I'm a sucker for stealth games that utilize shadows as a hiding place. But unfortunately this didn't hit. I haven't seen Chronicles of Riddick so there could be a lot I'm missing here, however I've been told it's fine to play as its own thing.

There's a big issue I have with this game. Not only does it feel way too restrictive at points, but the stealth system is weird as hell and kinda broken. Maybe I'm too picky because Thief 1-3 really heightened my standards for what a stealth game should be, but I don't like how it feels less like, and idk if this makes sense, but it feels less like you can hide in the shadows and more like you're hiding in invisible boxes. Like you aren't quite hiding in the shadows.

The screen glowing blue while in the shadows feels too specific. It might be a lighting issue but there were parts that were way too well lit and I was still hiding in the shadows apparently. hence why it feels like you're more or less hiding in a box. I don't know how else to put it.

The thing with stealth games like Thief and Splinter Cell is that it feels like the shadow systems are dynamic and that makes it feel right. There's games where that isn't explicitly the case yet it works, like in Manhunt for example.

I dunno tho I just didn't vibe with this game.

A standout first-person stealth game for the original Xbox carried by some solid level design, a tense and cinematic atmosphere with a compelling plot, visceral melee combat, and some of the best visuals on the system. Funny to think they were able to make the game better than the movie it was a tie-in for.

Fun fact: Vin Diesel himself held some influence over the game's direction, and suggested that the game focus more on stealth than traditional FPS action as initially planned, which ultimately benefited the game's design significantly, and allowed it to stand-out from other FPS contemporaries, making it more reminiscent of the Thief games in some ways.

Eu já gostava dos filmes da franquia As Crônicas de Riddick, mas quando soube que dois jogos FPS e stealth foram lançados, eu fiquei com muita vontade de jogá-los. Completei o primeiro jogo e caraca, É ESPETACULAR!!

Sem brincadeira, foi um dos jogos mais imersivos que já joguei, e quase tudo nele é incrível de verdade. Os gráficos são lindos até para os padrões de 2023, a trilha-sonora (pelo menos pra mim) é bacana, e a gameplay mano... É SENSACIONAL. Você realmente se sente como o Riddick, personagem do Vin Diesel nos filmes e jogos. O jogo consegue misturar muito bem momentos de FPS tradicional, bem inspirados na velha guarda, mas também possui longos momentos de stealth que são realmente bons.

Esse jogo infelizmente vendeu pouquíssimo, ainda mais levando em conta que a franquia não é das mais populares. Porém, o que o estúdio Starbreeze fez pelo jogo é algo de se aplaudir de pé.

O empenho do estúdio em produzir este 1° jogo e lançá-lo em 2004 foi extraordinário. Eles fizeram de tudo para que o jogo saísse da melhor maneira possível, e também tentaram trazer ótimas idéias dos próprios filmes para o jogo, e elas funcionaram perfeitamente.

E não para por aí. O estúdio Starbreeze é tão foda que eles decidiram remasterizar o 1° jogo, melhorando MUITO os gráficos, tornando ele um jogo lindíssimo até hoje, e ainda por cima fizeram uma continuação, que ainda não joguei, mas parece ser muito boa também. Isso é algo de se louvar, pois o estúdio correu um risco tremendo com o 2° jogo, já que o 1° foi um fracasso de vendas. Eles literalmente se arriscaram pra fazer um remaster + continuação de um jogo que vendeu quase nada, tudo porque eles amam a franquia e o jogo original.

Isso tudo prova que eles são um estúdio de jogos de verdade, e são poquíssimos os estúdios (grandes e indies) que tem culhões para se arriscar desse jeito por amor à obra.

Dou nota 10 pra esse jogo pois tanto ele quanto sua história de produção são sensacionais. Espero que mais pessoas redescubram ele com o tempo. Infelizmente, ele não está disponível mais à venda oficialmente, então o jeito (até 2023 pelo menos) é baixá-lo de maneira extraoficial.

Enfim, é isso. Jogasso, jogão, pérola dos FPS e stealth e mais uma vez Vin Diesel mostra que é uma lenda.

I've only heard good things about this game and I have to say that despite some really boring and somewhat bullshit AI it's a pretty fun (and sometimes funny) game based on the movies starring Vin Diesel and he's voicing Riddick once again in the game as well. Not much to say about the gameplay but it does mix it up pretty well. Sadly the AI is braindead so a lot of times you can just sneak up on them almost get seen and still backstab them. Or if you don't they just alert everyone immediately and you have to hide or kill them, something that isn't always possible because this is also a sneaking game. Overall it's a neat experience and it's worth playing through, especially if for some reason you liked the movies well enough.

I was really impressed with how far ahead of its time this game was. It is a first person shooter/stealth game with RPG and platforming and survival-horror elements. It honestly reminded me of Fallout (years before that franchise went to first person shooter/RPG), Dishonored, and Prey. I was really impressed with the physics of this game. The dead body dragging stuff was really next level. I was impressed with the scope of this game especially considering it was a movie tie-in game that came out in 2004. They didn't have to go as big as they did but I'm glad they did. It's a fun game that moves quickly and there is a lot to explore. It's fairly linear but not wholly and it never feels like you are rehashing the same corridors over and over. Some of the graphical things were really impressive for the time too like how you will occasionally see Riddick's shadow based on the player movement and lighting.

But overall the graphics don't hold up and the textures and polygons mostly look like crap now. I did like the colors and overall design of this game. The characters' mouths moving when speaking is probably the worst offender of "past graphics that don't hold up" in this game.

The voice cast features plenty of actors/characters from the movies as well as a couple of big names from the industry. However, it felt like the game didn't get the most out of its cast. So many of the actors just sounded so sleepy during the whole thing.

As impressive as the physics were it seemed like you never had to use the dead body drag mechanic all that much. The AI was smart, almost too smart. Any time I tried stealth they would spot you immediately. You would barely peak out of a corner and the guards would start blasting you. This caused me to basically abandon stealth all together and basically speed run the game. I liked that there were little RPG style fetch quest side missions, but I played the game fairly linearly and before I knew it I was escaping from Butcher Bay and the credits were rolling. I never got a chance to return some of the items I found along the way because the game didn't bring me back to the spot where I accepted the quest. I guess that's on me for assuming it would.

Overall this was a really impressive game given the year it came out and the type of game it was. It reminded me of so many modern games I've played in the last 10 years or so. It was fun, interesting, and a breeze to get through. I'm really glad a copy of this was included with my PS3 version of Dark Athena because the obsessive compulsive completionist in me felt like I had to play the first game first. It's better than most movie games you will come across, but it's not without its pitfalls.

I was very surprised by this one with vin diesel on the cover i cant say i expected quality but it is a cult classic so I gave it a chance and it is good the mechanics are very wonky the combat is weird and the stealth doesn't work half the time you walk at a snails pace but even with all that the atmosphere and immersion are so good even though this is not an amazing story there is such a good drive behind it with wanting to escape this awful prison most everything in the game exists in a diegetic way which I think then it's weird that u have such an awkward weapon wheel and that the game likes to cut very randomly to 3rd person animations i get they wanna show ur playing as diesel man in this first-person game but bad decision imo overall though its game that shouldn't work but it does heavily pushed by the atmosphere and a fairly interesting progression there basically a few main areas that branch out and open up its back tracking done well.

Platform: PlayStation 3
Date Started: July 13th, 2023
Date Finished: July 19th, 2023
Time Played: Unknown

"The wolf moves among sheep."

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is a frustratingly mixed one. When it's good, it's absolutely fantastic - the social hub areas are so great, the little side quests and jobs you can do for people, the environments, the dialogue and voice acting, it's all just absolutely stellar stuff. The other areas, however, such as the mines and the underground facilities, areas where combat is super heavy and things get a bit clunky, really feel like they drag the game down and soil an otherwise terrific experience.

All of the moments that are set in the main prison are top tier stuff. Helping inmates for information, sneaking through the guards quarters whilst donning a uniform and blending in, poisoning someones food, getting into arena fights - this is everything I remembered from my first playing the game on the original Xbox, and for good reason. The combat isn't all that great and the stealth is pretty weak thanks to guards being able to spot you even at a small glance, and on top of this the backtracking and navigation can be a little obtuse - it's clear to me where the game's strengths are, though, and these strengths make the game such a good time.

Riddick is a strong anti-hero, and all of the other main side characters are brilliant too - although how Johns just shows up behind you every time you reach the conclusion to a main story point is beyond me. Besides that, and a few cheesy lines aside, the writing and performances are great, and it really gives a high quality, premium feel to the game, something worthy of being a licensed game instead of something cheap and churned out.

It'll probably be a little while before I play the other entry in this series, but I had a good time with this first one.

Has some significant problems. The game looks really greasy/oily and the AI is pretty dumb. They'll just stand there when you're behind a box and have already been spotted. The FPS combat feels stiff. You can't look behind cover or zoom in with a scope on any gun. This wouldn't be a huge deal if combat were optional (as a last resort if stealth fails), but sometimes it's required. The health system definitely feels tailored for stealth over shooting (you die very quickly), but you're still forced to do scripted shooting segments. The lack of a manual save option is irritating and reeks of consolitis.

Столько лет я жил во лжи! "Риддик" всегда называли стелс игрой, а оказалось, что это какой-то уёбищный мутант: корявый стелс и убогий шутер. Я не смог доиграть в это дерьмо. Наиграл часа 3, судя по ютюбу это что-то около трети игры.

И начинается-то все не так плохо: Дизель играет на весь свой талант, графон опережает время, атмосфера присутствует. Маленькие локации с подзагрузками хочется прощать - игра немолодая. И первое задание - убить местного пахана - подозрений не вызывает. Ну, подумаешь, драки так себе. Не ужасные даже, просто не очень.

Потом тебя отправляют в мед. отсек. И вот тут подозрения-то и закрадываются. Игра пишет: старайтесь держаться в тени и не шуметь, и сразу после этого совета ты открываешь дверь, делаешь 2 шага и тебя расстреливает охранник, потому что тени в этом месте нет совсем. Ну ладно, косячок левелдизайна, решил я (какая-то тень от стены там баговала, показывая, что я то скрытен, то нет).

Потом дают пушку и заставляют пробиваться через охрану, подавляющую бунт. В прямых коридорах на тебя выбегает по 2-3 охранника и ебашат прямо в лицо. Прятаться негде, только за поворотом. На стенах висят турели, убить их можно с одного попадания. Но разглядеть их трудно, даже если знаешь, где они висят. Импакт - нулевой. Никакого ощущения попадания во врага. Пушки различаются только скорострельностью и разбросом.

Наконец, выдают ночное зрение. Ну, думаю, щас-то стелс начнется. Но начинается совсем пиздец. 2 раза выключил свет и придушил в темноте 2-х охранников. (После выяснил, что тут можно было взять форму техника для скрытного прохождения дальнейшего уровня, но у меня форма почему-то не бралась). Врагов по-прежнему мало, но Риддик хрупкий как пиздец, оружие издалека косое, а по стелсу проходить просто нет возможности. Я не выдержал и забил.

Из хорошего тут только графон, атмосфера, игра актеров и, возможно, история. Но всё перечеркивается адово всратым геймплеем. Я не верю, что это было хорошо тогда, потому что это слишком плохо. Самая перехваленная игра на моей памяти.

this is a weird one because there's lots of really cool things this game does:

a pretty large world that's mostly interconnected and wraps around on itself in some cool ways, like legit has a few "oh i was here an hour ago and didn't know what this part of the level was for, it's really sick that i ended up back here" moments

honestly really well done voice performances with really funny dialogue, vin diesel is so good and massive props to whoever wrote his stuff for this game because its perfect and hilarious and awesome

sick atmosphere with some neat setpieces and fun little exploration puzzles that are fun to figure out about 80% of the time

HOWEVER. god it feels really bad to play sometimes. there's some stealth sections that are laid out really well, but enemies will rapidly switch between "i don't notice a grate being kicked out directly in front of my face" and "i saw a pixel of riddick's arm from 100 feet away through a crack in a wall and now the entire level is shooting at you insantly'" without any warning or consistency, and it ends up turning those 'good' stealth sections into just "follow this exact path you've minmaxed over and over until the game works and enemy detection doesnt break"

and the gunplay is kind of horrible, with the exception of the few times that enemies are spread out 1 at a time, and you can crawl through areas and pop them with a quick headshot. that feels good. but the rest of the time, they have crazy good aim and your gun will shoot literally everywhere except the reticle unless you are directly on top of them with a shotgun

oh, and there was also like 4 or 5 times where i'd make it through some wild scenario with 1 hp left and get to the place i thought i was supposed to be going, only for the button prompt or cutscene to just decide not to load this time, and have to just die and do it again before it worked

so... yeah. its weird. very neat little game with some really cool ideas that is just kinda painful to actually play a lot of the time and frequently feels like you're playing it wrong. but i still had fun? really makes you think

There once was a time, back in the early 2000’s, where first-person shooters were breaking ground and shaking the industry. Deus Ex, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Quake, and various other franchises were considered the “Golden Era” of FPS. The Chronicles of Riddick was one of my favorite movies growing up as a kid. Vin Diesel was a mysterious, sinister badass and the movie was oozing with character, atmosphere, and insane dieselpunk sci-fi goodness. When Butcher Bay was released I remember the movie including the Xbox demo from Blockbuster Video and I was so mad I didn’t have an Xbox or PC at the time.

Fast forward 14 years and I have finally experienced this masterpiece from two console generations ago. Riddick was a serious industry shaker at the time not only for its graphical fidelity, but for the rich atmosphere, mature content, and Vin-freakin’-Diesel. The story isn’t exactly fantastic, and it’s a short game, but the experience itself is pretty incredible and there’s no other game like it (except its sequel of course).

You play as John Riddick himself who is captured by bounty hunter Johns and taken to Butcher Bay maximum prison which is on another planet. Hoxxie, the prison warden, is the bad guy here along with creepy creatures and the guards themselves. I love the opening of this game as you are in the max-pop area and get to talk to other prisoners and complete side quests to earn currency for weapons and cigarette packs which unlock concept art. The atmosphere is amazing with dieselpunk structures, dirt, vomit, grime, and nastiness everywhere and the entire complex is dark, looming, claustrophobic, and morbid.

Don’t get too excited about hearing “side-quests” as the area is very small and it’s nothing more than talk to this guy to get that thing and bring it back to that guy so he will talk to you now to give you that thing to bring back to the last guy. There are only two areas where you can do this and it feels a bit off and forced and kind of unnecessary. There’s no character building and none of the prisoners are really fleshed out. I would rather have just walked around, talked to people, and moved on, it really just felt like extra game time tacked on, and not to mention that the quests are kind of tedious.

Once you move past the first area you go around sneaking up to guards, breaking necks, and getting into a lot of shootouts. For someone who likes the dark so much there is a lot of shooting sections and only a few sneaking areas, but those give way to problems as well. The AI can see you no matter how far away they are and it makes learning guard patrols and sneaking around successfully a pain. A lot of time I had to just shoot everyone or run away and come back. The last third of the game you don’t even get weapons and only a tranq gun that stuns guards with a slow reload animation, so this makes sneaking even more difficult.

The game is also ridiculously hard, I died more time than I can count and a lot of it was because of the clumsy shooting and fighting mechanics. Sure, they work and the three guns are cool and have personality, but they are so inaccurate that I had to unload a whole clip per enemy because the spread was so wide. Fighting also poses problems as you can’t really do combos and the AI’s punches are so random and doing parries is hit or miss. It all works and looks good, but it could have been cleaner and tighter.

The story isn’t really all that detailed, and Riddick’s character is barely talked about here. You learn where he gets his night vision and honestly, the whole story is really anticlimactic. There aren’t many cutscenes and I wanted more screen time with Riddick, Johns, and Hoxxie because their characters are great. Even Abbot, voiced by rapper Xzibit, is an awesome character and we stop seeing him about 1/4 through the game.

The game also looks great, and the lighting effects were unreal back in the day. I played the version on Assault on Dark Athena, so it was upgraded to that engine, but the original version needed a beefy PC and pushed the Xbox to its limits. The music kind of sucks and sounds really generic, but the sounds are awesome with fantastic voice acting and ambiance.

Overall, Escape from Butcher Bay is an FPS classic that everyone should play. The game is dark, crude, mature, and oozing with character, but it’s just sad we only get morsels for the story and on-screen time with some great characters.