The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

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"The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena" was such an enjoyable game for me that it killed me that one significant flaw kept the game's fun level down. (I'll go into that below.) Aside from that, you get two games on one blu-ray disc. In fact, one of the opening screens upon booting up offers you a choice to play "Escape From Butcher Bay" or "Assault on Dark Athena", much like a movie DVD/Blu-ray menu, so the games are separate and are on the same disc. So you really get your money's worth, IF you haven't played "Escape From Butcher Bay" before, which I hadn't.

"Escape From Butcher Bay" is an engrossing game that really (even being 5 years old) takes first person shooters into a different direction. You are able to interact with a whole cast of believable characters, many of which are better scripted and animated than ANY of the non-playable characters in "Fallout 3." The next-gen gloss really makes everything shine--no pun intended. The character models are very detailed and the backgrounds and levels are very sharp. Another reviewer complained about the graphics and I have to say I am shocked by that. There are very few times the graphics are anything less that next-gen. "Assault On Dark Athena" is built on the same engine and has equally sharp graphics and an interesting cast of highly detailed characters.

The stories for both are very much part of the Riddick universe and canon, with "Escape From Butcher Bay" being the one mentioned in the actual movies. I would say the story for "Escape From Butcher Bay" is superior to "Assault on Dark Athena", but not by much. Both are very detailed and your main quests (and side quests) add a lot of depth and time to the playing experience.

I thought the controls were very good and the selection of weapons was particularly generous--though I preferred the Ulaks, as they were quite lethal for silent kills or melee combat. The other weapons were nicely detailed and animated and it was always cool to walk into a room, shoot out the lights, and turn the Riddick eyeshine on so I could see in the dark.

The sound is great and many have mention the top notch voice acting. I have to agree, the voice acting was superb and it even has some musical cues from the movies.

The enemy AI is rather good and relentless. It really forces you to use Riddick's stealth abilities (which include the awesome eyeshine, where he can see in the dark) to perform quick kills.

Riddick, at times (in both games) can step into robot-like suits and then use them against the enemy. This is fun and adds variety. In "Dark Athena" he can even take over and control the zombie like soldiers, in certain areas.

Now to the issues that keep this from being a solid 4-5 star game. Well, the checkpoint save system is the worst I have seen in a long time. Many times you will be down to one health block and you move ahead and it automatically saves you progress there. You die and you start back there with one health block. If you die enough, the game generously gives you another one and I have heard if you die enough, then another one. But this save system saps the fun out of the game by constant loading screens and then you finding out you have a large amount of enemies or big enemies to fight, BUT you only have one to two health blocks. It is very tiresome and adds a lot of deaths and restarts. Also, the map system in "Escape" (which is actually non-existent in "Dark Athena") doesn't help at all as it doesn't show your location or direction on the map! These two flaws seriously affect an otherwise awesome gaming experience and that is sad.

There's some minor glitches I noticed like one of the cut scenes had dialogue spoken, but there was a serious delay to the characters lip-synching. Also, there was some slowdown and choppiness.

Overall, it is a fun game despite the flaws and glitches. I had a great time, though cursing at the screen from time to time, and I think most will enjoy the game if they can overlook these problems.

3/5 stars

Pros:

*15+ hrs. of gameplay.

*Great graphics for the character models and levels.

*2 games for one price.

*Well constructed levels, with multiple non-linear routes.

*Controls are pretty solid.

*Enemy AI is good.

*Sound is good.

*You get to play as Riddick with Vin Diesel voicing the character.

Cons:

*The worst checkpoint save system that results in many loading screens and many deaths due to reloading with few health blocks. (Should have had a nice hard drive install to speed up loading times or do away with them.)

*Enemy AI can get too good in some areas and also, while the game developers want you to be sneaking around, many enemies carry flashlights on their guns which makes sneaking almost a gimmick.

*Map in "Butcher Bay" is terrible and no map in "Dark Athena."

*A few glitches and slowdown.

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I have the PC port of Escape from Butcher's Bay from 2004 and loved the game. I don't play too many games on my PC anymore and was debating whether or not to spend the money on this game. I'm definitely glad I did. There are two episodes to this game. The first is a remake of the 2004 release "Escape from Butcher's Bay" and the second is an all new campaign "Assault on Dark Athena."

Butcher's Bay is as good, if not better than I remember from 2004. There's plenty of ways to play the game and there's more than one path to get to some places. All of the FPS, stealth an melee elements work really well together and the game does a very good job of making you feel like Riddick.

What worried me is that the reviews I read indicated that if you've already played through Butcher's Bay, then Dark Athena might not be worth a rebuy on it's own. It doesn't matter. It's been 5 years since I played Butcher's Bay and it still holds up so well that it's definitely worth it on it's own. Dark Athena is a good addition and makes the package worthy of full game price. The environments are varied and interesting, but the story is lacking polish and continuity. Loose ends are left hanging, like SPOILER "what ever happened to Johns? Isn't he supposed to leave with Riddick at this point?" END SPOILER The game shifts gears into shooter territory for a little while with some neat foes, but brings back the stealth elements before the game is done.

For those wanting a game with a decent story to follow, gameplay variety and a good cast of characters, this package of Butcher's Bay + Dark Athena is a very good choice.

Buy The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Now

I just picked up The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and I have got to say Its a great Game! I really like how they put the Butcher Bay story in the game as well. I liked how it showed some of Riddick's past on how he got his Eyeshine even though we all know it was from Surgery. The butcher bay graphics are decent not bad but sometimes a little blurry. What I really like about this game is the difficulty of it I am on Normal and it seems like a hard mode which is a blast.

One you get the hang of Butcher bay the weapons and combat is a little hard at first but once you get used to it, its flawless and the killing and neck snapping action. The blood and the terror of the tortured people in the cells or that are trying to run free is just a great version of a prison also the pit brings the reality of the game out.

On to the Dark Athena part of the game. The graphics are crystal Clear, and amazing. The sound is where it should be and Riddick's Eyeshine is really neat in the darkness. I really like the way this story worked out with the weapons and the characters. I especially like how Riddick and the Capt have a history together and they are going to fight it out hopefully. I will just say Riddick is right "the dead should stay dead" and that's where you come in. I also like how you can sneak up people and since your used to the fighting from Butcher Bay you should be good to go with fighting and sneaking around.

Overall this was a great purchase I enjoy these games a lot and I look forward to beating Dark Athena soon. I will be looking forward to possibly a multilayer or something along those lines. I recommend purchasing this game 2 great games in 1.

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I could not put it down, my brother and I both got it on the same weeknd and with a few phone calls back and forth we did not stop until we finished.Also we did not find any bugs!! Its just a great game.

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Say what you will about Vin Diesel, but the man has the character of Riddick nailed down. His performance is so convincing. This disc includes the original Riddick episode, Escape From Butcher Bay as well. The two chronicles are very similar in gameplay design. In fact, there isn't much variation to speak of. The mechanics are the same, and both are essentially stealth/action. Butcher Bay features a more compelling plot in my opinion, but Athena is most certainly worth your time. These games really shine when is comes to setting a particular mood and atmosphere. They really suck you into the experience. The voice work is amazing. Each character is realistic and sympathtic in their own unique way. The in game map system is rather...well...terrible in Butcher Bay. And Dark Athena doesn't even have one. This is typical of developer starbreeze. I suppose they prefer that you figure it out on your own. There is a rather steep learning curve, and the difficulty can be rather punishing. Great games though!