The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

""It's been a long time since I've smelled beautiful" -- Vin Diesel"

I write articles on a monthly basis for my local newspaper. It's a great little job for me to do, because I get to write about video games and it's going to look awesome on my applications for college when I finally stop being lazy and apply to real schools instead of the crappy community college I already attend. Recently, I started a “Best Entertainment Bets” column in which I discussed some of my top picks for upcoming games and movies, and I picked the Chronicles of Riddick DVD as the best upcoming DVD. I received quite a few comments from people about my choice. Many, many people hated the film. I guess I can understand their point, though it's a big-budget action film. There are very few big-budget action films that do everything right, so I guess I appreciate the things it does do while I overlook the things it doesn't. However, even though the movie might have been sketchy in some people's minds, the inevitable tie-in video game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay turned out to be one of the best games for the Xbox gaming console, and perhaps a contender for Game of the Year.

Now, for those unacquainted folks who never had the privilege of watching either Pitch Black or The Chronicles of Riddick, the basic plot goes something like this: you play as a notorious criminal named, you guessed it, Riddick. Riddick is wanted all over the galaxy for murdering hundreds of people and mercenaries will never give him the alone time he craves, so he kills them. Of course, more mercenaries come and he's harassed constantly. It's a very viscous cycle for our hero to say the least. As fate would have it, he's eventually captured by a man named Johns. This is where the game begins, with Riddick being brought to the Butcher Bay prison colony. While Johns discusses terms of payment for the delivery, Riddick sets out to make friends and figure out an escape route.

Riddick is a fast-paced first-person shooter. It's fortunate that the game is linear in many regards because of the speed in which you're going. You're an inmate running for freedom. There's no time to stop. Around every corner is a new obstacle, in the form of some small puzzle to figure out in order to progress or a giant mechanized robot that wants to tear you to bits. At the same time however, it's a stealth game that encourages you to hide in the darkness and wait for the safest possible time to attack your adversaries, often through neck snapping. What sounds out of place in a game that I've already described as a fast-paced FPS actually works into the gameplay in a wonderful way.

Many times, Riddick will be without weapons, especially in the beginning of the game. You'll often be forced to go toe-to-toe with your enemies, and fortunately the hand-to-hand combat works very well. Don't worry about that lump Breakdown either, the combat in this is very fluid and fast paced. Combos are executed simply by pressing in different directions on the left analog stick, but the moves never grow repetitive or tiresome because you're constantly alternating between weapons. Sometimes while fighting, you can shoot your opponent with his own gun, or you can sneak up behind then and crack their necks. Of course, it wouldn't be a first-person shooter without, you know, shooting, and though it doesn't offer 17 different weapons each with alternate fire, Riddick's stable of firearms prove useful in most situations. You'll use basic weapons like screwdrivers and shivs, and eventually you'll gain access to assault rifles and shotguns. The game only lets you access a few weapons at a time, which really works well to add to the design of the game.

For instance: one of the coolest things about Riddick is that his “eyes are shined.” When it's dark, the click of an analog stick (which triggers Riddick to remove his goggles) lights up the room, without that annoying flashlight to attract enemies to your location. It's often much more fun to shoot out the lights in a room instead of the guards in it so you can creep up on them for a much more entertaining execution. For fans of the movies, Escape from Butcher Bay explores how Riddick got his eyes shined in much more details than the movies ever did, so check it out if you're looking for more information on the Riddick universe.

Even if you aren't a fan of The Chronicles of Riddick though, Escape from Butcher Bay still will offer up a lot of fun. The AI is solid, oftentimes cornering Riddick or creeping up on him slowly after noticing him. They'll duck for cover, and I never found them running into walls, which is another plus. To go along with the great AI, the level design is nicely done as well. The prison is gritty and overcrowded and could definitely use a cleaning service to spruce things up a bit. You'll spend a lot of time crawling through vents and climbing ladders and boxes, but there's very little backtracking through the same areas because of multiple paths the developers included.

Let it be known: in my personal opinion, Escape from Butcher Bay looks just as good as Halo 2, and in many areas, it looks better. The character designs are top-notch, especially for Riddick who was photo-realistically modeled after Vin Diesel. As I mentioned before, the levels that you will explore are gritty and grimy and just what you'd expect in a futuristic prison. Every other character looks good as well, though the guards all look the same (they wear uniforms with helmets though, so my complaint is about as valid as complaining that all the storm troopers in Star Wars look alike). Vin not only provides the likeness for Riddick, but also provides the voice-over, and superstars like the rapper Xzibit join in the fun to provide voices for the rest of the cast members. The musical score kicks in during combat and is also nicely done.

With all this gushing, you're probably wondering why this one isn't a solid ten out of ten. Two reasons: no multiplayer and the game is incredibly short. Multiplayer in this game could have been awesome, even if it was simply two-player split-screen. Imagine, you control Riddick and one of your buddies controls a mercenary, and Riddick must try to get to a point without being killed in order to “win” the match. Riddick would be unarmed, while the mercenary could be in one of the giant robots or in full-armor with a weapon. This would be awesome, but the best we can do is imagine, because while the game is Xbox Live aware, there's no multiplayer content to speak of. As for the game's length, I was able to beat Riddick in three sittings, accounting for about seven total hours. There are cigarette packs scattered throughout the game which unlock a bunch of extras like concept art and stills from the movie as well as the first chapter of the book adaptation of the movie, but they aren't quite enough to satisfy.

Riddick is an excellent game and a thoroughly enjoyable experience, but unfortunately the game is far too short. I don't say that too often, but I was left craving more out of the title. Thankfully, the game is pretty cheap to pick up now, and it's worth its price, even if it is short. With lots of unlockables and graphics that are sure to please, Riddick is a worthy addition to any Xbox gamer's collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/04