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Published
by Vivendi Universal Games
Developed by Starbreeze Studios
Released - Out Now
Price : £39.99
If
you've read our reviews over the years you'll know that
we don't think much of games that are based on movies. Usually
they are poor, average at best, and try to rely on the popularity
of the movie rather than trying to be a good game. It's
not just our opinion either and there are plenty of examples
of games based on movies that have got it horribly wrong
(Minority Report was particularly bad and is still one of
the worst games we've ever seen). There have been exceptions
to this but at best the games are mediocre. However, at
last, we finally have a game based on a movie that's an
absolute classic. It stands as a classic Xbox game because
it does a lot of things right and is a pleasure to play.
I haven't even seen the movie yet and it's not even required
because The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
is an unmissable experience that is easily the Xbox game
of the year so far.
Well
that was an emphatic introduction and whilst it's completely
accurate to describe the game as excellent it's not very
descriptive so we'd better go in to more detail. The Chronicles
of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay puts you in the role
of Riddick who at the beginning of the game is in pursuit
of a yeti type monster. During a conversation he reminisces
about his time in Butcher Bay. The action then switches
to his transportation to Butcher Bay and plays from there.
Right from the start the action is top notch and what I
really like about the game is that it's not just an out
and out FPS. There are times when you have to think to solve
puzzles and times when objectives have to completed before
you can progress. It's not just pick up a gun and go on
an all guns blazing trail to the end credits. In fact stealth
is required in some areas of the game if Riddick is to be
successful in his attempt to escape. Riddick will have to
use a variety of weapons but initially he'll only have his
fists. Fist fighting isn't too bad though. Using the right
trigger and left analogue stick it feels quite comfortable.
Riddick can perform stealth attacks too and it's possible
to attack from behind and break your victim's neck. Riddick
can even tussle with those who have a weapon and sometimes
you'll see the weapon go off and kill them which has to
be a first in a game.
Escape
from Butcher Bay has three difficulty modes and whilst most
will prefer the default normal mode, the easy mode is a
good option if you find the game tough going. The game uses
a checkpoint save system and the checkpoints aren't too
far apart. I never found myself in a situation where I had
to backtrack too much, which avoids any frustration. Riddick
has four health blocks at the beginning of the game. The
way it works is that each block will diminish with damage
taken but as long as a block is not completely eroded away
it will replenish when you're out of harm's way. Health
can be regained by using the NanoMed health units that you'll
find on your path to escape. As you progress through the
game you'll find several health stations that can upgrade
your health and this will give you additional health blocks.
You'll need this extra health too as the AI of your enemies
is pretty impressive. Guards will attempt to find cover
and will do their best to take you down. You'll also find
various cigarette packs lying around the place. Picking
these up will unlock such things as concept art which can
be viewed from the main menu.
If
I had to choose one word to describe Escape from Butcher
Bay it would have to be atmospheric. As you would expect
from a game based around trying to escape from a maximum
security futuristic prison the atmosphere is brutal and
gritty. Early on in the game, not long after Riddick arrives
at Butcher Bay, Riddick needs the co-operation of some of
the prisoners and they will only help him if he kills their
tormentors. The language used can also be strong at times
(hence the 16+ rating) but it's not over done for the sake
of it, which is good to see. The look and feel of the game
is just what you'd expect from a movie in that it is dramatic
and action packed and a great deal of attention has been
put into creating such a gripping atmosphere.
The
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay could well
be the finest looking Xbox, and indeed console game to date.
Everything from the character animations to the look of
the menus is absolutely first class. The quality of the
lighting and textures is truly impressive (you might not
notice immediately though as you'll be so focused on the
game play). As you can tell from a quick look at the screenshots
the game has a lot of dark moody looking areas that give
an added sense of desperation to the atmosphere. Most of
the areas in the game are confined spaces such as corridors
etc., but this serves to heighten the action and make for
some great shooting sequences. Mostly the game is played
from a first person perspective but there are moments when
you'll see Riddick from a third person perspective such
as when he climbs over certain obstacles. For the most part
the frame rate is constant too with dips rarely being seen.
One
of the things that hurts the most is finding an excellent
game and then finding out it's not deaf gamer friendly.
All too often there's a Halo, Half-Life or Doom III that
the rest of the world finds absolutely amazing whilst they
are useless for deaf gamers. Thankfully though this is not
the case with Escape from Butcher Bay. Never before have
I seen so many subtitle options and I hope it's a sign of
things to come. That said though the game is not completely
subtitled. Dialogue subtitles, cutscene subtitles, casual
subtitles and battle subtitles can be enabled (not all are
by default though).There are some voices which are not subtitled
such as enemies that are in the distance and the voices
from Nanomed health units are not subtitled either but overall
it's a fantastic effort by Starbreeze Studios. Of course
sound captions would have been great too but it's a relief
to see such a high profile game subtitled in such a fashion.
Objectives and tasks can be accessed at any time by pressing
the back button and all of this information is provided
in text which is essential because it's possible to have
numerous objectives at any one time.
The
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is simply
a class act from top to bottom. Trying to find fault with
the game is very hard to do but if I had to pick out a few
things I would have to say it would have been great to have
had audio captions and for the game to have been longer.
There's about a dozen hours play time here which isn't particularly
short for a game of this nature but when it's this good
you want it to go on. However it never really falls down
or goes flat in any part of the game and the developers
have maintained such a high standard throughout the game
that's very impressive to witness and is better than a game
that had gone on for longer only to have been of lesser
quality in parts. If you're looking for a rough, tough action
game on Xbox you won't find any better than The Chronicles
of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.
Overall
Game Rating: 9.2/10
An absolute cracker of a game that is sure to be regarded
as one of the best on the Xbox console. No longer can all
games that are based on movies be classed as mediocre as
Starbreeze have shown us what can be done with a movie licence
with this first class example.
Deaf
Gamers comment:
Great to see such an impressive range of subtitle options.
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