Gaming H25 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay XBox Vivendi or the ...
meta name="generator" content="Created with GLUON WebXPress 5.2" />
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
XBox
Vivendi
or the most part, games based on movies and other licenses are horrible. Examples include The Hulk, Enter the Matrix, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and even Def Jam Vendetta. However, every once in a while, a licensed game blows everybody's socks off. Spider-man did it, as did GoldenEye 007. Now, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, the new game from Vivendi, sweeps in like a sleeper and wows everyone in sight.
The story actually takes place before the movies on which the game is based, Pitch Black and the recently released sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick. Feared criminal and vicious killer Richard B. Riddick is captured by the bounty hunter Johns and is sold into Butcher Bay, the largest and most brutal maximum-security prison in the universe. In solitude, he meets (and occasionally kills) many people who either want to help him or beat his face to a pulp.
Riddick's visuals contain some of the most stunningly beautiful graphics ever seen in a videogame. Computer-generated characters look so lifelike that it's a little scary. The prison that Riddick occupies during the course of the game is so well-constructed that some may mistake it for reality. Seriously. The outstanding voice-acting also adds to the game's uncanny realism. Vin Diesel, who played Riddick in both movies, did his character's voice for the game, and it's a marvelous effort.
Graphics and voice-acting aside, Riddick uses a very balanced formula for gameplay. In parts, you are able to steal prison guards' weapons, kill them on sight and destroy even the most dangerous of foes. However, most of Riddick has the player unarmed; in these sections Riddick uses his hands to move up the "prison ladder," and by the end of the game, he has reached the top and freedom from Butcher Bay prison.
My only gripe is minor: At certain times, loads are fierce. While in large areas, like the courtyard and the mines, you'll be looking at loading screens every time you enter or exit a room. It's understandable, as the long load times are most likely caused by the massive visuals.
Who would like this game? Xbox shooter-fans will chew this one to the bone; casual players should also get a great kick from Riddick. Despite being a license-based game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a roaring triumph.Hitman: Contracts
Xbox, PS2, PC
EIDOS
Instead of appealing to one specific group of gamers, Hitman: Contracts uses multiple elements to mix up the gameplay and add variety. These include stealth, action and puzzle-solving. The game uses all of these features to the max, and they're never boring.
This is a double-edged sword, however, as many fans of the previous games will notice that not much has changed since the last installment, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. The anti-hero, Agent 47, still runs as if the floor were covered in melted butter; the enemy A.I. is, as always, dumb as a swarm of cockroaches; and the visuals don't really snap like they should.
Contracts still offers excellent guns a'blazin' action along with intelligent and fun stealth mechanics. The narrative is also surprisingly engaging, taking place entirely during flashbacks of Agent 47's previous missions (some of which are actually borrowed from the original, PC-only Hitman).
This game wasn't made for newcomers to the series, but rather for the faithful fans of the first two Hitman titles. Fans should definitely pick this one up; others may hesitate at the $50 purchase. One hopes this will change by the time Hitman 4 is released in early 2005.
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
PS2
Sony Computer Entertainment
I'll say one thing about Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain: It has ultra-cool Gabe Logan. Unfortunately, that's not saying much because you don't actually play as the Syphon Filter veteran throughout the entire game. Instead, when you pop the game into your PS2, you're prompted to create your own agent. And this is just the first of many problems.
It's a shame that this game is riddled with flaws such as mediocre graphics, horrible targeting, dull enemies, an idiotic and convoluted story and boring fetch-and-get missions. For example, the first mission has you collecting water samples and then scanning them in a nearby lab. Huh? Last time I checked, this is not the work of classically trained secret agents.
The franchise is being wasted. The first three Syphon Filter games were brilliant, and came quite close to dethroning the stealth action king, Metal Gear Solid. But this legacy does not continue with The Omega Strain. All one can hope for is that Sony wises up with the series' next installment, and brings Gabe Logan back as the main character, instead of some punk-ass kid from Delaware with a silly haircut. o