Video Game Review: “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” for Xbox 360

Game Rating: M
Game Publisher: Atari
Platform: Xbox 360 — Also made for PS3 & Windows Vista/XP
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Buy this at: Amazon for $44.99

“An otherwise fun, but one trick pony type of game, Pitch Black makes ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ all worthwhile…”

One of the biggest titles I’d been looking forward to playing since I’d heard about its release was “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.” I’d been checking out the videos, screenshots, and reading up on the impending Atari title for months. Well, the time has come for the release of the game and I just happened to get a copy of it to review!

What a fun game! I’m not a huge online, multiplayer kind of guy, but if one game could sway me in that direction it is this one! While “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” shines when it comes to online gameplay, the single player, offline game isn’t half bad either. Okay, it’s pretty awesome. I’m very happy with the entire game, as there is much to do, ensuring I won’t get tired playing this game for a while.

I love the online games the best. Have I said that already? There are a series of different online games you can play with others who own ‘Dark Athena.’ This is the most fun I’ve had in an online game playing environment. The entire online experience is fast paced as you take on other players. They come virtually out of nowhere, and next thing you know, in a split second, you are dead until the next round begins (well, in most of the online games).

I don’t think I’ll get tired of the online portion of “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” for quite some time. It’s exhilarating to play these games and it makes the entire purchase of ‘Dark Athena’ worthwhile.

Of course, in single player mode, you either play the title game, ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ or a completely remastered version of the original The Chronicles of Riddick video game, ‘Escape from Butcher Bay.’ The only downside is that the ‘Dark Athena’ game is a lot shorter than your average first person shooter game. This lack of gameplay time is made up for in the time you have to play ‘Butcher Bay’. Still, it was slightly cheap to recycle this game, even if it is ten times better than the 2004 release, allowing for skimping on the play time of the original game. This is a minor complaint, but a complaint nonetheless.

Story:
In ‘Butcher Bay’, you have to escape from Butcher Bay, a highly guarded prison. In both this campaign and ‘Dark Athena,’ you play as Richard B. Riddick. Riddick is a dangerous, intergalactic criminal who uses special goggles/glasses, which allow him to see in the dark. The plot for ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ starts up where ‘Butcher Bay’ has ended. You have escaped the prison with the help of the man who originally took you there, Johns. Leaving by ship, the two of you are captured by the mercenary ship, the Dark Athena.

The Dark Athena is run by Gale Revas, who captures Johns, though you (as Riddick) are able to hide and escape. It is the goal of Riddick to escape the ship, killing both guards (mostly drones) and mercenaries as you travel throughout the ship. Along the way, you (Riddick) meet Lynn. This little girl is hiding in the air vents and is trying to get help for her captured parents. Of course, she turns to you for help.

When you (Riddick) head to the prison cells, you discover that the original captain of the Dark Athena has been captured and is being held there. You also find Lynn’s mother, Alicia Silverman. She plans to help you (Riddick) escape. She can make the parts you need if you get them to her, and if you find Lynn, who she worries will be captured and/or killed if the drone guards or mercenaries find her. Dacher, another prisoner, also plans to help you escape.

With you (Riddick) determined to free the prisoners, escape the ship yourself and give Revas a heck of a fight, this all out action flick will take you (Riddick) to the planet of Aguerra and back to the Dark Athena in an attempt to stop Revas and return the peace on the ship once and for all.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor:

Features:
There are two single player campaigns that are features of “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.” In both, you play as Riddick in first-person shooter style. The first campaign, as I mentioned previously, is the remastered ‘Escape from Butcher Bay’ game. The second is ‘Assault on Dark Athena.’ Both games are similar in their styles. The second game is almost an extension of the first.

The real gem is in the multiplayer game options with the crown jewel being Pitch Black. In Pitch Black, one of the players is Riddick. He can see in the dark, obviously, and is in underground, Pitch Black tunnels. The rest of the players are guards. You start out with a standard gun, but before you hop down the hole to go underground, you can choose from submachine guns, assault rifles and shotguns.

Each gun has a light on the end, and this allows you to see right in front of you. The biggest light is on the submachine gun and the smallest is on the shotgun, but the shotgun is also more powerful, so there is good and bad with each choice. Once you jump into the hole you have to find and kill Riddick. Riddick is quick though and the Ulaks he has are dangerous. Just one swipe of these knuckle blades and you are a goner, but if you kill Riddick, in the next round you become him!

While Pitch Black is certainly the creme de la creme of the entire game, some of the other multiplayer games are fun, too. In particular, I greatly enjoyed Butcher Bay Riot, Deathmatch and Team Death Match. In Butcher Bay Riot three groups of players, prisoners, guards and mercs, take on one another to capture a power cell. You have to kill the other groups’ members and get the power cell before they do in order to win UDs which help buy better weapons for the next round of play.

Deathmatch is just that. Your goal is to eliminate your opponent. The longer you last, the more powerful your weapons are. If you get killed, you start over with your mediocre, beginner gun. The Team Deathmatch is similar only it features prisoners versus guards. Other, mediocre, online multiplayer games include Capture the Flag and Arena. Capture the Flag is self explanatory and the Arena game features 3 on 1 or 2 on 2 duels with the winner staying for the next match. These two games are okay, but not as cool as the other online offerings.

The thing I like about the multiplayer for ‘Dark Athena’ is the options you have. You can choose a random game mode or decide to play the specific online game of your choice. You can find games already in progress or create your own. You also have the option to play a quick player match, custom player matches, quick ranked matches and custom player matches.

Note: The one downside to the online, multiplayer game play is the ability to use microphones. Seriously, while I’m killing Riddick (or hunting him down) I don’t want to hear a bunch of teenagers goofing off and acting dumb. This is the only place where the mute button, on the television, comes in handy.

Replayability:

Controls:
If you can operate an Xbox 360 controller, you shouldn’t have any problem using the controls for this game. The guns aren’t in a weird spot so shooting is easy. Movement is smooth. While the AI isn’t spectacular, your movement both online and in single player campaign mode isn’t hard to control.

The only problem I had was in online player mode. Other players, especially in Pitch Black, can be quite fast. You have to have great reflexes to constantly be at the top of your game. Still, even if I wasn’t the best at this part of the gaming experience, it still was a lot of fun!

Ease of Use:

Visual Quality:
I didn’t have a problem with the visual quality. The graphics are high tech. The screen depends mostly on dark and black levels. This is primarily because Riddick operates in stealth mode. The advanced stealth mode is pretty cool, when it works.

Be prepared to encounter a few problems with the guards, who seem to sense you, even if they cannot see you. This kind of defeats the purpose of stealth mode, in my opinion. This also gets you into trouble in a few different scenes where guards are swarming and you don’t have much time or ability to kill them all!

Visual:

Audio Quality:
“The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” shines when it comes to the audio. The voice cast, led by Vin Diesel, the only man who could/should ever voice/play Riddick, is outstanding. There isn’t an excessive amount of dialogue in the game once you get going, but what is here is brilliant. I can’t imagine Riddick speaking without that gruff, rough, Vin Diesel voice. By having him voice Riddick, it just adds to the authenticity of the gameplay. Despite the awesome quality, some of the dialogue does have the ability to be a bit cheesy, but it doesn’t deflect from the game.

Audio:

Replayability:
Due to the variety of games that are available on the “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” game disc, I believe the replayability level is high. This game has a lot to do and players won’t get bored too easily while playing. The multiplayer options, alone, make it worth having the game. Sure, you aren’t going out on any major game play campaign. I liken these to the small, arcade style type of games only deadlier and much more fun.

While some of the multiplayer games, such as Capture the Flag, incite the yawn factor, others, like Butcher Bay Riot and Pitch Black, can be played over and over again. These are the types of multiplayer games you want to play. They are fun, violent, and get your heart racing and blood flowing. I haven’t had this much fun playing a game online in a long time.

The two main titles, ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ and the remastered ‘Escape from Butcher Bay’ are fun games, but they aren’t anything I will be wanting to play over and over again. Once you finish the campaigns I don’t really see the point in going through them and doing it all over again. Seriously, the games are fun, but the longevity of this disc depends mostly on the multiplayer offerings. Thankfully, there are some great games you can enjoy online.

Replayability:

Disability/Accessibility Friendliness:
The controls you use to play “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” are fairly standard for the Xbox 360. If you have mobility in your hands enough to handle the Xbox 360 controller then you shouldn’t have too much trouble playing this game. Of course, if you have arm/hand mobility issues, this might be one of those games you’ll have to miss out on playing, at least on the Xbox 360.

The hardest part of the game, for me, was the online player games. Sure, they are a lot of fun, but they require some extra quick shooting and I don’t always have the best reflexes. Still, it was amazingly fun trying to keep up with all the other players. Your mobility problems shouldn’t cause too much trouble when it comes to playing this game. On the whole, this game gets the standard rating when it comes to disability friendliness.

For those with mobility impairments that prevent console play, you’ll want to purchase this game for Windows XP/Vista.

Disability/Accessibility Friendliness:

Bottom Line:
“The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” is a pretty sweet game. While I feel that there could have been more gameplay in the title game ‘Assault on Dark Athena’, the edition of the remastered ‘Butcher Bay’ and the variety of multiplayer games, especially the outstanding Pitch Black (which has to be the coolest online mini-style, multiplayer game I’ve played on the Xbox 360) make this game worth your while. Go ahead and pick this up for the Xbox 360 (or one of the other platforms). If you do, there’s a great chance you’ll see see me online!

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: The Chronicles of Riddick, Assault on Dark Athena, Escape from Butcher Bay, Atari, Video Game, Vin Diesel, Multiplayer, Pitch Black, Mature Game

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is in his late 20s. Having been born in the 80s gave him a unique advantage to experience the development of gaming into the massive industry it has become today. From the days of Atari to the purchase of his very first NES (before his 10th birthday), Dominick has been involved in gaming. Initially, a huge fan of Nintendo, he's delved more into the exciting world of Xbox 360, and everything Microsoft in recent years. His favorite games are Action/Adventure, Shooters (especially WWII or Historical based games) and racing games. Of course, some days he enjoys playing an old fashioned game featuring his original gaming heroes, Mario and Zelda. In a wheelchair since age 16, Dominick has the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. When not gaming, he is a human rights activist, a creative mind, and he enjoys spending time with his family.