Like Transformers, this game breaks the rule that franchise tie-ins have to be bollocks. It could have something to do with Vin Diesel's supposed love of videogames, which would probaby mean he would want a good game to be based on his film, and would invest a fair amount of cash into it. It shows, with probably the best graphics on an Xbox game. The Xbox copes brilliantly as well, which is surprising as mine whirrs like a scooter under a fat man when it tries to load things like Knights of the Old Republic.
Now, I know graphics aren't everything, but this game is definitely enhanced by them. They're better than Halo 2, and I reckon I actually enjoyed Riddick more. It's just more fun, whether you're sneaking around in the dark snapping the necks of guards, or having a first-person fist fight. These bits are realy well done, with simple controls a little bit like Super Punch Out. You get a big meaty feeling with each thwack, and it's really satisfying to punch somebody's face into submission so they fall, spreadeagled, onto a prison toilet.
Oh yeah, it's set in a prison. Called Butcher Bay. The game is called "Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay". You've got to escape. And escape you shall, by killing lots of people, talking to some, and crawling through some vents. It seems a bit easy to escape sometimes, but then again Riddick is a superhuman master criminal. Prisons must have really deteriorated by the time this game's set, because you don't hear anything these days about Abu Hamsa escaping from Feltham Prison by pulling the bars from the wall with his power-hooks. If he didn't waste his powers inciting hatred against the west, he could be a good action hero.
Just think of the potential of those hooks. They could wrench grills from air vents, let him hang from ceilings, and attack the guards. Maybe poke one of their eyes out, level the playing field a little. Somebody had better make this hook-hand power game. The main character could have loads of different hand attachments, like a knife and fork, or a big pair of scissors, or drumsticks, or torches.
Anyway, buy this game. It's only about a fiver nowadays. It might be even better on PC, as long as you've got a hench PC. But I think it'd take a BARE hench PC to run this game better than it runs on Xbox. Just get it on Xbox. The pad works good.
