn good. This has the standard Xbox first person shooter controls, so though they are normal, they do take awhile to really get it. Every button is used, so that is pretty good. There is nothing really to say, if you don't like the initial setup, then you can change it around or adjust the sensitivity.

Overall: 9/10
The graphics and sound shine above almost all other Xbox first person shooters, but I really would have liked it if they would explain the plot more and flesh out the characters. Riddick had the potential for an extravagant storyline, but they killed off some of the key characters too fast, I was disappointed. I was a bit confused by the story, but I haven't seen all of the movies yet either,(or read the book) so hopefully I can find an understanding of the plot later on. Also, the game had really cool unlockables, such as trailers, concept art and movie sets, these came in the form of cigarette packages you find throughout the game, this really adds to the replay value, because you need to collect them all!

Bottom Line:
A great killer app title from an unknown developer, this is a must buy for any Xbox owner, go buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/20/04