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    THE MAKING OF THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY

    Oct 01, 2020 7 minutes
    WORDS BY ROBERT ZAK

    DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS

    ENCLAVE

    SYSTEM: PC, XBOX, WII

    YEAR: 2002

    THE DARKNESS

    SYSTEM: PS3, XBOX 360

    YEAR: 2007

    BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO SONS (PICTURED)

    SYSTEM: XBOX 360, VARIOUS

    YEAR: 2013

    IN THE KNOW

    » PUBLISHER: VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES

    » DEVELOPER: STARBREEZE STUDIOS

    » RELEASED: 2004

    » PLATFORM: XBOX, PC

    » GENRE: STEALTH/FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER

    You don’t have to spend much time in the steel-capped boots of Riddick to realise that Escape From Butcher Bay is no ordinary movie tie-in videogame. After a tutorial that ends with the somewhat cheap ‘just a dream’ get-out, you’re thrown for real into Butcher Bay prison – a brutalist behemoth of steel and stone on some wasteland planet in a forgotten corner of the cosmos.

    For the first five minutes you’re on rails, escorted by guards through a building that you imagine smells like a damp metallic mix of rust and blood. Dramatic music plays, credits fade in revealing star voice talent like Ron Perlman, Xzibit and, of course, Vin Diesel. Then, you’re thrown into a cell with a single goal: escape.

    The sequence evokes Half-life’s famous tram ride prologue, but with a blockbuster movie polish rarely seen in games at the time. The Half-life homage is fitting,

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