Assault on Dark Athena Hands-On

  • By LarkAnderson, GameSpot
  • Posted Feb 4, 2009 6:52 pm PT

Richard B. Riddick is one enigmatic guy. He's a self-confessed ruthless killer, yet he often finds himself at odds with the bad guys. But whether he's a sinner or a saint, he's a bad enough dude that most sensible people keep their distance from him and his Ulak Blades. We recently got...

Richard B. Riddick is one enigmatic guy. He's a self-confessed ruthless killer, yet he often finds himself at odds with the bad guys. But whether he's a sinner or a saint, he's a bad enough dude that most sensible people keep their distance from him and his Ulak Blades. We recently got a chance to play through early portions of The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, the part-sequel-part-remake of 2004's Escape from Butcher Bay game, and we were not disappointed by his combat prowess one bit.


Riddick's lethal with, well, just about anything.

As in Butcher Bay, stealth is still the way to go, and sneaking up behind your enemies with one of the numerous melee weapons you obtain throughout your journey results in an incredibly savage yet disturbingly satisfying execution. To aid your clandestine operations, you can toggle Riddick's "eye-shine" at the touch of a button, which amplifies ambient light in darker areas to make things more visible. Just make sure you don't run out into bright lights without your goggles on though, or you'll be temporarily blinded.


How not to be stealthy.

Many of the enemies you encounter are drones--human bodies retrofitted with machinery to turn them into mindless, well, drones--and they've got powerful guns built right into their arms. You can't remove these weapons, but you can drag their corpses around with you for some semi-portable firepower, and this tactic is actually used to solve some puzzles. You will find several proper guns though, including a handy stun gun, which knocks a merc or a drone out long enough to be finished off with one of Riddick's stylish executions.


It's not all shivs and shanks in Assault on Dark Athena.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is coming out in March of this year on PS3and Xbox 360. For more details, be sure to check out our more extensive previews of the single-player campaign and the multiplayer madness.

26 Comments

  • Neosword

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 3:06 pm PT

    Looks really good. Loved Butcher Bay and I'm glad to see this one (and the remake) shaping up to be great as well.

  • tywall

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 9:10 pm PT

    I saw this game at NY Comic-Con. It looks (visually) fantastic. The gameplay seems to be the same as Butcher's Bay, which is not a bad thing at all. They should base the movies off of the games, instead of vice versa, seeing as, to me, the games are actually better than the movies (the movies aren't terrible, though).

  • Lythiris

    Posted Feb 7, 2009 2:29 pm PT

    Lemme see your entgrahhhhh!

  • ttufan09

    Posted Feb 7, 2009 12:33 pm PT

    The only other game that was better than its movie counter part was, in my opinion, Goldeneye on N64. Don't get me wrong Goldeneye was a great movie.

  • DeeGrof

    Posted Feb 7, 2009 4:19 am PT

    znam da je odlicna jedva cekam da izadje uu
    kupio sam xbox clasik zbog prvog djela

  • xxcallmegodxx89

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 2:29 pm PT

    this is a must buy for me

  • datniccah187

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 1:44 pm PT

    I'm all set on a Chronicles of Riddick game

  • illufox

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 12:45 pm PT

    Loved Escape From Butcher Bay!!!! The videos above don't promise much. In fact I was somewhat disappointed. I'm hoping that the graphics and gameplay are much better than shown here.

  • mastervirtua

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 12:21 pm PT

    I never played Escape From Butcher Bay, but this game is good so far. I have high expectations for it. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that it's based off a movie franchise. Such games usually don't turn out good, but still, this game manages to turn that franchise into something almost entirely original. Only games that do this have a chance of being great games in their own right.

  • toilet_tension

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 9:34 am PT

    Can't wait for the game. Looks great. I loved Escape so this one should be nothing short of an epic!

  • yousef_mam

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 9:18 am PT

    IT'S VERY NICE AND FANTASTIC THANK YOU SOU MASH

  • Razor135

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 6:31 am PT

    This is the only movie/game title I can think of where the game has actually turned out to be an exciting, enjoyable and better than the movie. Escape from butcher bay was excellent at the time of its release.

  • Krazy-K

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 12:35 am PT

    Riddick is badass. So it is coming out in March? I keeping hearing April 7. But March seems more reasonable seeing that the game is complete and they are just bug-testing now. P.S. Hopefully there is a Collector's Edition of the game, I would buy it.

  • EvrenDawn

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 11:51 pm PT

    I just wanna play Butcher Bay. I missed out on it and it's not BC. Not to mention I tossed my old xbox. Getting two games for the price of one is like a dream.

  • sagameister3

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 11:31 pm PT

    It looks promising.

  • HitmanDante

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 1:46 pm PT

    Riddick for PC comes out in the second financial quarter. Sometime between April and June.

  • Klarden

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 11:55 am PT

    "March of this year on PS3and Xbox 360"
    I think there's one platform not mentioned...

  • MeeiDo

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 10:17 am PT

    i love riddick and this game is gonna kikass

  • frazzle00

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 9:56 am PT

    I can't wait .

  • scphan

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 8:54 am PT

    hope its as good as the first one!

  • tidyspidey

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 6:30 am PT

    me too fatooosh...... I want this game more than any other this year. Riddick was the best game on the original Xbox by far for me, and it still outshines most FPSs even now. Can't wait to see it brought up to date and with a sequel attached to it - awesome!

  • fatooosh

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 2:56 am PT

    i want this game i want this game i want this game i want this game i want this
    game i want this game i want this game ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

  • RonTorque

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 12:57 am PT

    I just love Riddick can't wait to play this game.The first one was amazing and this one has alot more.

  • Whyteboy776

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 12:04 am PT

    omgomgomg i loved the first one and now they are remaking it with more stuff with better graphics and a whole new story with it. you can beat the first one then continue on for dark athena. soo STOKED who isnt stoked.

  • Puckhog04

    Posted Feb 4, 2009 10:41 pm PT

    There's a full game along with an updated Butcher Bay. Assault on Dark Athena is the new full game and is said to be as long as Butcher Bay was, which was roughly 15-20 hours. Plus the new multiplayer modes they've incorporated. I already have this reserved on PC. Definitely one of the finer gems this year considering how underappreciated and unexpected Escape from Butcher Bay was back when it released.

  • DarthBlivion

    Posted Feb 4, 2009 10:21 pm PT

    Even if it's just an update, it's a great game.

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Boxshot
Riddick: Dark Athena

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    1,356 of 74,830
    (down by 97)
    X360 Rank:
    212 of 1,823
    Highest Rank:
    1 in 2009
    Tracking:
    1,915 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    1,198 Wish It»
  • Users Now Playing:
    169
  • Number of Players:

    1-12, 12 Online

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. riddick
    2. dark athena
    3. starbreeze
    4. fps
    5. sci-fi
  • Mature Rating Description

    Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Recent News

See All News »

Site Blogs