The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004 Video Game) User Reviews

Halo meets doom meets tomb raider meets wait wait this game is one of its own kind

[UR60x · 10/10 · 5 September 2006]

Although I play all the games but I usually like the RTS games and puzzle games mostly because I am a pc gamer. I rarely like any action game and especially first person shooter or FPS but this game changed my opinion on FPS forever this game is mother of all action games with great action and ultra high graphics, real voices and amazing sound effects this game proves itself as one of the best game of the year in all the categories.

This game is not based on the movie but actually this game showed that how he escaped from the prison and got the ability to see in the dark. So in a way you will get to understand Riddick's life.

Story 9/10

Graphics 10/10

Sound 10/10

Game play 10/10

Overall 10/10

Recommended to anyone who like a thing called "Video Games"

A licensed game that's not only good but great

[charlie-119-150245 · 9/10 · 24 November 2018]

This is a game set before the Riddick films and is a unique and interesting game in its own right , it's a bit Thief and a lot Aliens Colonial Marines and a lot brilliant. This game is so good I have forgiven Starbreeze for the butchering and lack of love in their Syndicate remake. It's a bit challenging to find as it isn't commercially available anymore but does come free with Riddick Dark Athena on GOG. Buy this game is you love Riddick, hate Riddick or just don't care as it's an amazing game in its own right.

PLAY IT!

[wolfensketch · 10/10 · 25 April 2023]

This is one of the utmost underrated games of it's time! This game has everything a great storyline, action, drama, stealth and (for the time of it's release) really good graphics. I loved this game and can't recommend this enough. I played through it multiple times and adds much needed content to the overall Riddick storyline. If you like the Riddick movies and haven't played this game you are missing out! Wanna see where Riddick got those eyes?... PLAY THIS GAME!!!! I really hope they decide you make this game in to a feature movie it needs to be done the overall storyline lacks without this!

Unusually Good Movie Tie-in Game

[stevewest-1 · 18 April 2005]

Games based on movies have a history of being poorly designed and made within a short space of time to cash in on the buzz surrounding a popular current movie release. Escape from Butcher Bay isn't based on a specific movie but the Chronicles of Riddick franchise instead and fills in a gap in the storyline that a novel would ordinarily fill.

With Escape from Butcher Bay things look good from the beginning, as we have Vin Diesel doing all of Riddick's dialogue and a surprisingly realistic computerised representation of the character, Vin Diesel put in the time being scanned, motion captured etc. which is rare for any game featuring the actual actor out of a film or TV series. Another credit to Diesel is that he created his own game company, Tigon (a Tigon is a Tiger-Lion hybrid) which I assume made this game happen in the first place. Diesel's voice acting is of a high standard and the storyline is well thought out and keeps up interest the whole way. As far as first-person-shooters go Escape from Butcher Bay is among the best I've played and anyone who owns or has access to an Xbox should give it a go.

Needs a remake

[kingspidey69 · 10/10 · 10 March 2022]

If there were a game that needs a remake ASAP it's this. One of my favorite OG Xbox games. The story and game play in this game was one of the best on the XBox. It was awesome to get the origin of Riddick and how he got the eyes that see in the dark.

Epic!

[baberchik · 10/10 · 12 June 2014]

This was my introduction to Vin Diesel, believe it or not I never heard of the guy before this. He did a superb part doing the voice acting for RIddick, as well as acting in all the Riddick movies. The game has a very enjoyable and believable atmosphere where the main character is on a "hell-on-earth" type of prison planet, doing his best to escape it after being caught by a bounty hunter. I think I was most impressed with the creativity of the game's storyline, especially impressive was the "cryoprison" where the inmates are frozen and stored in boxes, and the only humane obligation the prison had was to have the prisoners thawed every day and have them "enjoy" a 30 second walk inside room that re-created ambient sounds of nature depending where one stood in the 4 quadrants of the room. Somehow that idea, the concept of being frozen and awake again and again countless times, to just take a couple of steps and be frozen again actually scared me more than any monsters or enemies in the game.

Real talk.

[johnnymacbest · 9/10 · 16 May 2011]

Kudos. Kudos to all who made this game. Escape From Butcher Bay is one of the best games to be based on a movie franchise; in this case the Riddick franchise. It is simply incredible in every way in it's cinematic presentation and excellent voice acting.

Escape From Butcher Bay is a prequel to the films PB and COR, that explains the origins of the titular antihero Riddick(voiced EXCELLENTLY by Vin Diesel)as he attempts to escape from one of the galaxy's deadliest and brutal prisons. We learn more about Riddick; how he got his "eyeshine", his dealings with Johns, and introduces new characters into the Riddick universe while foreshadowing future events.

EFBB plays like many FPS, but unlike most of them, stealth plays a crucial role in your playing style. Going in guns blazin' will get you killed more than once as enemies are super intelligent and will duck behind cover, call reinforcements, or just bum-rush you with overwhelming numbers. And I gotta admit, this game is really challenging which is a good thing because playing on the easiest setting feels cheap and unworthy of a gamer.

This review is for the remastered version of the Xbox version released in 2004. Having not played the original, and being a fan of the Riddick universe, I bought this one along with the two films based on the character of Riddick. The result is a much improved and streamlined game that makes playing it a breeze with a smooth framerate and graphical enhancements with an equally great additional bonus Dark Athena. Dark Athena is a sequel to Butcher Bay and the plot developments transition very nicely into the 2nd game. Both stories give more insight into the Riddick character in more ways than one with new and compelling characters being introduced into the main narrative.

The narrative, along with the gritty visual atmosphere wouldn't be enough without a strong voice cast and both games have them in spades. Hearing Vin Diesel's gravelly voice Riddick gave me chills up my spine along with Cole Hauser's Johns. Their constant interactions make the game engrossing and just sucks you into the Riddick universe which is equally impressive with it's own technology, creatures, worlds, and culture. But it's a dark, brutal world where human life has no value and money, power, betrayal, violence and death reign supreme.

With all that said, the visual element, the variety in gameplay and the great story is what really sold me on Butcher Bay and Dark Athena. Though both games share some aspects in terms of gameplay, nevertheless, they compliment each other. The graphics are simply PHENOMENAL. I've never seen a game with this much attention to detail in years. You can almost feel the gritty, dark, grime of the prison complex; almost makes you want to take a long, hot shower after playing. It's THAT good. There are some glitches such as enemies freezing in place and some spotty AI but that should not keep you from enjoying BB and DA whatsoever.

I'd say Butcher Bay and Dark Athena captures the gritty aspect of Pitch Black moreso than The Chronicles Of Riddick(although the director's cut is much better). If any thing, Riddick is one of the most compelling characters in the sci-fi genre and I look forward to seeing more media based on the character. These two games are worthy of adding to your video game collection.

Que?

[Xploitedyouth · 25 November 2004]

Am I dreaming? Could it be that this licensed game, based on a Vin Diesel movie, is actually good? Doth my eyes and ears speaketh sweet lies? Actually, no. They're telling the truth. This game is amazing. Taking a page from METROID PRIME, one of the best next-gen games ever made, BUTCHER BAY is a first-person adventure game, with equal emphasis on side quests, character interaction, stealth action and balls-to-the-wall shooting, all showing off the superior graphical prowess of the Xbox. It also acts as a great prelude to the whole RIDDICK series, which this game forced me to take interest in. Riddick (voiced by the man himself, Vin Diesel) is captured by the bounty hunter Johns (Cole Hauser) and brought to the triple-max penitentiary, Butcher Bay. Butcher Bay has three levels: the standard population, well guarded but allowing some freedom; the mines, a bleak and dangerous underground world reserved for the worst of the worst; and the cryo chamber, which allows only two minutes of exercise a day in a small, tightly guarded cell. Riddick eventually pisses off enough guards to be stowed in each of the three levels, but naturally, none can hold him. The biggest thrill of the game comes from the inventive escape methods you can use to get out of each level. A lot of time is spent crawling through vents and sewers, recovering shivs and guns and finding packs of cigarettes that reveal bonus material, like design stills from the movies and game. But that's hardly the limit of your abilities. You can negotiate with inmates to do tasks for money or smokes, duke it out in the arena (with amazingly intuitive first-person fight controls), or stealth-attack guards from the confines of the shadows. I'd much sooner see another RIDDICK game than movie, but either way, I have more respect for the series, and for licensed games as a whole.

One of the best games I've ever played

[alex-brooks6 · 23 October 2005]

The Chronicles of Riddick:Escape from Butcher Bay must be one of my favourite games for the Xbox. I think that Riddick's great anyway, so when I saw this I just had to have it. This game explains two things:1)how Riddick got his 'eyeshine' in the first place, and 2)how he escaped from one of the toughest slams in the Universe. The game has excellent graphics due to the motion capturing performed by the developers, which makes it seem very authentic. Riddick and Johns are voiced by their counterparts from the movies, and a lot of new characters are introduced, many who are irrelevant to the story overall but a few who might make the difference between Riddick living and dying. There is a huge amount of replay value, just to collect every feature and fully complete the game. This isn't a game for young children though, as it contains a lot of swearing and violence(just what you'd expect from Riddick). Verdict:10/10!

Just got the PC version of it

[Ekul1021 · 10 January 2005]

And I got to say, this is the best console port to PC ever made. The game played really smoothly provided I had the most high end computer parts and sound, the graphic was very beautiful and rivaled both Doom 3 and Far Cry by miles. The storyline was brutally cold as you play as Riddick, the prisoner who seems to just wanna be left alone. The voice acting and music was just perfect exactly like the movie. And for 30 bucks this game is not a sure miss at all. However, there was some strange crashes like having 3d sound and EAX can sometimes give you the blue of death, another annoying problem that hit me was I had to install the monitor driver instead of using Microsoft's default plug and play in order to get the resolution beyond 800x600 but I think Starbreeze is making a patch for it. Other then that, playing at 1600x1024(I have widescreen 16:10 monitor) the game looked just beautiful and really puts the Xbox's version to bad shame. Even for those who hate the movie should give this game a try and you shall see why everything is afraid of Riddick. 9 out of 10.

Great movie-based game

[movieman_kev · 9 June 2004]

I hardly write game reviews, as I prefer to get literally EVERYthing from a game (beat it, unlock everything, etc...) before I even attempt to share my feelings of said game. With that said, I can give Escape From Butcher Bay a very good score. This FPS prequel to the events in the movie "Pitch Black" may be the best X-box exclusive game since Ninja Gaiden. Reason enough to buy an X-box? That's debatable, if you liked Pitch Black then YES. If you like First person shooters? YES. If you're one of those fools who blindly hates everything Microsoft? Then you're missing out on one of the better movie-tie in/spin off games out there. Oh yea and the graphics are great too. a tad on the easy side brings it down half a point.

My Game Grade: A-

Yes it is the best

[xmenun · 6 December 2004]

The game is in my opinion somewhat confusing at points but the graphics and the fighting moves are beyond comparison. If the game can be any better I would have to say that it could be simplified in the missions for the jail yard sections. The fun part of the game is being able to take down guards with guns with a screwdriver. The game is inaccurate in the means of how Riddick gets his eyes but that does not matter much because the plot accuracy is not much of a big deal in this game. It is one of the best games that I have played in a very long time. The character involvement in the progression of Riddick through the prison is also a nice ad on to the continuous blood and guts the game provides.

A movie-based game that actually is really, really good.

[BloodBeret · 4 October 2004]

Anyone with a remote interest in video games have probably noticed that, with a few exceptions, games based on movies tend to be, well... crap (and vice versa for that matter). The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is however both an exception to this rule and in some ways a milestone when it comes to collaboration between the video gaming industry and Hollywood.

Everything in this game just resonates quality. From the highly impressive graphics to the story to the voice acting and enemy AI. From the moment you slip the disc into your Xbox it's obvious that some real talent and hard work went into this product. TCoR: EfBB also blends shooting, hand-to-hand fighting and stealth elements all in a first person perspective in a very clever way, with the shooting portion being the meat and potatoes of the game. There's been a few games that has tried to pull off this variety of elements before, but Escape from Butcher Bay is the only one so far that has implemented it properly.

The only real downside to the game that I found was that it was a bit on the short side. Depending on which difficulty you choose and how much you are into exploring the surroundings and such, you should be looking at the region of 9-16 hours of game play (I recommend you play this game on hard difficulty!). This is certainly a game you would want to come back and play again though, first and foremost since it's so damn fun and secondly since there's plenty of unlockable extras scattered around the game in terms of trailers, concept art etc.

I give it a well deserved 9/10.

Top game

[ratcat0 · 13 April 2005]

Yep great game, great Graphics, great game play, some great new features not seen before, and boy does he look like Vin Diesel or what? I,m going to play it again in two or three months. A nice touch going from different atmospheres a couple of times in the game and I didn't find it too heavy on my system. The only time it took a bit too long to load, was at the start. Game developers, sit up and have a look ,this is the way games are headed. As usual my only complaint is that it was too short, (why are all the new games so short?) Could be that the Developers are beginning to see PC Games as a real big money spinner, keep it short and they will have to go out and buy another game, or is it just the massive amount of resources all these great new Graphics use? so I,m taking away a point for the shortness factor. 'Butcher,s Bay' be blessed. 9/10