The Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena Review [Xbox 360]

Posted May 30, 2009 by DMoore in Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Reviews.

Reviewed on the Xbox 360

2004 was an interesting year, Facebook was founded, The Lord of The Rings won eleven Oscars, and it was the year one of the worst natural disasters ever swept over Asia. On the plus side, it was also the year that confirmed games based on movies didn’t have to suck, as Starbreeze Studios unleashed The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on the original Xbox. Fast forward five years and Starbreeze are at it again with a remake of the classic game, but not only are they releasing the original title but also adding a new campaign Assault on Dark Athena into the package as well, and though they are both great games, it obvious very quickly that this package is a remake.

That impression mostly comes from the games mechanics as The Chronicles of Riddick just feels dated when compared to today’s shooters. To be fair calling this title a shooter is a bit of a misnomer as it is more routed in stealth with great shooter sections rolled in when needed. It works brilliantly though, and sneaking through the living breathing galactic prison in Butcher Bay is a thrilling experience, really giving you the feel of being inside a brutal and dangerous place filled with the most vile the universe has to offer.

This includes protagonist Richard B Riddick, played brilliantly by one line master Vin Diesel. Originally seen in the movie Pitch Black, the events of the game are set well before and explains a lot of Riddick’s back story, most notably his strange ‘Eye Shine’ which translates in game play terms into night vision. Though it may seem that having that as your only special ability in the entire game is a bit poor, you don’t need much more as Riddick is such a great character that his stupid one liners and singular objective make it compelling to see the story through.

As you traverse Butcher Bay you will take on missions for various inmates, ranging from killing a specific prisoner, to finding a snitch list or getting caught with drugs by the guards. Everything is linked back in to the overall Escape plan, and makes it feel like you are doing whatever it takes to get out, and are enough of a bad ass to not have to explain your plan to anyone.

Some of this carries over into Assault on Dark Athena as well, though it is much shorter than Escape from Butcher Bay so there simply isn’t as many prisoners to interact with, or as much variety in missions. This is actually one of the biggest problems with the game as the new campaign should have been the focus by updating the formula to bring it in line with modern conventions and standards then having the original game in the box as fan service. Unfortunately this disparity in quality means Escape from Butcher Bay is the main reason to play the game.

Another reason why the Dark Athena campaign simply isn’t as good as its counter part, is because the stealth/sneaking mechanics are mostly thrown out in favour of straight out shooting. While understandable from a story perspective as guns are no longer DNA encoded, the most thrilling part of Butcher Bay was sneaking around in the dark and breaking guards necks without them even knowing you were there. So changing the game play so that you can simply fight your way out of situations because you are as heavily armed as the enemies means Dark Athena looses a lot of the original games magic.

The final problem with Dark Athena is that they have tried to give it an interesting mechanic in the form of the Drones, humans converted into mindless cyborg’s that can operate by themselves via prescribed patrol routes, or when their lights turn white operated by a member of the Dark Athena crew. At the start of the game the only way to use fire arms is to stealth kill a drone then pick up its body and use the gun still attached, but the problem here is that it limits your movement so much that it is simply easier to punch them into submission, using the guns only to take out as many lights as possible to help sneak up on them. The mechanic simply doesn’t work since you cant even walk forward with them and have to move backward toward your destination which can lead to an annoying death.

Despite its problems for the most part Assault on Dark Athena is a great looking and sounding game. Both campaigns feature ambient noises that make the environments come alive, and hearing the mechanical whine of the main drone enemies in Dark Athena as they patrol their ship is fantastic, as is the noises from the various prisoners in Butcher Bay, and instantly dread inducing clank of the power suited Riot guards and Mechs in both games.

The voice acting is brilliant with Diesel himself a highlight, though by the end of Dark Athena his one line at a time delivery can seem odd, especially when he is talking about killing any one who gets in his way when asking for help making a vent tool. Its just out of place at times, though everyone else is spot on and there is a host of celebrity voice talent on hand in both games, from Michelle Forbes (Ro Laren from Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the villainous Dark Athena Captain, to Michael Rooker (Replicant) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as prisoners in Butcher Bay.

The graphics are for the most part excellent with no slow down what so ever, but despite the ‘next gen’ make over there are some graphical glitches such as the camera going a bit screwy after a load or Riddick’s Character model disappearing during a door unlock animation. The load times are a bit jarring as well demonstrating that both games hark back to an earlier time as in this day and age when it is possible to traverse entire islands without loading screens or mask loads with elevator rides, the loading times and screens make the game feel needlessly old school.

There is a multiplayer section to Dark Athena, featuring standard death match and capture the flag modes. The most interesting mode, however, is Pitch Black where one player assumes the role of Riddick and everyone else is a prison guard. It can be fun, but so few people are playing that its hard to get a match going and the novelty of playings as Riddick can wear thin. The other unique mode is Prison Riot, which is basically Counter Strike in the Riddick universe, but the same problems arise when hardly anyone is playing. The multiplayer just feels needless and brings nothing to the table.

It is a shame that Escape from Butcher Bay is the real star of this package, as a modern update to its classic formula in Dark Athena would have provided a much needed injection of freshness into the stealth genre. As it stands, the original game is as fantastic as ever while Dark Athena is let down by sticking too close to the original and not updating the formula, while simultaneously removing some of the core mechanics that made Butcher Bay the instant classic it is. If you haven’t played that game, buy this immediately, but be prepared to be taken back in time a few years.

Tagged as Assault on Dark Athena, Chronicles of Riddick, escape from butcher bay, Xbox360