Suprisingly innovative and highly immersive,Chronicles of Riddick is definetely the sleeper hit of the year.....
User Rating: 9.1 | The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay XBOX
Gamers the world over have become conditioned to despise the very thought of hollywood game tie-ins,all too often we are left with nothing but promotional garbage and a production ethics wasteland of big celebrity names,pretty graphics accompanied with a painful slog through a gameplay nightmare,this is the world of hollywood game tie-ins we have come to know and hate.But finally,without warning,a true gem has arrived onto our consoles with all the production values and developer ethics of any classic game which has been created in the past 10years,AND its a hollywood tie-in,make way for The Chronicles Of Riddick...... Gameplay--CoR contains some of the most highly innovative gameplay mechanics found to date in any FPS,it has broken down many walls long thought unbreakable such as the ability of hand to hand combat from a first person perspective,and of every concievable way of killing someone(knives,clubs,knuckledusters, or just plain old neck breaking) from a first person perspective.....which im sure FPS players will recognise as quite a feat.Now onto the combat itself: as is to be expected from a game set inside a maximum security prison in deep space,the combat is extremely violent....and extremely fun :) fist fighting is handled perfectly with an easy to use combo system to pummel your fellow inmates to death with varying flurries,the system also makes use of an effective counter-attack ability whereas if you block at the right moment, you will deal your opponent a fatal blow,and depending on your weapon,be it knife,club,or fist,the results are quite painful and a guilty pleasure to behold (this system also applies to unarmed v armed combat,whereas if you are 'assailed by a shotgun toting hillbilly guard,simply get up close,get the timing 'right,and happily stick his own weapon in his mouth and proceed to decorate 'the walls with his thoughts of the day,this works with every other weapon 'in the game aswell).CoR is not all up close butchery though,there is a healthy supply of lethal firearms,such as the assault rifle,shotgun,pistol and a minigun for you to reap some lead based vengeance with,which is alot of fun also since the A.I. in the game is brilliant,guards will dodge,roll,flank, search,call backup,and taunt all in their efforts to kill you,it makes for some intense fire figths.Finally,stealth is probaly one of the most dominating factors of CoR,and it is once again,handled perfectly,to enter stealth mode, you simply press the left thumbstick,riddick crouches and your view widens to take in more of the area surrounding you.Riddick has an ability to see in the dark,which makes hunting your prey all the more fun,there is also a nifty effect whereas when you are in complete darkness and no one can see you,the screen tints blue to let you know.Combat in stealth mode is handled much the same way as normal combat,except that its all done from behind, you can snap necks,slit throaths,club heads,and push people to their deaths etc and it is all extremely enjoyable.The Gameplay of CoR deserves 10/10 without a doubt. Graphics--The Graphics in CoR are nothing short of amazing.Everything in butchers bay is highly detailed.The Enviroments all have a rusty metallic feel,and the textures are smooth and unblurred,really enhancing the immersive feel of the game. Characther models are highly detailed and suprisingly varied,with impressive effects of light shining of the guards armor,and realistic facial/bodily damage etc , .Above all,CoR's use of real time shadow and light takes the biscuit,considering its FPS heritage,the lighting and use of shadow in CoR is highly impressive,and really brings the world of butchers bay alive,you can shoot out lights to make shadowed hunting grounds and light itself bends around charachter models etc,thus heightening the all round realistic feel.What is exceptionally amazing about this is that throughout all this detail,there is no noticeable framerate hiccups to my eye,everything runs smoothly from start to finish.The only noticeable problem in the graphics department i could discern was in collision detection,when grabbing a guard from behind,they sometimes dissapeared completey only to reappear after the killing blow,while this was a rarity,i still feel it should be mentioned simply for prudence sake.Over all,another 10/10 without a doubt. Sound--Sound in CoR is nothing groundbreaking,but in its own way,it is perfect for what it is trying to portray.The music in CoR is of the general hollywood blockbuster variety,it stays queitly in the background when there is no action,and surges triumphantly to its peak during intense combat.However,the ambient sounds in CoR is of noteable excellance,once again adding to the immersiveness of the world,everything echo's in the vastness of butchers bay and you will hear screaming,crying,every profanity known to man, and background speech all adding to the horrible reality of a brutal maximum security space prison. Characther speech is excellant,with Vin Diesel delivering his steely low voice for riddick with perfection,plus guard and inmate voices are all professionaly done without one weak link.Combat and weapon sounds are all well done, be it the thump of a punch to the head,the crack of a neck,or the slit of a throath,all is of very high quality,firearms in particular pack an explosive punch and are suprisingly loud.Over all,the sound is not groundbreaking, but is perfect for the subject matter,8/10. Value--CoR is a relatively short game,there are some extras in the form of hidden packets of smokes(with hilarious warnings on each box) strewn throughout levels which unlock game concept art and advertisments etc also there is the standard easy/medium/hard difficulty settings to get through.Overall,CoR is limited in value,it holds a decent replayability factor simply because it is such a fun game, and is a joy to play.But i will leave that choice up to whoever is playing it,simply because replayability and value is in the eye of the beholder.7/10 Reviewers Tilt--I absolutely love this game and put it up their with the best classic innovators such as Halo or Half-Life.Excellent gameplay,Excellent graphics,great story,and especially excellent for its groundbreaking creativity and evolving of a recently stale FPS formula.9/10
