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News Chronicles Of Riddick Impresses
Having spent the last two days ridiculing publishers for their brazenly
greedy attempts to cash-in on the blockbuster cinema releases of
tomorrow, Chronicles Of Riddick comes as a bit of a slap to the wrist.
Instead of using their Pitch Black license to dictate precisely what
the game is about (as is the norm where movie licenses are concerned)
Vivendi Universal have chosen to use the forthcoming Vin Diesel movie
purely as the foundations for a game of their own making. Chronicles Of
Riddick actually takes place before the events of the film and it
actually contains some agreeably refined gameplay.
The Butcher’s Bay that Riddick is escaping from refers to a dank, moody
prison packed to the rafters with razor-blade wielding fruit-loops.
Implementing a first person view, the player then has to break out of
these hellish confines using a combination of stealth and extreme
brutality. Assuming your stomach can handle the prospect, you could
tiptoe up behind a prison guard before burying a shank deep within his
twitching gullet. If you’re of more delicate sensibilities, then you
might prefer simply to break faces with a clenched fist - the choice is
yours.
If Starbreeze and VU can prove that movie tie-ins can make for original
games, it will be a positive precedent for developers and publishers
alike. Chronicles Of Riddick is out in June, but until then, the jury’s
still out.
Sponge News Article
Gamespy
Article/Review
[excerpt]
The last time I got to see Escape from Butcher Bay I came away
feeling as though I'd just seen what could potentially be a
better-than-DOOM 3 game for the Xbox. A couple of months on, I'm even
more convinced that I'm right. Having just spent some quality time with
the game at Vivendi for a pre-E3 gathering held in Santa Monica,
California, I think that EfBB is going to surprise and shock a large
number of gamers who might be thinking that this game is nothing more
than a cheesy movie-license deal starring that dude from The Iron Giant.
They couldn't be more wrong. EfBB is all set to provide an excellent
prequel storyline to the first film in the series -- Pitch Black. It
details how Richard Riddick (Diesel) -- who just so happens to be
possibly the hardest man-machine to have ever lived -- wound up in the
most insanely ruthless prison in the galaxy ... and how he escaped.
The character models are unbelievable.
It's easy to see that EfBB is something very different and very special
the moment you clap your eyes on the game. The visuals are literally
out of this world. Again, if you have read my initial preview, you'll
know that I'm not the most technical gamer in the world, but the things
that Starbreeze has managed to crank out of the Xbox puts nearly all
high-end PC first-person shooters to shame. Using such sexy techniques
as normal mapping, a high degree of environmental detail, special
effects, and incredibly cool-looking character models is achievable
resulting in jaw-dropping results.
[excerpt]
Mr. Diesel himself has been very closely involved in the project. He
recorded over three separate voiceover sessions and has had plenty of
input regarding character development and game design. Apparently, he's
quite passionate about video gaming. This is a good thing, and it's
nice to know that when the digital Riddick is busy murdering his way
out of jail, Mr. Diesel gave pretty much every step of way his kiss of
approval.
Xbox Gamespy Full Article Here