The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

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  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PS3)

    What you're about to read is my second attempt to review Dark Athena. My first review was too critical of Dark Athena because, when compared to Escape from Butcher Bay-a remake is included on the disc and I highly recommend you play it first-it looks a little weak. But I started over again when I realized that Dark Athena isn't a stand-alone title so much as it is a complement to Butcher Bay; that's when it dawned on me that I should be treating the two titles as a total package. In that light, Dark Athena starts to shine a hell of a lot brighter.

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  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Review

    For all of its faults, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena could be a decent first person shooter, but following its predecessor, Escape from Butcher Bay is similar to following the Beatles or rolling Stones ? you?ve got to do something new and exciting to make your audience forget about what came before. Sadly, Dark Athena tries nothing new and gives us a hackneyed version of a much loved game engine. Hey, at the very least it?s better than Wheelman?

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Pros Cons
Intense action [1] Braindead computer AI [1]
Just plain fun [1]
Loads of content [1]
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The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PS3

Pros Cons
Loads of content Braindead computer AI
Intense action  
Just plain fun  
Sequels are not as good as the original

I'll start with saying that Butcher Bay is as awesome as you remember it, which has been remastered, which means better graphics and performance. But it's expansion doesn't fare as good as the original.

Butcher Bay: The classic that debuted on the xbox is STILL is one of the best FPS's around, it's mixture of stealth, great melee combat and good run of the mill FPS sections (read run and gun) but what made it great is the layout of the game, it's divided on a sort of hub world, where you receive side quests from fellow prisoners that run from simple ' kill this guy' to ' find me this' while at the same time accomplishing your main objective. The melee combat is the star of the game with faces and bodies getting marked realistically, hit someone with a punch and see the bruising, stab someone and watch the gash, i wished there was more melee combat on both games. The kill moves are animated greatly and look brutal and bloody, plus your weapon (whatever it may have been) will be stained with blood, a great little detail, BUT, the transition from the kill move animation to the ragdoll physics is most of the times embarrassing looking, it might have been fine on the xbox but next gen consoles have SO much more computing power to make those transitions realistic looking.

The story is enjoyable and has that cool vibe of the Riddick movies, and one of this game's strength is making you feel like Riddick, be it in cutscenes or in gameplay, though the story won't blow your mind, it's good enough for it to be enjoyable, think of a great action movie story and you'll have an idea of it.


Now the A.I is questionable, sure they'll look for you but they'll stand in the dark with the flashlights turned off, that makes sense (sarcasm), though if they hear something they'll look for you with the flashlights on but that little detail is annoying.


Dark Athena: It starts out good enough, some sneaking action, some firefights and great melee combat but along the way it runs a little stale, relying more on run and gun than on melee and the sidequests, picking up dead drones in the middle of combat (basically people turned into cyborgs) to use their rifle is a blast, but as i said it runs a little stale, the whole vibe of the game isn't as great or enjoyable as Butcher Bay, though the Ulaks (a great pair of blades) make you feel even more as Riddick, killing three plus enemies in the dark like in the movies or dropping from high up killing one and then wailing at the other, great stuff. The A.I is better than Butcher's but not by much.


The story is good, but i preferred Butcher Bay's it had more of Riddick's great one liners, though the story gets interesting (and slightly cooler than Butcher's) but it ends kind disappointing, and leaves you wanting for more and not in a good way.
Graphics: I was surprised with how much they improved the graphics (on Butcher Bay), though the physics and some bugs here and there (the graphics sometimes get blurry) are slightly disappointing. Great lighting and the damage engine on faces and bodies is great. 4.5


Sound: Great voice acting by it's cast, good atmospheric music that enhances the mood of the game, decent gunfire and explosion.


Control: Good controls, weapon wheel is great though sometimes in the middle of the action chose the wrong gun, though you can hotkey two weapons to left and right on the directional pad. aiming is precise if slightly touchy. 4.5


So in conclusion this game would have fared pretty bad if Dark Athena had been sold on it's own, but by adding Butcher Bay to the package, makes it a more solid package, DA is not bad, just not as good as the original.
Fun Factor: 4.5

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PS3

Pros Cons
Loads of content Braindead computer AI
Intense action  
Just plain fun  
Sequels are not as good as the original

I'll start with saying that Butcher Bay is as awesome as you remember it, which has been remastered, which means better graphics and performance. But it's expansion doesn't fare as good as the original.

Butcher Bay: The classic that debuted on the xbox is STILL is one of the best FPS's around, it's mixture of stealth, great melee combat and good run of the mill FPS sections (read run and gun) but what made it great is the layout of the game, it's divided on a sort of hub world, where you receive side quests from fellow prisoners that run from simple ' kill this guy' to ' find me this' while at the same time accomplishing your main objective. The melee combat is the star of the game with faces and bodies getting marked realistically, hit someone with a punch and see the bruising, stab someone and watch the gash, i wished there was more melee combat on both games. The kill moves are animated greatly and look brutal and bloody, plus your weapon (whatever it may have been) will be stained with blood, a great little detail, BUT, the transition from the kill move animation to the ragdoll physics is most of the times embarrassing looking, it might have been fine on the xbox but next gen consoles have SO much more computing power to make those transitions realistic looking.

The story is enjoyable and has that cool vibe of the Riddick movies, and one of this game's strength is making you feel like Riddick, be it in cutscenes or in gameplay, though the story won't blow your mind, it's good enough for it to be enjoyable, think of a great action movie story and you'll have an idea of it.


Now the A.I is questionable, sure they'll look for you but they'll stand in the dark with the flashlights turned off, that makes sense (sarcasm), though if they hear something they'll look for you with the flashlights on but that little detail is annoying.


Dark Athena: It starts out good enough, some sneaking action, some firefights and great melee combat but along the way it runs a little stale, relying more on run and gun than on melee and the sidequests, picking up dead drones in the middle of combat (basically people turned into cyborgs) to use their rifle is a blast, but as i said it runs a little stale, the whole vibe of the game isn't as great or enjoyable as Butcher Bay, though the Ulaks (a great pair of blades) make you feel even more as Riddick, killing three plus enemies in the dark like in the movies or dropping from high up killing one and then wailing at the other, great stuff. The A.I is better than Butcher's but not by much.


The story is good, but i preferred Butcher Bay's it had more of Riddick's great one liners, though the story gets interesting (and slightly cooler than Butcher's) but it ends kind disappointing, and leaves you wanting for more and not in a good way.
Graphics: I was surprised with how much they improved the graphics (on Butcher Bay), though the physics and some bugs here and there (the graphics sometimes get blurry) are slightly disappointing. Great lighting and the damage engine on faces and bodies is great. 4.5


Sound: Great voice acting by it's cast, good atmospheric music that enhances the mood of the game, decent gunfire and explosion.


Control: Good controls, weapon wheel is great though sometimes in the middle of the action chose the wrong gun, though you can hotkey two weapons to left and right on the directional pad. aiming is precise if slightly touchy. 4.5


So in conclusion this game would have fared pretty bad if Dark Athena had been sold on it's own, but by adding Butcher Bay to the package, makes it a more solid package, DA is not bad, just not as good as the original.
Fun Factor: 4.5

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PS3

Pros Cons
Loads of content Braindead computer AI
Intense action  
Just plain fun  
Sequels are not as good as the original

I'll start with saying that Butcher Bay is as awesome as you remember it, which has been remastered, which means better graphics and performance. But it's expansion doesn't fare as good as the original.

Butcher Bay: The classic that debuted on the xbox is STILL is one of the best FPS's around, it's mixture of stealth, great melee combat and good run of the mill FPS sections (read run and gun) but what made it great is the layout of the game, it's divided on a sort of hub world, where you receive side quests from fellow prisoners that run from simple ' kill this guy' to ' find me this' while at the same time accomplishing your main objective. The melee combat is the star of the game with faces and bodies getting marked realistically, hit someone with a punch and see the bruising, stab someone and watch the gash, i wished there was more melee combat on both games. The kill moves are animated greatly and look brutal and bloody, plus your weapon (whatever it may have been) will be stained with blood, a great little detail, BUT, the transition from the kill move animation to the ragdoll physics is most of the times embarrassing looking, it might have been fine on the xbox but next gen consoles have SO much more computing power to make those transitions realistic looking.

The story is enjoyable and has that cool vibe of the Riddick movies, and one of this game's strength is making you feel like Riddick, be it in cutscenes or in gameplay, though the story won't blow your mind, it's good enough for it to be enjoyable, think of a great action movie story and you'll have an idea of it.


Now the A.I is questionable, sure they'll look for you but they'll stand in the dark with the flashlights turned off, that makes sense (sarcasm), though if they hear something they'll look for you with the flashlights on but that little detail is annoying.


Dark Athena: It starts out good enough, some sneaking action, some firefights and great melee combat but along the way it runs a little stale, relying more on run and gun than on melee and the sidequests, picking up dead drones in the middle of combat (basically people turned into cyborgs) to use their rifle is a blast, but as i said it runs a little stale, the whole vibe of the game isn't as great or enjoyable as Butcher Bay, though the Ulaks (a great pair of blades) make you feel even more as Riddick, killing three plus enemies in the dark like in the movies or dropping from high up killing one and then wailing at the other, great stuff. The A.I is better than Butcher's but not by much.


The story is good, but i preferred Butcher Bay's it had more of Riddick's great one liners, though the story gets interesting (and slightly cooler than Butcher's) but it ends kind disappointing, and leaves you wanting for more and not in a good way.
Graphics: I was surprised with how much they improved the graphics (on Butcher Bay), though the physics and some bugs here and there (the graphics sometimes get blurry) are slightly disappointing. Great lighting and the damage engine on faces and bodies is great. 4.5


Sound: Great voice acting by it's cast, good atmospheric music that enhances the mood of the game, decent gunfire and explosion.


Control: Good controls, weapon wheel is great though sometimes in the middle of the action chose the wrong gun, though you can hotkey two weapons to left and right on the directional pad. aiming is precise if slightly touchy. 4.5


So in conclusion this game would have fared pretty bad if Dark Athena had been sold on it's own, but by adding Butcher Bay to the package, makes it a more solid package, DA is not bad, just not as good as the original.
Fun Factor: 4.5

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