Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Review

"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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Product Description:
Return to the frenetic, edge-of-your-seat universe of the Chronicles of Riddick film series with The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. In the title role played in the films by Vin Diesel, you'll fight your way through an environment filled with malevolence and horror. Take part in both range and melee combat in your attempt to escape the dark fate that awaits you, and don't hesitate to execute stealth kills and counterattacks. Become fully immersed in Riddick's world, which is rendered with cinematic and atmospheric intensity. And for the first time in the Riddick franchise you can participate in a variety of multiplayer and online options that let you share the adrenaline-pumping excitement with friends.

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