Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	9
Sound:	9
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	8.8

The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena Review
April 29, 2009 by Jereme Puik

Escape from Butcher Bay, which was released for the original Xbox back in 2004 was touted as the sleeper hit of the last generation. It skillfully combined and achieved a well played first/third person experience. While it was an action game at heart, it had small elements of everything else mixed in. 5 years later, Starbreeze Studios returns with a re-made version of Butcher Bay in its high definition glory, in addition to an added multiplayer mode. With Assault on Dark Athena as a bonus, is this Chronicle of Riddick worth its cost?

Gameplay

Escape from Butcher Bay introduces you to Richard B. Riddick, a badass who’s on every mercenaries most wanted list. With The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena, you are given a choice between the excellent Butcher Bay and the “sequel”, Dark Athena. Butcher Bay is where you’ll start off; beginning a storyline that has Riddick captured in a maximum security prison and his many attempts to escape. Along the way he’ll meet up with prison mates and guards intent on using Riddick for their own agendas. Dark Athena then continues that plot as Riddick becomes a stowaway on a ship, Dark Athena, bent on becoming a force in the galaxy. Though, you’ll meet up with a lot fewer characters, some of the more interesting ones, unfortunately, aren’t utilized enough. If you’ve heavily into sci-fi then you’ll love the atmosphere of the prison environment, despite being very shallow. 

Dark Athena ends up taking parts of what made Butcher Bay great and taking them in its own direction while also adding its own twist. With human drones and a new angle on the stealth and gun mechanics, you’ll also encounter underlying RPG elements and plenty of side quests to keep you busy. If you remember some of the stealth movement of Butcher Bay, you should feel right at home with Dark Athena. If you want to feel like you’re a hand-to-hand combat badass on the run, you’ll certainly want to take advantage of every corner you can. Riddick is able to carry multiple weapons from assault rifles and shotguns, to knives, clubs and razor blades. There isn’t a traditional combo system, it’s all about planning your attack and when you’ll strike. 

With all of this, it combines itself into a great strategic gameplay style that allows you more freedom when taking down enemies. You’ll love using the curved blades or knives as you witness Riddick cutting up and killing the drone or unfortunate mercenary in front of you as the animation kicks in. The AI isn’t dumb, so don’t expect to run over these guys, nor is AI fumbling with a rifle either. The only problem you could have with the AI is while sneaking around. If you’re caught, you can expect a rain of bullets to fall in your direction; so you better make sure you’re prepared for both encounters. Also be prepared for a lot of guards to head in your direction as well.

To help with the never ending darkness, Riddick is fixed with “Shine Eyes”, a little technique in those goggles of yours that allow you to see in the darkness with a purple aura around you to give you a clear view while sneaking up on your enemy. You can combine this with your stealth movement which when pressing X a blue tint surrounds your screen and gives you a greater advantage as you watch drones or mercenaries walk around. 

Butcher Bay seems to have stood well over time, especially considering it was only released in 2004. Gameplay wise, there are several hitches with the game that might bother you by today’s standards. The trial-and-error gameplay is still there and you’ll certainly be back tracking as often as possible. The only part of about Butcher Bay that makes it more appealing then its previous iteration is its visual which were upgraded to include HD support. While, it’s a good idea never to mess with the original source material much, it would’ve been nice to add in a few tweaks here and there, since the new engine makes Dark Athena more appealing for a new session. You’ll probably end up starting your game over thanks to low health, or just an unfortunate circumstance. The auto-saving is still there as it is in Dark Athena albeit a bit dated. Still though, Butcher Bay manages to hold up pretty well with the improved visuals giving it a great atmosphere to dance around in. 

The one thing about Dark Athena that really surprised me was that it managed to have great level design. Yes, you are stuck on a mercenary ship working with prison inmates and guards, but the game still manages to give you a ride. From the intense fist fights to the shooting galleries, the stealth sections in particular will give you something to think about after you’re finished. The many different sections of the ship often offer you with new gameplay elements and surprises. While there is still a bit of heavy trial and error, each level has its own mix of drones and mercs to deal with. This also means better platforming as the hours continue on. It’s always fun to sneak up behind drones, snap their neck and use them as your own weapon while the others come running to see what happened. 

Towards the end of the game, though, is where the stealth sections start to grow smaller and smaller. More and more often are you left with choices to just run and gun it which is unfortunate because it makes Riddick turn into just another dude with an SMG in his hands. While, it may be an annoying part of the game, it returns itself to the stealth portion towards the last hour or so of the campaign with some puzzle mess you have to figure out to advance. Either way, it would’ve been nice to have a clean consistent path without the major change in gameplay.  

In multiplayer, however, is where you’ll find the game a bit broken and uneven. There is only one mode in multiplayer that you’ll really find a bit frustrating. Pitch Black is a new multiplayer addition that casts one player as Riddick and the other as the mercenaries hunting him down for the kill. If you manage to kill Riddick, he instantly becomes Riddick and the match resets. Riddick only has the ability swipe around like a mad man with his curved blades and you can’t do much in stealth mode either. If a mercenary has his rifle locked and loaded, the flashlight is the only thing helping him to see in the dark and it’s much too easy to catch Riddick off guard and throwing him the one shot kill. In essence, the multiplayer feels a bit rushed, poorly planned and a little lacking. 

Graphics 

The improved visual of Butcher Bay really sharpen the game and holds it up to today’s standards even if the gameplay is a bit dated. The cinematic presentation makes it feel like you’re actually watching the real Vin Diesel giving yet another impressive performance of Richard B. Riddick. Dark Athena also gets high marks for its visuals as well for realistic and believable characters and environments. Both games offer great visual rendering and look great on any HD set.  

Sound 

Being set in a motion picture like presentation really helps makes The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena more appealing in the sound department as well. Vin Diesel is back to voice his ever menacing Riddick and easily is a favorite to the ears, with his uncanny one liners and straightforward responses. Other characters on both titles all have a very well-received voice work and don’t stray too far from the tree. As your playing through each level, the musical score creates a tense atmosphere that will keep you hooked at almost every level, not jumping too far off the scale for something a little to out of this world. 

Plasma Factor 

The biggest selling point for Assault on Dark Athena is the inclusion of the refurbished, Butcher Bay release. With improved visuals and presentation, Butcher Bay remains one of my favorite titles from last generation. You can’t ignore the fact that Butcher Bay doesn’t provide an enticing adventure in the Riddick universe. For those with a sci-fi passion at heart, you wouldn’t want to miss this story. 

The level design also gets another plus considering it’s an environment that works in Dark Athena and Butcher Bay. While you’re stuck in essentially the same areas for both games, the plot really makes for a great storyline to follow along with. The game’s length shouldn’t bother you too much. However if you get caught in too much trial and error, it’s easy to see why one might turn the game off in the long run. 

Conclusion 

If you liked Escape from Butcher Bay then you should have no trouble diving right into Assault on Dark Athena. It is merely a continuation of the storyline presented in Butcher Bay and manages to provide excellent stealth segments and action gameplay. Characters are well written even if a few of them aren’t utilized fully. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena would do well for a multiplayer upgrade with Pitch Black getting a bit more polish to it. Other than that, the package as a whole is worth the price at face value if just for that sake that it’s Riddick and that’s all you really need to know.