A Pitch Black Introduction

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAYInfo: Year 2004 finally delivered two of the most awaited and anticipated games: Half Life 2 and Doom 3. Before that Far Cry dropped the bombshell on the gaming industry, totally redefining graphics and gameplay standards. When we thought we had seen it all, Starbreeze and Vivendi delivered what the unhyped and low profile game Chronicles Of The Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. The game was first released on the Xbox without too much buzz, noise or publicity. The game was then ported to the PC with buffed up graphics.

To be honest not many of us including me was expecting much from the game. Its been almost a thumb rule that games based on movies are not as good exception of very few. Well this game is one of those few exceptions.

The game is based on the Hollywood movie Chronicles of the Riddick starring Vin Diesel. The dashing Vin Diesel plays a central game character in the game too. Its one of those rare games that deliver high quality game play experience, making it every penny worth the cost which is already less than most high profile games. The movie was an average and did not made it big on the box office but the game against all odds is a quality and enjoyable experience. So without wasting any more time lets go to the details.

THE STORY.
The game starts with the Riddick taken to the prison. Riddick is supposed to be one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy. Riddick is like an icon in the game. The most fearless, dashing and feared criminal in the whole galaxy. The storyline is not the same as that of the movie; in fact it's entirely different. It starts somewhere in the past in context to the two movies that we saw on the big screen. It's actually a prequel of the first movie Pitch Black, which was released in 1999. Riddick is delivered to Butcher Bay by a bounty hunter and is locked up in the Butcher Bay prison. The game revolves around the Riddick trying to escape from there. He makes total of 3 attempts with a little help from others inside that Butcher Bay prison. The story is simple and somewhat believable. The game developers have succeeded in creating an interesting storyline capable of engaging you for hours. The fans of Pitch Black will definitely appreciate some of the answers that you will find during the game play that were actually unanswered in the movie. You don't need to watch the movie to understand the game. If you haven't seen any of the two movies, this game will probably will make you buy DVDs. This in itself explains how good this game is.

I won't spoil the storyline anymore for the person who is reading this review. Going in any more details will end up spoiling the game play experience.