The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

"Riddick Will Kill You with His Teacup"

You may be familiar with one of the following titles: Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Dark Fury. All of these, were movies (the third one being an Anime flick) in the Riddick series - Riddick being played and voiced by none other than Vin Diesel. This game acts as a prequel to all three of these films, and if you ask me, does a better job of telling the story (Well, actually I've never seen Dark Fury.)

Riddick is the most wanted man in the universe, for killing people. Though, despite this, he isn't that bad of a guy. He's more of an anti-hero, or an Ubermensch. Ok, yes, I'm using that word when I don't completely understand what it's referencing, but the people on the Riddick message board have assured me that it's true...

Anyway, the game picks up, when Riddick is in a cave. Although it doesn't say the time, I'm thinking this is between Black Fury, and the Chronicles of Riddick movie. Anyway, after killing an enemy, Riddick seems to have a flashback of some sort. After this, the fun begins. Riddick is going to Butcher Bay, the toughest prison in the universe - And this is not a light fate. Prisoners are often killed, bot by guards and each other in here. Through the course of the game, Riddick will be making his escape.

The beginning will serve as a tutorial to you, but you won't be babied. It's very possible, and quite easy to be killed, if you screw off, instead of being careful. However, pay attention, and work with the game, and you'll come out alive. You'll be taught such hanging and climbing on obstacles, speaking with people, dragging bodies, crouching, picking up items, etc. All that boring stuff.

Soon enough, though, you'll be taught some fun stuff. You're first enemy will be an unarmed janitor. You won't have a weapon either, yet, though. So, evidently, the designers thought this would be the perfect spot to get the players' feet wet, with the melee combat system. Well, that was a good idea, and the melee system is extremely well done. For now, you'll have your fists, but later, you'll be able to get other melee weapons, like shivs, which are basically knives, clubs, and knuckledusters. All of these make for very fluent, and enjoyable fights, as they all have possible combos, and many moves. For example, instead of just randomly punching someone, you can do a left-right combo, then bring them down with an uppercut! However, you'll have to play the defensive too, and block, and counter. Countering works great. If you counter a gun fire, you'll do such things as put the gun to their head and fire it, and if they attempt to stab you, you can turn it into a slice of their throat. If they are unarmed, you can simply snap their arm! This melee system was simply stunning, in many aspects.

Though, Riddick is not a boxer, so the game obviously extends much further than that, in depth. You'll have to use stealth for once. Well, actually, in a game like this, you are not limited to having to play stealth, at all, but it will make the whole experience easier. If you choose to choose this method of play, you'll be using techniques such as crouching in the shadows to hide form enemies - And realistically, they won't be able to see you, unless they have a flashlight - and going up behind people, and snapping their necks. If you happen to have a shiv, you can add style to this, by slicing instead of snapping. However, it's deeper, still. You can do two styles of neck-breaks: Fast and loud, or slow and quiet. Which one you choose, will affect how easy it is for nearby guards to hear it. Obviously, if they hear a sound like this, they'll be coming to give you some trouble.

And what would a first-person-style game be, without guns? Well, Chronicles of Riddick has a few of them thrown in. You'll see Assault Rifles, Handguns, Shotguns, and even a Tranq Gun. I'll leave you to guess how the first three guns I mentioned work, as it's pretty simple. The fourth one however, is innovative, at least to me. You see, it shocks, and temporarily stuns enemies, but doesn't kill them. However, once they're down, you can elbow or kick them, to finish them off. This is always fun, and being as it's all you will have at one point in the game, that's a good thing. It's also worth noting that many guns have built in flashlights, so you can see in the dark - Before you get your trademark eyeshine that is. More on that in just a bit.

While we're still on the subject of weapons, let me state something that separates this game from many others of the same genre. You will see almost know HUD at all. The only thing on screen will be your health bar, when you get hit, and your weapon's icon, for a split second after changing weapons. Soon, however, both of these icons will vanish. This leaves one to ask themselves, how they will know their ammo, or aim their guns. Well, that's another interesting part of this game. All guns have their ammo marked somewhere on them, and you'll be aiming with a built-in laser sighting. This makes for a very interesting experience.

Now, about that Eyeshine. If you've seen the movies, you know how interesting Riddick's eyes are. Well, a little into this game, the story of just how Riddick got these eyes will be revealed. And from the moment, the game will change. No longer will you be bound to trying to stay in the light, and no longer will you have to rely on the flashlights built into your boomsticks. You see, with a press of the white button, will turn the hole screen into a blueish-purple tint. While in this mode, the more light, the harder it is to see. Now, how is this a good thing? Well, not only does it make it easy to travel in dark areas, it will allow you to be able to shoot out lights, and take out the sad, confused guards easily. Stealth kills are even more fun in the dark.

However, this is a prison, so don't think the whole thing is a kill-fest. In fact, when you're put into your first cell, you'll be forced to talk and interact with some of the prisoners around you, to learn what to do, who's in charge, etc. You'll do this more than once throughout the course of the game, as well. However, this can be a good thing, you'll be able to pick up side-quests, and buy weapons, such as clubs and shivs. You can also choose to kill the prisoners that you don't particularly like - They may drop weapons or items. However, don't get caught, or you'll be shot on site, and we all know that it sucks to be killed.

Now, many of you may have heard that this game is kind of short. This might be true in some eyes. This game is roughly ten hours long. I remember a time, when games didn't have to be 50 hours long though, to be considered good. Do you remember Super Mario Brothers 3? That can be beaten in under half an hour. And do you remember The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past? That can be beat in under 2 hours.Both of these are considered by nearly all to be classics. Now I know that the second example I used would take more than 10 hours to complete on the first time through, but I think the point is clear. Games don't have to be long to be great. This is another fine example of this.

And since most gamers today seem to be focused on graphics as opposed to gameplay, it's almost an essential that I include my view on them in this review. Although, that's not a bad thing, as many people have considered this to be one of, if not the best looking games on the Xbox game console. In fact, graphics are its strongest point, after gameplay, of course. The sound bodes well with the environment of the game, as well. You'll hear calm, but still slightly-pressuring music when you're being stealth, and fast, rushing music when you're in a gun or knife fight. Speaking of which, the official webpage of Escape from Butcher Bay offers the sound track of this game for free download. You may want to check that out, as you're opinion on the music probably suits you better than mine does.

Overall, this game is extremely fun, especially for a movie license, which is usually a bad sign for games. However, this game is amazing, in almost every aspect. The second barrier that it breaks, is the amount of cooperation and teamwork between the movie and video game realms. Hollywood evidently had a major part in the development of this game, and it shows. This game has a story to tell, and it tells it beautifully. Not to mention the fact that they got Vin Diesel himself, for voice acting, to fit a model designed to look like him.

Now, to rent it, or to buy it? Well, I guess that depends on your tastes. Personally, I really love it, and will be coming back to it several times, but there are other people who love it as well, but will only be coming back to it once. So, I think the best thing to do is to buy it if you can - Used if you'd like to save the money. At least rent it though, as this game is worth your time, even if to just see what all the hype is about. And that, my friend, concludes my review.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/04, Updated 08/28/08

Game Release: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (US, 06/01/04)