The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

""Pain and I are old friends.""

Vin Diesel may not be an Oscar-winner, but he's a pretty good actor when faced with the right roles and has managed to land himself in some pretty decent films, the most relevant of which (to this review, at least) was 2000's Pitch Black. In the interesting sci-fi film, Diesel played an ex-convict named Richard B. Riddick, a badass anti-hero that cared little for anyone but himself and would only fight what got in his way. What made him an interesting character was that he played a central role, despite being a despicable person, and we found ourselves rooting for him. Little did we know then that the film Pitch Black was actually the prelude to an epic sci-fi trilogy (that started with 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick, which was, by the way, a decent movie). But it doesn't end there. The prelude to Pitch Black comes not in the form of a feature film, but in the form of a videogame. That videogame is The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

Chronicles of Riddick the game tells the story of Riddick's first escape, and details all the trouble he had to go through to do so. At the beginning of the game, he's captured and taken to, you guessed it, Butcher Bay – one of the tightest prisons in the galaxy, as few, if any, people have ever escaped. Well, they've never contained Riddick before. You'll control Riddick in his little “adventures” in Butcher Bay, as he repeatedly makes attempts to escape the prison for good, and is continuously sent to higher- and higher-level security by warden Hoxie to ensure a more difficult journey. And, this game will also explain how Riddick got his trademark Eyeshine – the ability to see in the dark.

Butcher Bay is one hell of a grim place. It's no wonder Riddick wants to escape so badly. This is one of the most atmospheric games on Xbox, simply because it perfectly conveys the cold, miserable feeling of being locked in with little (if any) chance of seeing daylight again. As Riddick says in one narrated cutscene that Butcher Bay was simply containment – they can keep the prisoners there, but they can't control them. Security turrets will mow down prisoners for even the slightest violation, and these occasional moments provide the only entertainment the prisoners know of. Graffiti covers the walls. Prisoners form gangs and will kill you if you step into their territory. And what's best is that Chronicles of Riddick is unimaginably gritty and doesn't sacrifice anything to be so. I don't think I've ever seen or heard an uncensored f-word in a videogame before. Here, they're all over the place, to the point that it's almost shocking. Punch a guy and blood shoots out. This is not a kids' game.

An interesting little dream sequence at the beginning of the game will help solidify the interesting controls that are used to move Riddick around and do whatever there is to do in the game. Chronicles of Riddick controls, in general, like a standard first-person shooter, with one analog stick for moving around and one for looking and aiming. The difference is that this feels more natural. As you move Riddick around, you can sort of feel him taking each individual step. The view will occasionally switch to third-person whenever you perform an action such as hanging on a ledge or climbing a ladder. All of your basic move are simply to pull of and done with a simple button press, making the play control itself very simple to understand. But don't let that fool you – there are many complex maneuvers here that you may more than master by the time you're done.

Although Chronicles of Riddick may be billed as an FPS, don't let that fool you – there really isn't a whole lot of shooting in this game, although you will occasionally find yourself in the middle of some nice, juicy action. You see, throughout the game you'll be spending time in cells and such. If the security cameras catch you with a weapon equipped, the guards will take action. On top of that, many guns throughout the game are “DNA-encoded”, meaning they will zap anyone who isn't registered in the system. This was done to prevent prisoners, obviously, from just picking up a gun and firing away. The problem this causes you is that most of the time you won't have access to big guns and will only have access to what is either found or bought from other prisoners. This generally means you'll be limited to a selection of melee weapons.

Don't worry, however, because the hand-to-hand fighting system in Chronicles of Riddick is just as fun as shooting things, if not more so, thanks to the level of satisfaction it brings when you pull off a lethal move. When you've got a melee weapon (such as a shiv or a club) equipped, you can either attack with the right trigger or block with the left. However, the attack you perform depends on which direction on the left thumbstick you're tilting in unison with pulling the trigger. So, you could move left and right for a moment to beat a guy over and over again upside the head with your club, then pull back and unleash a devastating downward swing, which will finally end the poor chap's pitiful existence. Not only will you be faced with many encounters in which you must battle you way out with a set of physical attacks, but it also lends a hand in stealth.

Let's say for a moment that you come to a fairly large room, filled with shadows, in which two fully armed guards are roaming the open areas. You can't take them down from where you re because you don't have a gun, and are forced to either kill them with what you have or just sneak around them undetected. Chronicles of Riddick often times becomes a stealth-action game, and not because you're able to, but because the odds make it so. As I mentioned, most of the time you're won't even have a gun to shoot at the guards with, forcing you to use your wits and get by with what you have. You can crouch at any time, and a blue tint will let you know when you can't be seen. You can either go by the traditional formula of jumping from safe spot to safe spot when no one is looking, or you can take out the guards you come across and get them out of the way.

Although you occasionally will have access to a fairly generic set of guns, most of the time you'll have to rely on your fists, your melee weapons and perhaps a tranquilizer gun. The trick to getting through Chronicles of Riddick is the set of lethal moves. If you crouch down and get right behind a security guard without being noticed, you can pull the trigger to jump up and snap his neck, or shove your screwdriver through his back. Now he's dead and done with. If you ever get into a face-to-face battle with a guard and he's got a gun, by pulling the trigger at the right time you can grab his gun, aim it at his face, and… well, turn it against him. If you have the tranq gun, you can shoot out lights Splinter Cell-style and create darkness for yourself. Or you can zap a guard, walk up to him, and stomp him lethally.

As a matter of fact, actually sneaking around and engaging in hand-to-hand combat is more interesting than actually shooting away at the enemies you find. In those moments when you do have a gun and are forced to shoot your way through the remainder of the level, Chronicles of Riddick sinks to the level of a fairly average and not-so-fun FPS. The AI itself isn't very good, simply because it's inconsistent. One moment, a guard may know exactly where you are before he even sees you. The next minute, you could walk in front of a guard and he won't see you immediately, despite the fact that he's shining his flashlight on you. To make things worse, there are some moments in the game (such as the Pit level) where you'll be faced with the task of getting through a cavern and will have to shoot through dozens and dozens of identical-looking enemies that seem to spawn out of nowhere. These uninspired and repetitive segments detract from an excellent overall experience.

Also hurting these shoot-a-thon moments is the generic weapons selection, which I mentioned before. The set of ranged weapons you'll come in contact with (aside from the fun tranq gun, which isn't useful in action-oriented sections) consists of pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, grenades, and an occasional minigun or two. You'll have to rely on picking up ammo from dead guards or buying it elsewhere. The interesting things is that the ammo gauge or the right side of the screen only tells you how many clips you have, whereas the number of rounds in a clip are only indicated on the gun itself. When you reload, you replace the current clip with a new one. So, if you don't use up all of the rounds in a clip before replacing it, that ammo is gone forever. It's a surprisingly realistic way of handling reloads. Also, there is no crosshair, but rather, every gun has a laser sight.

Believe it or not, though, my favorite sections of Chronicles of Riddick were those moments when you're not trying to escape, but rather simply exploring the cells you've been put in. As a prisoner, you're not always in danger, and when you're wandering around your cellblocks with the other prisoners (and provided you don't have weapons equipped) you're perfectly safe to stay in plain sight and talk with guards and other prisoners. These sections of the game had this sort of KOTOR-like feeling, as you can talk with prisoners and even accept missions from them, such as “go here and kill this guy” or “get this items for me”. Completing optional missions for other prisoners not only gives the game an expanded and less linear feeling, but it can often times result in getting smoke packs, the game's collectible doodad of choice (finding a pack of smokes results in unlocked bonus content, such as concept art and movie stills).

And Chronicles of Riddick is certainly a very good-looking game as well. In fact, it's one of the best-looking Xbox games, to be sure. Although there are a few texture problems (close-up textures are blurry and don't take full advantage of Xbox's power), the character models, especially Riddick himself, look almost frighteningly realistic and the lighting is superb. The game even has widescreen mode! Unfortunately, though, I've noticed that when Chronicles of Riddick converts to an in-game cutscene, the picture often times looks very compressed, taking away from the movie-like feel. At least the presentation is boosted by the excellent voiceovers, especially from Vin Diesel, who simply rocks. His deadpan delivery of every line perfectly fits the character, and some of the best voice work I've ever heard in a videogame. Also notable is Ron Perlman as another escape convict.

Pros

+ A cold, gritty, atmospheric and gorgeous action game.
+ Controls are simple and easy to grasp, but deep as well.
+ Hand-to-hand combat feels great.
+ A wide set of moves with huge environments and multiple paths.
+ The game really enforces stealth.
+ Lots of variety in level design.
+ Lots of optional missions and secrets.
+ Great voice work, especially from Vin Diesel.

Cons

- The shooting segments aren't as fun.
- The enemy AI ranges from passable to laughable.
- Generic weapon set.
- A bit on the short side.
- Some in-game cutscenes look extremely compressed.
- The music is uninspired.

Overall: 8/10

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a surprisingly fresh and innovative take on several genres, and as a result is a game that I think every Xbox owner should at least play, if not altogether buy. The presentation isn't exactly polished, but the graphics are terrific, and the voiceovers are among the best in any game. And while the game works better in some areas than others, it plays well altogether and as a whole is, simply put, a lot of fun. And furthermore, if you're a fan of the Riddick films, this game provides some crucial back-story, including how Riddick got his patented Eyeshine. However uneven this game can be, it's still an amazing trip with gameplay that's constantly on the run and always has something new around every corner.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/05