The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - Xbox review

16 August 2004 19:11 GMT / By Stuart Miles

It’s film tie-in time again and this time it’s the chaps over at Universal getting in on the action. It’s the usual story - big Hollywood blockbuster with more money than sense is bound to make a good video game surely? When this normally happens you normally end up with a turkey, yes there has been the odd exception to the rule, but on the whole it’s the sales shelf that movie tie-ins normally end up.

Trying to break this rule is Vivendi Universal’s Chronicles of Riddick. The storyline follows the events of the film as the main character, Riddick - played by Vin Diesel, escapes from Butcher Bay, the galaxy’s most deadliest prison.

The resulting game, currently exclusive to the Xbox, is your average first person shooter, with plenty of shadows and the game really looks like any other first person shooter you’ll come across. With the film not out until the end of the month, Universal is keen to build up some momentum and its hard to tell all the elements that will appear in both as we’ve yet to see the movie.

What you don’t need to see the film however to recognise is Vin Diesel’s voice over amongst other notable actors also in the film and it certainly gives extra credit to the game. Of course they are only one liners “hmm looks like things are going to get interesting” normally means a couple of guards are going to pile around the corner.

The game is suppose to also feature Riddicks Trademark “Eyeshine” which enables you to see in the dark, but in practice all it seems to do is turn the screen black and white and we found ourselves having to rely on the trusty fastlight more often than not that the main character’s history of eating too many carrots.

Verdict

Overall if you're a fan of the film, and like the idea of playing Riddick (aka Vin) for thirty minutes then this will certainly fill the void and as film tie-in game go its not actually that bad. If however you are looking for ground-breaking gameplay and new gameplay then you won't find it here. Good but really just the same old same old.