The Next Best FPS untill Halo 2
If you are a FPS fan and you can't wait till Halo 2 comes out. I think we have a game that will tide you over till then. It is a very good read, so enjoy
The Chronicles of Rid****: Escape from Butcher Bay
Take on an entire high security space prison with Vin Diesel's anti-hero.
April 30, 2004 - The premise behind The Chronicles of Rid****: Escape from Butcher Bay would be compelling even if it didn't feature Vin Diesel reprising his film role from "Pitch Black." Helping a convict escape from a brutal maximum security prison using stealth and first person combat would work under most circumstances, but capturing the essence of the upcoming Chronicles of Rid**** film will keep the cinematic appeal at the forefront. Vin Diesel's direct involvement with the Starbreeze developed game goes way beyond lending his voice to the Rid**** character. Through his Tigon game development studio, the actor has ensured that Escape from Butcher Bay feels as much like an interactive movie as possible.
It's obvious from the moment you put the disc in the Xbox that you're in for an experience that will stand on its own and give you a little more insight into the Pitch Black universe. As Rid**** is being delivered to the maximum security facility at Butcher Bay, the desert planet doesn't look so mean with soft blooming sunlight effects all around. As we follow Rid****'s transfer to the prison his tense conversations with his Nemesis, Johns and the warden of Butcher Bay, any beauty about the place is suddenly melted away by the harsh language and harsh environment of a deep space prison. Cole Hauser (Johns), Dwight Schultz (Warden) and Xzibit (Abbott) join Diesel as the leading voice-actors and all of the dialogue comes off naturally as if those digital characters were actually having conversations in real time. Dwight Schultz dusts off a few of his crazy routines from his days as Murdock on the "A-Team" but his Liberace/Siegfried & Roy take on the prison Warden is creepily humorous. Or is that humorously creepy? And Xzibit won't be pimpin' any rides in The Chronicle of Rid**** but he will be pimpin a badass assault rifle or two to keep the rowdy prisoners at bay as captain of the guard.
The cinematic feel continues with the living prison itself. Guards are enemies just like you'd expect in any themed shooter, but they seem to exist as just another part of a larger prison environment. Throughout the game you'll see prisoners and guards doing their thing interacting with each other until you, as Rid****, start messing with them. One of the standing rules at Butcher Bay is that guards are free to shoot any inmate at anytime for any reason, so following the rules is a matter of life and death, sort of. This is communicated beautifully in cut scenes showing prisoners being delivered to the solitary confinement section of the prison in their own "shoebox" cells. The prison looks more like a construction yard with giant cranes putting the big iron boxes into their racks until the prisoners inside start milling about. You'll see prisoners argue with each other and with guards before somebody randomly gets killed. We saw a new fish start to lose his cool blabbering about not belonging there (they're all innocent right?) before he's tossed out of his cell down into a bottomless pit. The inmate that did the deed is then promptly targeted by the auto turrets before being shot to shreds.
The violent theme of the prison is extremely consistent throughout. As you maneuver Rid**** around the corridors you can turn a corner to see a guard shouting at an inmate to comply or stop smiling or something before he simply lights him up with a few close range buckshots. This may or may not be a problem for you, as Rid****, since it is prison and you're merely trying to escape from Butcher Bay, not liberate it. But just seeing the prison go through its routines of violence and brutality, puts it in your mind as a player that the whole place is out of control, whether you're there to witness it or not. When it comes time for you to dish out some punishment the exclamations and tough-talk of guards and prisoners continues. It's just that now you're the reason for the brutality.
Fans of the film "Pitch Black" will be satisfied when Rid**** venture to the darkest depths of the prison. In segments of the game before he gains the ability to see in the dark, Rid**** will still have to do battle with all sorts of frightening creatures. In these sequences, the muzzle flash of his weapon -the shotgun works best—will be the only light in the place. These may end up being the most cinematic parts of the game because the developers have the critters scrambling and moving about in the dark and in confined spaces so that whenever you fire off a round the room will light up and you'll see how many creatures you're up against and where they've moved since your last shot. It ends up looking like the strobe sequences from "Pitch Black" and seals the deal on the cinematic feel of the game.
The Chronicles of Rid****: Escape from Butcher Bay hits in early June just in time for the release of the Pitch Black sequel in theatres, The Chronicles of Rid****. If similar names are too confusing for you then you just may have to check out both the game and the movie.
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Originally Posted by No Fear 23
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