Double the fun, and exciting gameplay, and you've got yourself a pretty decent package that stays true, but falls short.
Ever since 2004, I've always waited to play the amazing looking Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, after hearing of the high score reviews it received and how well it mixed combat and stealth together. After not receiving an XBOX for a few years I eventually lost track of the game along with many others. Now since it came on the 360 with Dark Athena included along I decided to finally pick it up and see what it had embedded inside. It turned out to be a pretty good game that had the usual flaws and other things that kept it fresh and well paced throughout.
You play as Richard Riddick, who's appearance and voice is that of Vin Diesel, who does an exceptionally well job in the voice acting as he delivers haunting one liners to doomed inmates, or gives you small hints if you're stuck in some parts in the game. Most of the time it actually feels like you are watching Riddick's life through his eyes.
The A.I. here is good, and will often check areas if they heard a noise, and are usually fair handed in combat, and will usually crush your opposition, forcing you to flee back into the shadows, or will gradually fall down after being shot through the head or being stabbed by a shiv. Although some of them feel a little stronger than they actually should. Sometimes the A.I. will be a little too rough and will automatically find your exact position, or call the alarm which will disrupt a perfect sneaking streak, if you're going for that.
The graphics have been remastered for the 360 and look okay throughout, although there are some graphical glitches in parts of the game. While they are not the best that the 360 has to offer, they do an okay job of bringing the Riddick franchise to the gaming world.
The sound quality here is very good, since you'll be hearing the sounds of automatic rifles, pistols, knives slashing through the air, and Vin Diesel's deep, taunting voice. The sound is very good here and sounds like a high quality movie.
The other characters in the game are all different, except for the enemies, and all are mostly unique. Some will help you retrieve items while others just stand there talking to themselves. This prison is full of weird and insane people that you'll likely not forget for a long time. Especially the ones that are really screwed up. It actually feels and seems like you are in a real and futuristic prison in the galaxy.
The gameplay here is really fun, and you'll practically want to go around picking a fight with people. The hand to hand is the best I've seen in a video game to date, as you can block moves, and then smash your elbow into their face, such a fun, fun time. This is probably one of the best games I've played that actually mixes stealth and combat into it, along with one or two RPG elements, like a few dialog choices. You play in First Person from the view of Riddick, while you're hiding in the shadows, picking out who to destroy first, or running and gunning with bullets whizzing past your head and gunshots ringing off, it is quite unique, and hardly ever gets repetitive throughout the 10 hour adventure. Riddick also gets his famous Eyeshine here too and really helps you in the game acting like Night Vision Goggles instead of having to turn on your flashlight all of the time. The side missions here are also pretty cool, as you must help out someone to get something or the other, and most of them are different from one another, and add some difference in the gameplay, without making it too repetitive.
The story here is mostly self explanatory. You play Richard Riddick, and you're sent to the most dangerous prison in the galaxy, Butcher Bay. Where you must escape its horrid wretches. The only part in the story that gets repetitive is that you're transferred to the first type of the prison, then escape, captured, transferred to Max Security, escape, captured, and transferred to 2nd max security, etc. I would wish that they wouldn't do that and just have 1 escape plan and to have you try to escape in the 10 hour segment instead of throwing in 3 other max security cells you have to escape out of, and that is mostly the only problem here along with that the gameplay can also be frustrating at certain times throughout and it is very easy to get lost in this huge prison, so always keep looking at your map to tell if you're going in the right direction, and those are the only few flaws that this game has to offer. A 9.0 out of 10.
Part 2: Assault on Dark Athena Review
After hearing a lot of mix reactions about this one I finally decided to try it out to see how I would like it. I liked it a lot, although not as good as Butcher Bay of course.
You play as Riddick of course, and nothing much has changed about him, he's the normal hide in the dark sort of guy.
The A.I. is good here, although lacks smartness a few times in the game. You can almost rush past a few guys at once without having them noticing you. Others may also be a little too smart and will have you being chased down in long chase scenes.
The graphics are the same as Butcher Bay except a little clearer in parts of the game, like the outside missions and the planetary missions as well.
The sound is also very good, with the same distinct qualities as Butcher Bay.
The characters here are pretty good, though not as messed up in the head as the inmates in Butcher Bay, some of them do have their own distinct personalities, and a few are a little creepy and sadistic along the way, especially Captain Revas who is the perfect nemesis for a game like this.
The gameplay is almost the same as Butcher Bay put adds a lot more weapons to play around with including the always amazing Ulaks, which are fun to use and give Riddick his famous weapons. There is also an added on Mech type of gameplay, a lot more than Butcher Bay, that are actually pretty good and fit in with the other gameplay, as some play outside in space and you're able to look out into the galaxy which looks amazing, although some of the mech missions can have a little bit of a learning curve to some of the controls and how the mech is controlled.
Dark Athena leaves off where Butcher Bay left off, and you're basically sucked into the Dark Athena and you must escape once again by performing various missions as you try to escape this ship.
Dark Athena does okay of living up to its predecessor but falls short before reaching its destination. Flaws and lack of a good story keep it from a good score. The action can get more repetitive, it has a lot of glitches, especially since I encountered one on the second to last level which made me fly off the map and levitate over nothingness, which I had to reload and replay the previous 10 minute mission. The game can also get very frustrating at times, a little too often though. There isn't a map in the pause screen in Dark Athena, which causes you to get lost more often, and will often cause you to look at the billboard maps set throughout the game. The game was a little more disappointing than I had expected, but still a pretty average game overall. An 8 out of 10.
Butcher Bay and Dark Athena are two great games that are unique. Although they have their differences the greater champ here is definitely Butcher Bay with its fresh gameplay and story, and what Dark Athena used as the leftovers left it repetitive and buggy, with a weak story and some pretty frustrating missions, and a real lack of character depth. They both kept me entertained for awhile and I'm looking forward to a fresh, new sequel in the future. Two fun FPS games that greatly mix Stealth, Combat, and some RPG elements that clearly make them unique and will always be remembered for years to come. An 8.5 out of 10.
-horrorboy