Stealth Boom Boom | A Stealth Video Games Podcast3 Sep 2024

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Review | Darkness, The Prison, Surprises

20 years ago, Starbreeze Studios was going through some tough times, and they were looking for one of their games to be the hit they needed. Across the water, Hollywood actor Vin Diesel was looking to get into video games with his new company called Tigon Studios. So, they decided to come together, and they launched a stealth-FPS in 2004. We're talking The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

On this episode of Stealth Boom Boom, we take a look at the developer's really rocky path to their first Riddick game, and discuss whether the general public would be excited about seeing Normal Mapping on the box. We also mention late 90s / early 00s rapper Xzibit and his thoughts on Pac-Man.

In our review, you'll hear some chat on how this game is as dark as Splinter Cell and Thief, but not as deep; the oddity that is Eyeshine; our feelings towards the trade off of a sleek and minimal HUD vs ambiguity when it comes to the safe zone of an enemy’s vision cone; Adam’s preview of Assault on Dark Athena; being a Batman-like predator; trigger happy guards that are standing behind a door waiting for you; some of us think the shooting isn’t very good, some of us think the shooting is good, but all of us quite liked it for some reason; The Darkness; a more involved melee system; The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; side quest-giving NPCs; where the prison guards live and shop; a little story about a horrible place; NanoMED treats you right; Richard B. Riddick is a nasty piece of work; and an outrageously sexy menu cube.

After all that, we take you through what some of the critics were saying about the game around the time it came out, and then we give you our final verdicts on whether The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a Pass, a Play, or an Espionage Explosion.

For those who would like to play along at home, we'll be discussing, reviewing and dissecting Murdered: Soul Suspect on the next episode of Stealth Boom Boom.

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