The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004) (VG)

Director:

Tom Keegan

Writers:

Mikael Säker (head writer) and
John Zuur Platten (writer) ...

Release Date:

1 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Set before the events of "Pitch Black", this game tells the story of how Richard B. Riddick obtained his ability to see in the dark...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Warrior | Prequel | Set In Future | Blood

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Vin Diesel	...	Richard B. Riddick (voice)
Cole Hauser	...	William J. Johns (voice)
Kristin Lehman	...	Shirah (voice)
Xzibit	...	Abbott (voice)
Willis Burks II	...	Pope Joe (voice)
Ron Perlman	...	Jagger Valance (voice)
Michael Rooker	...	Centurion / Jack (voice)
Arnell Powell	...	Jupiter (voice)
Dwight Schultz	...	Hoxie (voice)
Steve Blum	...	Rust (voice) (as Steven Jay Blum)
Joshua Leonard	...	Coyne / Two Tongue (voice)
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Mattsson / Silencio / Zuni / Fateen (voice) (as Joaquim de Alemeida)
Arthur Burghardt	...	Booger / Haamid / Thunder / Wilkins (voice)
Lombardo Boyar	...	Theo / Zlonzo / Barassa (voice)
Michael Chinyamurindi	...	Jamel-Udeen / Lambert / Barney (voice)

Country:

USA | Sweden

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Uppsala, Uppsala län, Sweden

Company:

Starbreeze Studios

Trivia:

Originally the opening sequence where Riddick is first lead into the prison was not to have an appearance by Abbott. Instead Riddick was to have been lead in by a normal guard who was voiced by John Di Maggio. Later the developers realized that the sequence would be all the more powerful if Abbott was the one to bring Riddick in.

Quotes:

Hoxie: What to do, what to do... hmmm. I've got entire regions rioting. My slam has become a damn warzone. I'm losing men faster than I can replace them... and all this unrest... well, it began soon after you arrived, Riddick.
Richard B. Riddick: Could be a coincidence.

Movie Connections:

References Pitch Black (2000)

A movie-based game that actually is really, really good.

Anyone with a remote interest in video games have probably noticed that, with a few exceptions, games based on movies tend to be, well... crap (and vice versa for that matter). The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is however both an exception to this rule and in some ways a milestone when it comes to collaboration between the video gaming industry and Hollywood.

Everything in this game just resonates quality. From the highly impressive graphics to the story to the voice acting and enemy AI. From the moment you slip the disc into your Xbox it's obvious that some real talent and hard work went into this product. TCoR: EfBB also blends shooting, hand-to-hand fighting and stealth elements all in a first person perspective in a very clever way, with the shooting portion being the meat and potatoes of the game. There's been a few games that has tried to pull off this variety of elements before, but Escape from Butcher Bay is the only one so far that has implemented it properly.

The only real downside to the game that I found was that it was a bit on the short side. Depending on which difficulty you choose and how much you are into exploring the surroundings and such, you should be looking at the region of 9-16 hours of game play (I recommend you play this game on hard difficulty!). This is certainly a game you would want to come back and play again though, first and foremost since it's so damn fun and secondly since there's plenty of unlockable extras scattered around the game in terms of trailers, concept art etc.

I give it a well deserved 9/10.