Chronicles of Riddick

[PeteJ]

That does sound rather excellent, and despite reading a couple of incredibly positive reviews regarding the game - its the elastic-band enemies that makes me want the game the most.

The Shape - you should work in PR.

"Riddick: Yeah the graphics are pretty good, and the voice acting is really quite professional. Oh, the violence is really, well, violent, but but BUT - you can stretch the enemies out 40 feet long and fling them like an elastic band!"

Ahem, sorry.

And stop playing with them dead bodies.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Maybe you found the hidden demo of their upcoming Plastic Man licence?

[Roost]

Best game i've played for a long time. Been finding it difficult to get into any single player games, but this has me completely hooked, fantastic game, graphics, sound etc everything.

Buy Now.

[Balou]

Can the NTSC version of 'The Chronicles of Riddick...' be played on a Pal Xbox? (not modded)

[MJ]

I've been following this while it was in development and I ordered the US version today.

[Inertia_]

Well, I'm on checkpoint 26 so far and loving every minute of it. Everything's paced correctly, no location outstays its welcome.

The bit where you go back through the lower prison knocking out all the lights and electrocuting every mother****er that moves before stamping on their head is gaming gold.

The graphics are certainly incredible, but interesting at the same time. Notice how this new engine is bringing with it some entirely new glitches. It's also extremely lo-res yet, somehow, everything looks great.

Anyone else thinking that, between this and Doom3, it'll be this that gets remembered in the long run (on the Xbox at least)?

[the shape]

Finished Riddick last night. That's three days.

Still got maybe 15 packs of smokes to go back and find, but since every checkpoint is saved sequentially I won't have to replay the whole game to find them. Same with the sub-missions; I went back to an earlier checkpoint save this morning to take care of a couple of sub-missions that I'd thought would resolve naturally by just following the flow of the main game but never did.

After a mid-game lull where I got a bit stuck around the mines trying to get back to the surface, with only melee weapons, the game just got better and better towards the conclusion. I liked very much the idea behind the first cryostasis room, but I'll not elaborate so as not to spoil the fun for others playing the game.

Very enjoyable, all told. Many great points. Felt attached and involved the whole way through. But three days? Little worrying, that. Soon as I write the review, I'm going back to get the missed smokes and fulfill one last sub-mission, then starting the whole thing again on the hard setting, all of which should mildly increase its lifespan.

Oh yeah, if anyone knows where the *first* page of the rats list is, gimme a shout would you? Cheers.

[martTM]

Have to admit, I'm enjoying this... although I'm getting increasingly pissed off my ineptitude to make it through the Pit (valve handle/locked door/mutant bastards/time limit thing) without getting slaughtered every single bloody time. Damn you, Riddick.

Three days does sound quite short... but then, you haven't got much else to do, have you Shape? :P

Can the NTSC version of 'The Chronicles of Riddick...' be played on a Pal Xbox? (not modded)

Don't ask silly questions.

[the shape]

Have to admit, I'm enjoying this... although I'm getting increasingly pissed off my ineptitude to make it through the Pit (valve handle/locked door/mutant bastards/time limit thing) without getting slaughtered every single bloody time. Damn you, Riddick.

I did that third time. Luck, finding the correct route so soon, I think. Bloomin' brilliant though, those things darting through your flashlight. GET AWAY FROM ME!!!

Three days does sound quite short... but then, you haven't got much else to do, have you Shape? :P

Just because I chose to leave the rat race and live in luxury doesn't mean I'm idle. If you only knew. I've been playing Riddick hardcore because I'm reviewing it for Showbiz. You've just cost yourself two days with column 21 for that lip, sonny!

Don't ask silly questions.

Summa dem Xbox games is region free, mista games magazine man!

[smokedog]

[QUOTE=the shape]Finished Riddick last night. That's three days.

But three days? Little worrying, that.
QUOTE]

I managed it in 2 days less than 8 hours in total :O Its a great game but its over too quick. I didn't get to do most of the side missons.

[A Munkeys Uncle]

Here's my personal SUMMARY of the game...

8 out of 10.

First the bad...

A ton of loading times. Think how Halo had the nanosecond checkpoints, well now think of the same checkpoints on not a nanosecond, more like 30 or 40 seconds and more often. That's bad, and one of the reasons why is because many times you'll go through a check point (which is also an auto save) and then you'll accidentally go back through it and have to wait again. So, that is close to two minutes (going through three times consecutively) of waiting if you accidently back through the check point, and this will happen on occasion unless you're very careful. This is something I don't think we should have to be careful about, and definately my biggest gripe of the game.

Also, the analog for movement feels more digital and not analog. This wont be a problem for those that are use to a keyboard but with a game that requires stealth I think the ability to have 100% control of how fast or slow you move is important. This is one of the reasons I prefer the controller (particularly for games such as Riddick, Splinter Cell, Deadly Shadows, etc...). So, when you move it's always basically the same speed, so not much for creeping, and there isn't even a choice to toggle slow or fast as there are with some PC games, but I don't like toggling, analog should have been implemented properly.

Last complaint, its short. Really short. I think I beat the game in eight to ten hours, second day of rental. Some that didn't mind games such as DMC this won't be a problem for, but it should have been longer.

The Good.

Graphics.

Remember the HL 2 and DOOM III demos? Well, now there is a game out that looks as good as them. The models, eye movement etc look every bit as good as those in HL 2, and the atmospheres and lighting are similar and rival those in DOOM III.

Graphics are the best Xbox has seen yet, bar none. Little things such as the smoke and heating glow of bullet holes in steel walls fading away slowly, better rag doll physics than Max Payne 2 before and after the bodies are killed including tazor shocks and actual bullet holes in the body as you shoot them, and the blood and spattering is perfect, it thickens on walls as you continue to shoot downed bodies, and depending on the angle or part of the body you shoot you'll get different splattering and amounts of blood. VERY realistic.

Stealth levels (and there are only a couple) are fun.

The way you are introduced into the game is very much like a movie, with the credits in the beginning as you are brought to your prison cell and you can control the camera as you are.

The hand to hand fighting is fun, and very useful in prison, but eventually you can buy weapons such as clubs and knives that you'll have to use. The prison level is one of the coolest things I've EVER seen in a videogame if not the coolest.

Inmates doing excersice routines and sweating as they do, watching their backs, can all be interacted with, cops swinging their guns at you and swearing at you if you get too close to them and if you continue they will shoot you dead, people lighting and putting out smokes, talking to one another and their stories chaning as you progress through the game, the escape, everything is damn cool about this level.

There is not hud which is damn cool, the amount of bullets are shown on the weapons (sci fi), you have to hold down X to see your health, and you use Y to shuffle through different weapons and the right trigger to pick the weapon.

There is a level with a hud similar to that of MP but I won't spoil as to why since it was a pretty damn cool surprise.

Audio, PERFECT, especially if you have 5.1DD. I mean pin point accuracy just by the sounds the monsters and guards make in the game, so if you don't have 5.1 the game will be actually much more difficult to beat, particularly the monster levels, where they scream behind you, from the side, etc...

The story is also very decent, it is a fun game.

You can go back to any level after beating it, much like Halo.

Xbox Live Aware support, meaning that if you are playing the game you can be invited to play ANY other game on Live by the people on your freinds list. This has become standard with many new Xbox games even if they don't support Live themselves.

Also, the game has a nice adventurous feel to it in a way that you interact with characters and how the missions go about.

Recomendation.

Don't pay more than $29 for this game because it is short, but I'd definately pay this price because I'll play the game at least three times through, and I'll play the prison level and a couple other levels many more times.

[Concept]

Thanks for the impressions.

I'm all for short games these days.

I'd rather enjoy eight to ten hours of pure gaming bliss to the full, than experience a padded fifteen or twenty hours that lingered on just a little too much.

That was my one main grip with Prime. It felt padded out to the point of frustration at times.

If there isn't any overt backtracking in Riddick and it's deeper than the average FPS,(which I'm hearing it is), then I'm definately interested. Atmospherically, is it similar to Pitch Black? Or are we talking a whole different ball park?

[Rushy]

8-10hrs is perfect, to many games are artificially extended.

Great comments off most people I look forward to the UK release.

[Concept]

Interesting interview.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=55724

I want this game now.

[Prine]

i have and i love it. How many check points are there? Im on 15 so far, im going to have to slow it down a little dont want to finish it so quickly.

Is it true the Vin Diesel is a gamer?