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[Grief.exe]

The game released on the original Xbox on June 1st, 2004 and put Starbreeze Studios on the map. They have continued to release high quality titles such as the Darkness and the excellent Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons which was a massive departure from the studio's usual style.

Starbreeze's take on Riddick has an interesting blend of stealth, first person shooter, and RPG elements. Playing through the first area again, it was great to see how they all blended together to form the whole product.

Escape from Butcher Bay features an impressive voice cast with Vin Diesel and Cole Hauser reprising their roles from the movies. Beyond those two, the cast also features Xzibit, Kristin Lehman, Ron Pearlman, Michael Rooker (Merle from the Walking Dead), and many others.
Interestingly enough, the game actually has a much larger voice cast than Oblivion.

The Starbreeze engine used for the game was were the term 'Secret Sauce' originated. How they were able to produce the level of fidelity and effects on the original Xbox is mind-blowing as it is inexplicable to this very day. Currently downsampling this game and some of the visuals look like they come directly from a current-gen console exclusive.

The release of Dark Athena contained a brand new adventure in the Riddick universe as well as an updated version of the original game. Dark Athena is available on the following platforms:
GOG

• I thoroughly recommend picking this up on PC if you can. The visuals, resolution, and 60 FPS just can't be beaten.
• I recommend turning off AA as the in-game implementation seems to be very unoptimized, I currently have 4xMSAA forced through Nvidia Inspector. Edge detection seems to be hit or miss with either set up. Force V-sync through drivers as well, as the in-game setting seems to cause some mouse lag. If you follow these steps, then the game should run on a toaster.

Gamestop (activates on Steam)

• The Steam version of the game is riddled with some very intrusive DRM. Pick up the GOG version now, and the Steam version when Gamestop has a sale.

Xbox Live
I could not find the game on PSN, but there is a PS3 version of Dark Athena available.

 

[antitrop]

I just finished Wolfenstein: The New Order and it absolutely blew me away in every way possible. It is very much the spiritual successor of Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness.

I loved The Darkness, but I've never finished Riddick. I think I'm going to fix that now. What better time?

 

[EvilKatarn]

I've played through the original at least three times. Also recently played Dark Athena's EFBB as well.

Still haven't tried Dark Athena itself, didn't hear many good things about it.

Escape From Butcher Bay is an absolute classic though.

 

[Bobs Big Boy]

Playing new Wolfenstein has reminded me how tight and different Riddick felt for the time. Leaving me wanting a revisit, may have to try this Dark Athena.

 

[Courage]

One of the best games of all time. Definitely top 10 material. Dark Athena was also actually pretty great.

 

[Xando]

Damn, i'm old now

loved that game on my OG Xbox

 

[DukeBobby]

Still haven't tried Dark Athena itself, didn't hear many good things about it.

The first 2/3 of Dark Athena is classic Riddick. The last 1/3 is awful and should have been scrapped.

 

[Canis lupus]

Is this game on sale somewhere, I need it in my steam library.

 

[Nokterian]

Best PC game i played in years and still playing it today thanks to gog.com! My favorite movie game next to Wolverine.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I just finished Wolfenstein: The New Order and it absolutely blew me away in every way possible. It is very much the spiritual successor of Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness.

I loved The Darkness, but I've never finished Riddick. I think I'm going to fix that now. What better time?

Pretty much the same thought process here.

Woflenstein was great, and I loved The Darkness, think I should try this out; even if I am not a fan of the Riddick films.

 

[SniperHunter]

one of the best first person shooters ever made! Absolutely fantastic game!

 

[phantomspiker]

The first 2/3 of Dark Athena is classic Riddick. The last 1/3 is awful and should have been scrapped.

Exactly my thoughts.

 

[heyitsphil]

incredible game, remember popping it into my halo edition og xbox and being wowed by the graphics and gameplay. good times.

 

[-Digits-]

It's been ten years? I never finished the game but I was very impressed with it. I should revisit it and finish it this time.

 

[Grief.exe]

I just finished Wolfenstein: The New Order and it absolutely blew me away in every way possible. It is very much the spiritual successor of Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness.

I loved The Darkness, but I've never finished Riddick. I think I'm going to fix that now. What better time?

Such a shame that The Darkness isn't available on PC.

The first 2/3 of Dark Athena is classic Riddick. The last 1/3 is awful and should have been scrapped.

I agree with this. The planet section should have been scrapped entirely or considerably shortened.

Is this game on sale somewhere, I need it in my steam library.

I listed everywhere the game is available in the OP, including a version that activates on Steam (Riddick has been removed from the actual Steam store).

However, I do not recommend the Steam version, it is riddled with some horrible DRM that does a number on your system's integrity. Purchase the GOG version, and pick up the Steam version as a novelty.

 

[Tizoc]

Oh hey this was on my list
Haven't been making these threads lately due ot work and forgetfulness.

I have this off GOG.com one of these days I'll start it...

 

[antitrop]

Such a shame that The Darkness isn't available on PC.

Only its inferior, but still pretty decent, sequel.

 

[Phediuk]

Awesome game. Total sleeper hit, got virtually no buzz before release.

 

[Dictator93]

one of the best first person shooters ever made! Absolutely fantastic game!

Indeed it is.

Great thread for reminding how amazing this game was.

I played it originally in 2004 on Xbox, again in 2005 on PC, and just 2 years ago I played the Dark Athena version (which is amazing).

Everyone who loves FPS should play this game.

 

[Basketball]

Simply amazing game .... the DVD of the Chronicles of Riddick contains the first few levels of the game ... you can play it on the xbox/xbox 360 (i don't remember which one though)

 

[Scrabble]

One of the greatest games ever made, thanks in part to its excellent pacing. If you want to see a game avoid the "ludo narrative whaterver" nonsense that seems to plague so many of today's games, then play Butcher Bay. The way it so seamlessly integrates stealth, fps combat, rpg elements, melee combat, into a cohesive experience should not be understated. It deserves to be held in acclaim right up there with Half Life 2 and Resident Evil 4. The game is almost perfect, except for a few a.i. quirks.

 

[DukeBobby]

Only its inferior, but still pretty decent, sequel.

Yeah, the sequel has terrific shooting mechanics, but it lacks that Starbreeze magic.

 

[Dr Dogg]

Hey Grief you're not Tizoc.

Tiz does the game birthday threads! Hahaha.

Really can't belive it's that long though. Maybe Atari might pull their finger out and get Dark Athena back on Steam sans DRM and patch it for the rest of us folks.

Spoiler

Yes I own it on GOG to but that's by the bye

Edit: Well way late on that one

 

[Gekidami]

Its pretty funny how Escape From Butcher Bay is probably the best Riddick related thing to ever release. Universal Studios should have asked the guys at Starbreeze to write the movies. They might have sucked a lot less.

 

[Yoshichan]

The fucking BEST surprise game of all time.

I remember playing this while waiting for Half-Life 2. Man was I surprised.

 

[kutthoat5150]

Man I remember playing the hell out of the demo on OG xbox, one of my favorite games of all time and still holds up pretty well today

 

[Grief.exe]

Oh hey this was on my list
Haven't been making these threads lately due ot work and forgetfulness.

I have this off GOG.com one of these days I'll start it...

Hey Grief you're not Tizoc.

Tiz does the game birthday threads! Hahaha.

I didn't know this was a thing on GAF. I've had my eye on creating this thread since January of this year when I was happened on the Escape from Butcher Bay Wikipedia page.

I have this off GOG.com one of these days I'll start it...

Now is the time.

 

[Dr Dogg]

I didn't know this was a thing on GAF. I've had my eye on creating this thread since January of this year when I was happened on the Escape from Butcher Bay Wikipedia page.

Hahahaha nah not really, it's not like there's a dibs on game birthdays thread thing going on but every time I see a "X was Y years old today" thread 99 times out of 100 Tizoc has created it.

 

[zychi]

ill be re-buying this come steam summer sale hopefully. loved it on og xbox

 

[Grief.exe]

ill be re-buying this come steam summer sale hopefully. loved it on og xbox

The title is not available on Steam.

You can purchase a version on Gamestop that activates on the service, but I do not recommend actually playing that version. I have voiced these concerns several times already including the OP.

 

[Sojgat]

One of the best games ever made, a true masterpiece. If anyone here hasn't played it, they should find a way to do so.

 

[TheSeks]

I've played through the original at least three times. Also recently played Dark Athena's EFBB as well.

Still haven't tried Dark Athena itself, didn't hear many good things about it.

Escape From Butcher Bay is an absolute classic though.

It's weaker than Escape, but it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I enjoyed my time with it, which is what most games should strive for.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

I only realised the other day that my Steam version is completely fucked. What a downer.

 

[zychi]

The title is not available on Steam.

You can purchase a version on Gamestop that activates on the service, but I do not recommend actually playing that version. I have voiced these concerns several times already including the OP.

that's a real shame. i'll have to actually read the op

 

[cascardian]

Dark Athena's planet section did drag on unnecessarily, but the rest was pretty fun. Nothing tops Escape from Butcher Bay's amazing sense of place, though. Great progression, a lot of exploration to be done and a smartly handled story with great acting. But, seriously, the level design was so unbelievably atmospheric, it blew my mind, especially because I was just expecting another typical movie franchise blow-off. Plus I still remember how eerie the tutorial bit felt while exactly not feeling like a tutorial at all.

Anyone who hasn't played it yet definitely should. It holds up as if it were a newly released game.

 

[Gaz_RB]

This was the first Mature game my mom let me play, because she was in love with the movies.

Thanks, Vin. You opened a door.

 

[RE_Player]

I just bought all the Riddick movies and am looking forward to playing the game as well. Shame it isn't on Steam. I'll have buy a copy on ebay.

 

[revolverjgw]

So much more than just a basic FPS, what a great fucking game, right up there with Goldeneye and The Warriors as the best movie-licensed games. I loved games that take place in one self-contained setting, and Butcher Bay is one of the most memorable.

 

[Grief.exe]

I'll have to ebay a copy.

What will that do?

 

[Jeremy]

I had this game for Xbox and though I never beat it, I thought about how much I enjoyed it back then. I bought Dark Athena so I could attempt to play it again and didn't even recognize anything about it, which was odd. I have wanted to play it since and may go back to it soon. Thanks for this post.

 

[jesu]

I've been meaning to get this for ages, and now thanks to this thread I have.
Fiver from Amazon.Nice.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

I think it needs to be said in the OP in block capitals that IT'S NOT WORTH GETTING ANY VERSION THAT ISN'T GOG DUE TO THE AWFUL DRM.

 

[Falifax]

I think it needs to be said in the OP in block capitals that IT'S NOT WORTH GETTING ANY VERSION THAT ISN'T GOG DUE TO THE AWFUL DRM.

So the version that is Amazon selling for $7.99 is out of the question, huh?

EDIT:

Don't subject yourself to the DRM. It's not worth it.

Well, there you go.

 

[epmode]

Fiver from Amazon.Nice.

Don't subject yourself to the DRM. It's not worth it.

 

[The Janitor]

Such a shame that The Darkness isn't available on PC.

Yeah. I remember in an interview they were asked about a PC version, and they said they wanted to do it but it was up to 2K.

Damn you 2K!

 

[Intheflorsh]

I'll never forget how badass that power armor was.

 

[Grief.exe]

Yeah. I remember in an interview they were asked about a PC version, and they said they wanted to do it but it was up to 2K.

Damn you 2K!

Meanwhile, 2K has been making stacks of dosh from the PC platform

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/04/steam-gauge-addressing-your-questions-and-concerns/2/

 

[UltraGunner]

Still some of the best lighting I've seen in an FPS. I should get Dark Athena for a replay.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

Wanna live? Get a shiv...


All those people who played it but never reached the end? The lead up and pay off at the end of this incredible game beats out pretty much every game even to this day.

Thanks Starbreeze - you did real good.

 

[RE_Player]

What will that do?

Sorry I meant buy a copy on ebay.