The Chronicles of Riddick E3 2004 Preshow Hands-On

Though David Twohy's Pitch Black might not seem like a film that begs itself toward a successful franchise, that hasn't stopped the director from helming a sequel in the form of the upcoming The Chronicles of Riddick, due out this summer. Additionally, while one might not necessarily see this film as screaming for a video game tie-in, that hasn't stopped VU Games and developer Starbreeze from picking up the license and turning out The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay for the Xbox, a gritty first-person shooter that actually acts as a prequel to the original Pitch Black film. What is perhaps most surprising out of all of this, however, is that The Chronicles of Riddick is shaping up to be a seriously promising game, and not just another license-based cash-in. Shortly before E3, we took some time to examine the game, and see just how much potential it really has.

Though the story of Chronicles of Riddick opens just before the events of the upcoming movie, nearly all of the game's action involves a flashback to Riddick--the Vin Diesel-played antihero of the story--biding his time inside his new residence, known as the Butcher Bay prison. It doesn't take long for Riddick to cross the wrong people inside Butcher Bay, and much of the first mission we played involved stabbing and shanking our way through roving gangs of angry prisoners who clearly had it out for our hero. After laying waste to the evident leader of one of these gangs, something of a riot breaks out among the prison's population, leading to widespread chaos. Sensing an opportunity, Riddick begins plotting a way to use this chaos as a means for an escape.

As Chronicles of Riddick is a first-person game, we couldn't help but be reminded of Namco's Breakdown when it came to combat. Though no kick moves were apparent, the punching and blade-wielding moves we were able to pull off were rather reminiscent of what Breakdown had to offer. However, where the game sets itself apart is in a higher emphasis on attack variety, as well as better shooting mechanics. Though we were only able to test out one particular gun during our demo--one of the assault rifles carried by the prison guards--the game's gunplay sections felt extremely natural and easy to control.

Additionally, we were able to pull of some very cool stealth kills when holding shanks and shivs (yes, there is a difference). For instance, one attack led to an exceptionally nasty stab to the kidney of our victim, whereas another literally involved a wicked stab right into the throat. When not stealthily stabbing nearby NPCs, the game's melee combat proved equally enjoyable, as enemies would display some rather nasty degenerative injuries as well as some hysterical rag doll physics after dying. One final highlight attack we took note of was the ability to grab a guard holding a gun, spin him around, and shoot him in the face with his own gun. All of these things add up to a brutal and bloody combat experience that any fan of M-rated material should be able to appreciate.

After seeing the bulk of the game's beginning, the developers gave us some glimpses at missions for later in the game. One mission involved prisoner-sponsored pit-fighting matches, and specifically our participation in them. After rounding up an opponent, we were thrown into the circle and forced to punch our way through a rather deformed looking opponent. Another mission put us inside a massive mech suit. After activating the suit, we tromped our way through the halls of a rather garish-looking building, blasting away and stomping over various prison guards. Doing so even caused the tiles to fly off of the floor, demonstrating some of the game's rather impressive environmental physics. Finally, we took a look at a section involving Xenomorphs, who, at some point in the story, are awakened from the dreary, base-level areas of the prison. They then proceed to unleash their fury on the prison's population. Not only were these creatures nasty as all get out, they actually aided us by ripping through every prison guard in the area. At this point, you will have the option to help out the guards and save their lives, or simply let them die at the hands of those horrible creatures. The consequences of your decision will become apparent as the game goes on.

Though we saw a considerable amount of material during our demo, what we saw only constituted a small portion of what the developers claim will make up the full 30-plus zones and missions available in the game. Once again, we came away from our experience with Chronicles of Riddick quite impressed, and we are very much looking forward to the game's June release date. We will have more on the game in the near future.