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Could...Not...Stop...Playing! A Masterful FPS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 73 / 78
Date: July 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Chronicles of Riddick- Escape From Butcher Bay(2004). Released on the XBox and PC(Since I couldn't find the XBOX one I'm doing the PC review).

In the past few years, the movie 'Pitch Black' has been hailed as a masterpiece from Sci-Fi fans everywhere, so it's no surprised that a sequel was made, starring, once again, Vin Diesel, entitled 'The Chronicles of Riddick'. In sort of a movie marketing scheme, Starbreeze decided to release a video game that would be a prequel to 'Pitch Black', entitled 'Escape From Butcher Bay', which chronicles(pun alert) Riddick's tenure at the Butcher Bay prison facility, and how he eventually escaped. Deciding to release it as a First Person Shooter, like the game 'Halo', I was enclined to pick 'Escape From Butcher Bay' after reading good reviews, and also that my favorite genre is First Person Shooters. So, did 'Escape From Butcher Bay' live up to my expectations, or fail miserably? Read on to find out....

Game Ratings-


Graphics- Could they be any better? The dark, gritty atmosphere dominated by bump-mapping and beautiful character designs make this one big piece of eye candy. 5/5

Play Control- The control is top-notch, as moving Riddick around, not to mention shooting, is a breeze, and I never found myself frustrated over the controls, except for the last segment where you piloted a Heavy Guard, but I didn't care because it was so fun! 4.5/5

Challenge- 'Escape From Butcher Bay' is definitely a challenge, at some points making you face multiple guards with only your fists, but at other times you can find yourself breezing through the game. There are very intricate puzzles, and that's what makes 'Escape From Butcher Bay' tough. 5/5

Storyline- 'Escape From Butcher Bay' is fun go through, because of the cut-scenes! I love the plot, and its gritty realism coupled with harsh realities make it plausible, even if it's not. Superb! 5/5

Replay Value- Although playing through the game over and over would get old, you are enticed to go back through the game and collect "Pack of Smokes" cartridges which enable you to unlock special features. Not the greatest Replay Value, but not bad...3/5

Sound/Music- 'Escape From Butcher Bay' has great sound affects, and when the bullets are flying, you KNOW! Plus not to mention great voice-acting, and they got Diesel to even voice himself. Unless you care, there really isn't any music, but it in no way takes away from the game! 5/5

Fun- 'Escape From Butcher Bay''s undoubtable strong point is in its fun factor, and I found myself blasting through robots, guards, zombies, and mutated creatures to finish this game in 2 Days! You have an insanely fun time blasting your way through 'Escape From Butcher Bay'!

Overall, 'The Chronicles of Riddick- Escape From Butcher Bay' sports excellence in every field, and this First Person Shooter is a masterpiece, and, while not being as good as 'Halo', still gives the player an unmistakeable feeling of having fun as you blast your way through the game. This game gets very tough at times, and I suggest you pick up an Official Strategy Guide to solve the puzzles and get all the Packs of Smokes.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO FANS OF VIDEO GAMES EVERYWHERE! PARENTS BE WARNED, 'ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY' HAS GRITTY AND GORY VIOLENCE AND STRONG LANGUAGE, SO I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE UNDER 18. HAVE A BLAST!

Also Recommended-

Halo-Xbox and PC
Splinter Cell- Xbox and PC
Rainbow Six 3- Xbox

Thanks For Reading!

Wow!! This game is a gem!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: January 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I just happened to be looking through Amazon.com, and I came across Escape From Butcher Bay. Thank God I did. This game is a real gem...one of the best action titles I've played all year. It holds its own with Far Cry, HL2 and Doom 3 or anything else for that matter. I've never been much of a Vin Diesel fan and didn't know much about the "Riddick" character, but this game changes everything. It's a perfect combination FPS, action game and RPG which comes off very, very well (I didn't even know this could be done).

The graphics are amazing -- an incredible depiction of stark metal, rock, concrete and dirt in a "max-max" security prison of the future. Some of the scenes look like the sci-fi portion of 3Dmark03 benchmark.

To add to the game's cinematic quality, Escape is the first title I've seen which has absolutely no HUD on screen. You can bring up information like missions, inventory, ammo, weapons, etc., but it disappears after a few seconds. There is no on-screen reticle (just use the weapon's red laser sight -- and a weapon like a minigun doesn't really need a sight). Health just shows up as white squares which quickly disappear.

Escape has great replay value too. Do you go for stealth (with a few snapped necks from behind or drop them with a non-lethal tranq/TAZER gun and stomp their heads after they go down) or do you try shooting it out (like an RPG your strategy requires some thought/choices)? Do you fight your way "up the ladder" (ever harder "cockfights" to the death against other inmates) to acquire the head guard's key card or do you buy some drugs and get busted on purpose? And there's usually more than one way to get from point A to point B.

The AI is pretty good - both for the guards and the other inmates. The fighting -- especially melee or with fists --is really good. (There's one sequence where you struggle with a guard, and if you press the "fire" and "use" keys just right, you'll turn his rifle around and shoot him in the head. Really well done).

Above all, the gameplay style seems to change just when you're starting to get bored with what you're doing. I have a fairly strong machine which is about a year old, and the game ran perfectly on highest settings. However, I've heard (on forums) that some people are having issues with it (like it won't launch, crashes a lot, etc.). Just something to consider along with the fact that this game is definitely NOT FOR KIDS. There's no sex, but the language is rough and it's very violent (no way to turn this off if you can't handle it).

Finally, my only really serious criticism of Escape is that it's kind of short (about 10-12 hours). From talking with Xbox owners, it seems that the PC version includes an extra sequence where you get to go crazy with an anti-riot suit (two mini-guns). Unfortunately, this doesn't even add an hour to the gameplay. But once you beat Escape, you unlock and get to play a "developers' level" (hence "developers' cut") which is like having the game developers and/or programmers sitting next to you and explaining how different game sequences were done. Very interesting if you're really into gaming. I'd like to see this feature on more games (like how did they DO that?).

This is what a video game should be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: December 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I always thought Vin Deisel was a cheesehead and that games made from movies were mostly crappy and thrown together in 10 days. But THIS GAME IS TOP NOTCH!

I'd say this hands down beats DOOM 3, which is too dark most of the time to enjoy the scenery on my newish video card. With Chronicles, I had time to really notice the real-time lighting and shadows. Whats the point of having the amazing character models in DOOM 3 if you have to shoot everything before you can get a good long look and appreciate the art?

This game has a really cool storyline, it's really amazing to look at, it's not watered down for children, and it's pretty open ended as far as what you can do. You can even drag corpses around to hide them from guards. I really haven't enjoyed a game this much in years. You can tell this game was made by people who love good video games.

If your video card can handle it, and you want to play a game that involves more then just shooting zombies, this is it.

This is what a first person action game should be. As entertaining as a good movie, and as interesting and fun as a well made video game.

Story based "Adult" First Person Shooter

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: February 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

**Not for children**

Butcher Bay happens to fit the niche nicely. After Half-Life 2 there was only really the Call of Duty: United Offensive as a good first person shooter (Doom 3 being an older game now and Far Cry also... you should play all of these if you have not). Riddick comes off the back of a very bad sequel to the surprise hit Pitch Black. Here we actually play a game that should maybe have been the sequel. It is certainly heaps better.

The premise is very good. You are Riddick in a maximum security prison somewhere on a planet with inmates voiced by leading actors and facial expressions that are nearly as good as HL2. The atmosphere of the prison is A+ as you go about the place taking on various missions in the cells (fighting, buying drugs, snubbing out bosses, causing a riot, doing jobs for people) so that you can... escape Butcher Bay.

The menu is astonishing at first as it opens up like a cube and the buttons move around, however owners of ATI RADEON cards may experience some shading difficultly and a few glitches in the cut sequences and models now and again (there a number of shading options to help improve this). Riddick is mostly about stealth moves, like grabbing people from behind and either slicing them or breaking their neck. You can get into hand-to-hand combat where the enemies face actually bruises and bleeds. Clubs and knives have a similar effect. The story breaks nicely at the end of each level where you meet your foes. Riddick banters off some classic one-liners and there is quite a bit of swearing. You can talk to some of the characters and choose your answers.

Once the prison riot starts, you are given weapons to escape the prison and the real rush begins (Doom 3 type fast and furious blasting). Enemy AI is quite good and the game plays very smoothly from start to finish. For all intensive purposes, the game play is very much like DEUS EX but the graphics are a way better. It is surprising how long this game is, given that it just seems like a movie tie-in package. It is not. This is a FULLY FLEDGED first person shooter all the way.

I had difficulty running this on a 256mb card, 3ghz P4 and 1gig of ram on full screen resolution and had to take the graphics down a bit. It seems like this game is more for the 512mb series on the way. Anything less than a 128mb card may not do the game justice.

It seems that high-end graphics "adult" first person shooters are back again! Bottom line is to play it.

Pros:
- Great Story
- Great Graphics
- As good as any new 1st person shooter.
- It is long.

Cons:
- Not enough stealth jump moves.
- Enemy AI can sometimes get a little repetitive.
- Needs a fast high spec machine to run properly.
- Some glitches with ATI users.

great great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 21
Date: August 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Man o Man .. I could write this whole page worth of stuff but it still wouldnt be enough to explain how awesome this game is.
I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommend this game. If i had to rate this game 1-10 i would rate it 10000. Buy it.

Remarkably free of convention

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It is rare that one experiences a series of incredible titles over the space of the past six months. While the much-touted Doom 3 ultimately failed to deliver in the gameplay stakes, other big-name offerings such as Half-Life 2 proceeded to add a new dimension to the first person shooter genre. Thus it comes as a welcome surprise that The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay maintains, and even improves on the fine state of the genre. The first game created by the studio Starbreeze, The Chronicles of Riddick (COR) succeeds on all fronts, from its visceral hand-to-hand combat using fists, shivs and screwdrivers to its more traditional shooter elements. While predominantly a shooter, COR breaks convention by the inclusion to several truly innovative additions, all of which transcend the genre.

The opening is impressively cinematic, with the camera tracking Riddick as he is led into the notorious triple-max prison, Butcher Bay. As in a film, the names of actors scroll across the screen, with Vin Diesel and Ron Perlman adding considerable voice talent to the mix. The score is remarkable, ranging from brooding and melancholy to moments of thumping action, worthy of any film. In combat sequences the music accelerates in pace, before slowly subsiding. Graphically, the game is amazing. Though there is little in the way of scenery (The game takes place in a prison, after all), the levels are unbelievably detailed, from the rust on the walls and lavatories to the patterning on the guards' armor. Lighting effects are well implemented, with realistic shadows. While not as precise as Half Life 2, the facial features of the main characters are well rendered and more than adequate.

The gameplay is equally astounding. Within the prison Riddick can interact with other prisoners, each with their own voice and personality, and it is here that the innovative gameplay elements truly excel. Riddick can choose to fight his way through a brutal competition, to steal from his fellow prisoners, to bribe, and to trick his way through the prison. By providing the player with different conversation options, the game changes into an adventure-fighting game rather than a shooter. Stealth elements also play a major role in the game, with Riddick frequently having to shrink back into the shadows to escape detection. As a shooter, COR is also refreshingly different. Unlike other games of this ilk, there is no Heads Up Display (HUD) for health and ammo. Rather, the gamer must read the ammo remaining from the glow of the gun, and the health appears in small white squares at the top of the screen when Riddick takes damage. In this way the game becomes far more visceral than any other offering to date. During the game, Riddick also gains his notorious "eye-shine" ability, adding yet another dimension to the game. This gives a distinct advantage when the lights are disabled.

The plot is simple but effective. Captured by the mercenary Johns, Riddick is taken to the seemingly inescapable prison Butcher Bay. The game revolved around his efforts to escape from this hellish jail.

In conclusion, COR is a thoroughly entertaining game. The incorporation of other elements not found in other games of this ilk is both innovative and refreshing, and accompanied by a fine score, great voice talent and crisp, detailed graphics, COR is destined to be a classic, far better than its abysmal film counterpart. Please note, however that the game is abundant with expletives.

Unexpectedly good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have a question for some of the so-called reviewers below? If you can't even install the game, that means you haven't played it, right? So why are you in here wasting our time? This is for reviews of the game itself, not whether you have some technical issue with it. Fix your machine (because the game works fine for the rest of us), play the game, and then come here and review it.

As for the game itself, I would rate it very highly, although it it is not without some flaws. But even taking those flaws into account, I would say that the Escape from Butcher Bay is easily one of the top 5 action games of 2004.

1. Graphics and environment - 5/5
Arguably the best graphics for any PC game out there right now, that includes Doom 3. Environments are much more varied and larger than what you get in Doom 3 as well.
2. Gameplay - 4/5
Excellent overall gameplay experience. Melee combat is good, but weapons feel somewhat odd and some feel underpowered. Gameplay requires strategic thinking and there are multiple paths to specific goals. Game gives the player the option to choose nonviolent methods for solving problems. Game is a challenging "sneaker" in many areas, where evasion is preferred strategy over confrontation. NPC interaction is sophisticated and interesting. Player abilities (like healing and vision) progress as the game moves along adding a slight RPG element to the mix.
3. Plot - 4/5
Is actually quite well paced, and above average for your typical FPS fare. A few other characters from Pitch Black and CoR make appearances, most notably Johns who plays a key role as plot progresses. Overall, the presentation is extremely cinematic and has high production values.
4. Replay value - 4/5
The developer mode is interesting and worth a replay.

The game does require a fairly fast computer with a very good DirectX 9 video card. If you don't have either of these, you wil still be able to play the game, but just not with all the graphical bells and whistles it features.

Riddick Rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While the movies that this game branches from are mediocre if good at best, the game comes out of nowhere with dazzling graphics and gameplay. There was little if any hype leading up to this title yet now it satnds alone as possibly the best first person shooter of 2004. Better even than say Doom 3 which while having decent graphics and gameplay falls slightly short to this newcomer from Starbreeze Studios, one look and touch of this game and your hooked and unlike Doom where you basically blow everything to "hell" (pun intended) you have to solve puzzles and use stealth all the while in Riddick. So if you don't have this game and are skeptical get it or play it and it will surprise you.

Good things come from Sweden

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: February 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Butcher Bay is a first rate adventure/shooter. The game world's detail shows a fully realized world. The game play keeps itself pretty simple like the interface, but draws you into the excitement without interrupting the suspension of disbelief.

Though replayability is limited, the "director's commentary" is a novel (in video games- though I'm interested it Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault for it's similar feature) and welcome insight into many aspects of a video game's creation, covering executive decisions, technical accomplishments, reviewer and player reactions, influences, and much more.

The attention to detail in Butcher Bay elevates this game to a 5 star game. Here are some specifics that I enjoyed:
1) A realistic flashlight! For once, the flashlight isn't a round spot of white light kinda shining in front of you but leaving the periphery in darkness. BB's flashlight effect fades realistically into a cone of light, illuminating all around you and fading into the distance.

2) Shadows. The shadows are rendered based all each source of light and it's intensity. Seeing your shadow move as you do, grow on a wall, fade due to walking past a light, then recede as you continue down the hallway is remarkable.

3) No daft voice acting that makes you cringe. While the characters are certainly of the comic book persuasion, the voice acting through out the game is consistently of a very high quality. The variety of accents serves to add depth to the characters.

4) Understated music. The music is used appropriately without drawing attention to itself. No techno, no H4rd c0r3 Rock and Roll or heavy metal, or anything else to remind you that Riddick is one bad assssassin.

To be fair, there are a few features that I would have liked implemented in Butcher Bay. First, there should have been a mini-game that lets you take dead bodies and "butcher" them. Over time you could expand your clientele and even create new cuts of meat unlocking new, sharper knives. After all, this is "butcher" bay- let's not have false advertising. Second, to make up for the fact that there is not a single female in the story (unless some of those guards are hiding something) an "enlarged breast tissue" feature would have made some of the more difficult parts a little more relaxing. It would also have tied into "butcher mode" rather well. Finally, I'm all for cool looking riot gear, but why wasn't there an "underwear" mode? I would have enjoyed playing through the director's commentary mode more if all the characters were in their underwear.

In any other game I wouldn't even bring these finer points up, but I don't want to seem uncritical.

best FPS out there...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

doom 3 i thought was ok.
half-life 2 was incredible.
but this one is the best FPS out there. i can't believe how it got swept under the rug because of the other bigger names i guess. it's an outstanding game. and it's cheap. not for kids, with some language and obviously tons of violence, but for an adult FPS lover this is the game you have to have.

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