Originally announced some time ago, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (we'll refer to it as CoR henceforth) has experienced somewhat of a rickety development history. Dropped by Activision after its merger with Vivendi, CoR was in limbo until picked up by Atari. After a lengthy silent spell, the game eventually emerged from the dark, with the promise of several new features. Originally viewed as a simple remake of Escape from Butcher Bay, the developers later revealed that they were adding a whole new chapter to the game. The latest addition, which takes place immediately after the events of Butcher Bay, sees anti-hero Riddick captured and consequently stranded on the mysterious pirate vessel Dark Athena. Starbreeze, fresh off the success of The Darkness, have stated that the Dark Athena campaign is in itself a game, with around eight to ten hours of additional gameplay.
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Not only can players experience the next chapter in the Riddick saga, but the original Escape from Butcher Bay game has been completely remade. Assuring fans that they haven't merely done a ‘texture job’, the developers have updated Butcher Bay so that the new CoR takes full advantage of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware. Nevertheless, the Butcher Bay campaign just about mirrors its predecessor in terms of storyline, gameplay and level design. And as far as we're concerned, that is a good thing. If you never had the pleasure of playing Escape from Butcher Bay on Xbox or PC, come April, you can do exactly that on Xbox 360 or PS3.
In CoR, you can sneak, shoot or slash yourself out of just about any situation. Riddick possess a unique talent known as ‘eyeshine’, which allows him to see naturally in the dark (players of Butcher Bay will know how Riddick came to acquire this ‘gift’). The eyeshine ability is useful for sneaking around shadowy corridors, away from the sight of others. Riddick is also quite handy with a shiv, knife, or any other sharp object. With a blade in his possession, he can dispatch foes silently from behind or block attacks of advancing enemies. If swordplay isn't your thing, there are plenty of firearms to pick up, including pistols, assault rifles and shotguns.
Escape from Butcher Bay intentionally gave players a single way to play the game at any one time. For example, if the developers wanted Riddick to use stealth, they would take away his guns and give players plenty of dark hallways to sneak around in. Assault on Dark Athena is more flexible than it's predecessor, with players generally given a choice of whether to sneak or shoot their way out of trouble. Further, there are new enemies, situations and intriguing puzzles to solve. In the Dark Athena story, players will be confronted by armour-clad enemies known as drones. Essentially, these creations are ill-fated mercenaries captured by the Athena and turned into mindless security automatons. Drones can passively patrol the vessel, or be actively controlled by someone through a remote terminal.
Drones are useful for eliminating the enemy.
In the CoR demo that was recently released on Xbox LIVE, Riddick has to battle his way through a section of the Dark Athena. Fortunately, the anti-hero is given access to a terminal from which he can unleash several drones. Controlling the drones, we happily advanced through several murky walkways, leaving a trail of bullet-ridden mercenaries in our wake. Afterwards, we picked up our own weapon, turning it against the endless supply of Athena pirates. Just like Escape from Butcher Bay, the shooting gameplay was tense and entertaining. While longer than the Killzone 2 demo, the CoR demo only offers players a brief glimpse of the entire game, taking place within the depths of the Dark Athena. So, besides the shadowy passages of the pirate vessel, there isn't much more to see. We look forward to seeing how the rest of the action title looks, and how Escape from Butcher Bay has made the transition to high definition.
After being wowed by Escape from Butcher Bay, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena certainly has much to live up to. Nonetheless, the signs look promising. With two separate campaigns, CoR should provide great value for both new and returning players to Vin Diesel's sci-fi universe. If the developers can provide the same polished visuals, engrossing plot and outstanding gameplay of the first Riddick game, action fans will be in for a real treat. Starbreeze and Tigon Studios outdid themselves in the last run, and there's no reason why they can't to it again in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.
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