The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena

[The_Disturbed_One]

About 9 years ago, David Twohy directed a film called Pitch Black, and probably had no idea that one of the film's characters would spawn an entire franchise spanning from video games to additional films. That character's name is of course, Riddick, the Furyan who has been a prisoner, a fugitive, and a hero at times.

Pitch Black has thus far spawned 1 animated feature, "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury", 1 feature length film, "The Chronicles of Riddick", and 2 video games, "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" and the upcoming "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena".

--Real Quick: For those of you who haven't seen Pitch Black, go check it out. It's a great film by itself and in the series. I can't say the same about The Chronicles of Riddick or Dark Fury, but if you end up liking Pitch Black, go ahead and check those out, too. Anyway back to the game...

Dark Athena, as the game shall be called from here on out, is a direct sequel to Escape from Butcher Bay, and both take place before the films. The game is published by Atari and will be released on April 7th. Vin Diesel will also reprise his role as Riddick in the game.

Apparently, Riddick escapes from the prison he is held in on a merc ship called Dark Athena, and the single player story will pick up from there. In addition to the normal things that are supposed to come with a sequel (Improved graphics, sounds, and gameplay), it is also expected to have a multiplayer mode. And if that isn't enough, a remade version of Escape from Butcher Bay will be included with Dark Athena. From what I gather, the reason behind the decision to do a remake was because Microsoft could not make the Xbox 360 backward compatible with Escape from Butcher Bay, and they wanted to get the story to a larger audience.

...to that, I say "Badass." Anyway, like its predecessor, Dark Athena will be a sci-fi first person shooter and will release on the PS3, 360, and the PC. For those of you interested, the demo has been released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and on the Playstation network, so turn your system on and get to downloadin'! (Sorry Wii owners ) I have in fact played the demo and I have to say I can't wait for the game to come out now.

[The_Disturbed_One]

Here are some screenshots I found from the game.

[The_Disturbed_One]

Okay, I know how everyone hates reviving dead posts, but I just got the game, so here comes the review. I'll do one for both the new and improved Butcher Bay and Dark Athena.

Butcher Bay...I can describe it in 3 words...hard as f***. I'm a FPS lover and I normally am able to dissect a game on Hard or the hardest difficulty with ease. I played the original when it was released in '04, and I have to say that the Hard mode on the updated Escape from Butcher Bay campaign feels a million times more difficult than it used to be. The AI is extremely smart and tough as nails. For anyone who is great at the FPS genre and is looking for a challenge, try it out on Hard. If not, go for Normal, or Easy even. Anyway, the game graphics have been updated and while the story and vo's haven't changed, they're still worth mentioning. It's still a great game and worth a peek.

Now on to Dark Athena...for the most part, it's a slightly easier campaign than Butcher Bay simply because you have Eyeshine form the beginning, and your stealth is top-notch. The AI is still ridiculous, however, and even if you are fully encased in the shadows, you can still be seen by some dudes. The gameplay is on the same level as Butch Bay, in that its pretty fun. Of course, when is it not fun to sneak up and take out a dude without his buddies noticing? The graphics are great and the voice-over work is amazing. I haven't gotten around to playing the multiplayer, so I really can't give an accurate depiction of it. All in all, its a great game.

So, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena with the added Escape from Butcher Bay is a great addition to anyone with a 360 or a PS3. Before you go out and fork over 60 bucks, be sure to get the demo first off of XBL or the PSN. I played the game on the Xbox 360 system, but I doubt that there are many differences between it and the PS3 version. I give it a 9/10. The great graphics, gameplay, voice-over work, and the addition of the original game make it the first great game of the year, IMO. Check it out.

[xrnzaaas]

Playing on medium... Butcher Bay is far more difficult than Dark Atena. And better... One thing that bothers me the most if that sometimes you can't rely on stealth in Dark Athena where you should. Guess the producers were too lazy to improve the levels. In most areas there aren't any shadows, sometimes enemies notice you coming when they shouldn't and near the end there are tons of ridiculous boss fights. My advise is to rent Butcher Bay on the first Xbox or PC if you can and ignore Dark Athena.