Obviously the inescapable facts of console gaming are all here, with low resolution graphics, aliasing, and a controller not particularly suited for shooters. The latter item probably deserves a pass, though, since I bet those guys that have played Halo every day for the last three years are probably very adept. Customizable controls make up for it, along with a few video sliders and saving to the hard drive (I don't think you can save anywhere, but when you die and have to restart, I never had to replay large sections). I was also gratified at how many different control options you have, including leaning, rolling, loud and silent neck snaps, and 'fatality' moves. Wasn't expecting so much to be included.

The Starbreeze guys do what they can as far as render depth, using their great blowing-sand effects and nice skymaps to mask the smallish size (at least to my PC Morrowind/UT2004 playing eyes) of the outdoor areas. From what I've seen, there aren't many of these though as the bulk of the game takes place inside prison corridors. These corridors are pretty detailed, with really great lighting and texturing. As is to be expected, there is a limited amount of memory in the console so you do start to notice the same four wall decorations repeating endlessly after a while. But there are a lot of nice touches, such as damage appearing on your enemies and flies buzzing around the trash cans and stuff like that. The lighting and shadows look great, and the character models absolutely rock. Vin Diesel's likeness is really astonishing although Cole Hauser's... isn't.

What I really like is that there is a very strong film-like element to BUTCHER BAY... The game opens with a pre-rendered cinematic set near the time that the movie will take place. Then you've got some in-game cinematics, a short playable level full of prescripted events, followed by another in-game cinematic and finally a partially-interactive credits sequence. Pretty cool if you're interested in becoming a part of this world. I also liked that not only do they take time to introduce some elements of mythology that we're going to get into with the movie, but we've also got great moments with Johns (any time there's new Riddick-Johns interaction, you know it's going to be a good thing). Top notch.

There are a couple things I don't like about the gameplay and quite a bit that I do. BUTCHER BAY features a pretty-blah game-ism in that there are doors that don't open until you talk to some guy that gives you a mission. It's kind of predictable and annoying. But then again, you can talk to guys and get missions (or decline them), so any adventure element at all is welcome.

The game is linear, but not 100% so. You can go back and forth between at least the first two areas and explore areas that open up as you accept or decline side missions. Most of the time you only benefit from the fact you can climb boxes and shimmy along ledges when that's the only way the designers have given you to progress. It would have been cool if there were more spots in the game where you can do this as an OPTION if you want, maybe to avoid gunfights or whatever.

I'll wrap up with the main point of the game, the fighting. It's all about shivs, blood, and inflicting brutality on others. You get a really good feel for the the force of your punches, and having a toe-to-toe fight with homemade knives is gratifyingly wicked and extremely bloody. Plus there are a lot of times where you can use stealth to snap necks for a little variety.

All in all, this is more fun than I would expect to have at 640x480. (Note: This resolution only refers to the Xbox version).