The Chronicles of Riddick

Yes, I'm, going to review it >:]

I rather enjoyed the movie, I found the art direction rather fresh. So when I saw The game on sale in Steam for $5, I figured what have I got to lose!

Well I now have an answer to that question... my 5 bucks! lol

What were Ken Finney's 4 "F"'s of good game design? Feasibility, Feedback, Fun, and Fair! And that's pretty much a list of what the game lacks. :o

I died about 6 times at the very start of the game because it took me a while to figure out you had to go back and talk to an NPC a second time, at which point he opens a secret hatch for you in the floor. Without that your character has 2 possible options, get blowed up in the mine field or charge the mini guns in the wall at either side of the main door. That was neither fun nor fair.

Missions in general are vague, and you have to hunt around for newly opened zones or subtle flashes that indicate a particular object is now interactable. In one instance, you must climb down a ladder to progress. The ladder is not visible unless you are practically on top of it.

Melee combat is OK. Workable blocks and attacks. What I don't like about it is that the actions your character takes seem to be based on timing and response to what your opponent is doing rather than on what you want to do.

Ranged combat is nerfed down to the point where you may as well be trying to kill each other with paint guns. And that is a good thing too because you are often facing several opponents. Unfortunately, your movement becomes impaired for some reason once you start taking hits, so doing a Mass Effect tactic of retreating behind cover usually doesn't work. Instead you stand there like an ass and get shot until you die, doing your best to take everything out before that happens.

So far about the most satisfying aspect of the game that I found is sneaking up behind an opponent and snapping their neck, and that fact in of itself is a little unsettling. Sometimes it is about all there is to do while you try and figure out what you are supposed to do next. "OK... I killed everything, now what"?

I don't care for the approach to the game art either. Normal mapping is relied upon WAY too much and used at such small resolutions that it looks like aluminum foil pressed over pixel blocks. (See below)

This appears to be yet another example of Deep Media crap - A hastily thrown together game using only mechanics that have been thoroughly vetted. It lacks imagination and creativity which runs contrary to the actual movie it is supposed to be supporting.

Oh.. and did I mention the 10 gig of disk space needed?

I want my $5 back!