CoR EFBB is the highlight of the package.
CoR Dark Athena actually contains two games,one is a remake of CoR Escape from Butcher Bay,which is a great FPS/action/stealth game,and it scored 9.3 from Gamespot when it was released years ago.
The second game this package contains is Assault on Dark Athena,which is a sequel to CoR EFBB,but I must say,it's a disappointing sequel and will most likely only satisfy fans of the Pitch Black & CoR movies.
I will start by reviewing CoR EFBB.
----------------------
Story
---------------------
CoR EFBB is a prequel to both the Pitch Black and the CoR movies.Riddick is confined in a maximum security prison known a Butcher Bay,where no prisoner has ever escaped from and the prison is on some barren planet,so even if a prisoner was to somehow escape from the prison,they would be stranded on that barren planet.It shows how life in the prison is brutal and violent and it's a struggle just to stay alive in the prison.Riddick needs to help the right people so they can provide him with tools and information on possible escape routes out of the prison,and he will need to kill certain people before they kill him.The story also has a character named Johns in it(who is an important character in the Pitch Black movie)and you will see some important events in EFBB which help set things up for the Pitch Black movie.The story will also show how Riddick got his eyes modified so he can see in the dark.
------------------
Gameplay
-----------------------
It combines element of first person melee combat,FPS,stealth and searching for ways out of the prison.You can unleash powerful punches/combos on enemies and block their attacks.You can use sharp tools and knives.You can sneak up on enemies and break their neck from behind,and you can hide in dark places and use that to your advantage and you can use and will have to use your specially modified eyes to see in dark places.Of course you can use guns,but the guns have some sort of DNA authorisation so you can't use them until you gain access to some special type of machine/computer,it might sound like a silly idea gameplay wise,but it's a logical idea in a sci fi universe where there's all this high tech stuff.You can also use heavily armored mech suits and you will engage enemies who are wearing them too and sometimes you will need to find a way to destroy an enemy who's in a mech suit,even if you are not in one.
Because you are in a max security prison,you will need to think of possible alternative routes out of the prison.Sometimes you will need to find a way to unlock a cell door or get a security card to open a door,but you will also need to climb and crawl through vents and grind your way out of the prison.Some areas of the prison are guarded by turrets too.
A combat element I like is how Riddick can make an enemy point their gun at themselves and make them pull the trigger themselves,which is a way he can use their gun against them without having access to their DNA.
I really enjoy the combination of melee,stealth,FPS,mech suit elements and trying to find a way out of the prison really suits the theme of the game.
Early on in the game,you might need to win a prison brawl using just your fists as a weapon or find a way to get access to a stabbing weapon so you can use it to kill an inmate who also has a stabbing weapon and wants to kill you.
Besides just prisoners and guards and mechs,some enemies you face will include alien creatures that are native and to the planet and are in the later sections of the game.
You can do sidequests and you can talk with NPCs and you can choose what you want to say to NPCs from dialogue options.
--------------------
Graphics
-------------------
The game is now in HD and it looks more polished and the prison still looks very detailed and you see how the inmates are very confined inside the prison with narrow passages and walls that look like they are made from cement or metal and cell doors restricting inmates from accessing other parts of the prison.The prison cells have digusting toilets and you see the beds they sleep on and the prisoners have their own cell room and I like how some parts of the prison are dark,and some places have a bright lighting effect(it makes it more intimidating).There's some nice looking cutscenes and some of them are quite exciting.But,not all of the environments are inside a prison,there's some nice government style buildings and high tech labs surrounding by beautiful white walls you will see too.
-----------------------
Sound
------------------------
Vin Diesel's voice acting is great,he speaks in the very relaxed but chilling voice.The music does enough to add more atmosphere but doesn't overpower the intimidating/brutal atmosphere of the game.You will even hear some prisoners doing a muslim prayer,and many of the prison guards will talk down to you or swear at you during combat(which lets you know how the prison guards look down at the prisoners).Every prisoner will talk to you if you approach them,and you will hear a variety of accents,such as American,middle eastern,english.You can choose how to respond to prisoners when they talk to you,and if they ask you to help them with something,you can agree to help them or say ''not my problem''.
-------------------
Overall
------------------
The gameplay might have aged a bit,but if you are a big fan of Riddick's movies,you should like this game.
Here is my review is for Assault on Dark Athena.
-----------------------
Story
---------------------
Riddick has escaped the Prison and he's a space fugitive and you start off on some planet and later get captured and taken on a mercenary ship(known as the dark athena) and he will have to escape it and he ends up on some planet again(I don't know if it's the same planet you start the game on).The story tries to add an emotional element as on Dark Athena you will find a little girl who is hiding from the captain and her crew of mercenaries and robot drones.
----------------
Gameplay
--------------------
The gameplay feels inferior to EFBB.The combat isn't as exciting,I'm not sure why,it's just it doesn't have the brutal or exciting atmosphere as EFBB.Many of the enemies are robot drones,and it's not as fun to battle them as it was to battle prisoners or prison guards in EFBB,because the robot drones don't swear at you or yell at you and it makes the combat feel dull.You can use the gun of a defeated drone as a weapon and not have to worry about the DNA authorization like in EFBB.
The stealth kill elements aren't as good as they were in EFBB.The drones aren't as fun to destroy with stealth kills and often enemies will see you before you can try to perform a stealth kill on them,so you'll need to shoot them and basically,Dark Athena tries to be more like a typical FPS.
The gameplay also plays like an older FPS,which means it feels slower and more clunky than newer FPS games.EFBB has an excuse to feel slower and clunky,because it's an older game,but Dark Athena can't use that excuse,and unless you're a HUGE fan of Riddick,this game will feel greatly inferior to newer FPS games.
The game tries to make you use stealth to avoid spotlights and being hit by enemy gunfire as a consequence,and even uses platforming elements,and I think the platforming segments where you need to avoid the spotlights and climb up certain areas and jump down onto other areas and balance your way over thin sections of the ship is a good idea,but some of the other platforming elements such as when you're on a planet and need to use platforming feels tacked on and makes you use trial by error and if you make a mistake you will fall to your death and it just doesn't feel right.
When you are travelling down an elevator,enemies will shoot you from far away and they are hard to see and you will have to spot them quickly and shoot them before they kill you,and it's just not fun playing that way,and because they are hard to see,you will need to memorize where they are,and because you are on an elevator,you have no cover to use and have to snipe them before they shoot you and it doesn't feel suited for Riddick.
And for more trial by error segments,there's these flying drones that are very small and they will shoot at you from far away and inflict a lot of health loss and they're hard to see and spot,and it's frustrating progressing to a certain point,but getting quickly killed by one of these things.
But there is some great new weapons,such as a weapon that fires some energy ball that explodes and it doesn't requires any bullets so you don't need to worry about running out of ammo,but to keep things balanced,that weapon is slow to recharge.Riddick also carries a pair of curved bladed weapons with him and he can cut enemies to shreds with them if he catches them by surprise.
There's a challenging knife battle against a boss,and a powerful final boss and challenging segments where areas are guarded by enemies in mech suits and you need to find a way past them.You will also need to control some drones,by accessing a computer and you can make the drones walk around and shoot enemies and I guess that adds some variation to gameplay.
Also,you can't walk around and talk to NPCs,like you could in EFBB.
-------------------------
Graphics
--------------------------
Some environments in Dark Athena look a bit grainy or dull,especially the brick walls when you're in some underground place on a planet.It's nice how Dark Athena has a lot of outdoor environments such as near an ocean or town,but it doesn't exactly look pretty,just average,but it's nice there's some variation in the environments,since EFBB had you surrounded by cement or metal walls for most of the game.The ship interior looks like what you'd expect,and the area in the ship with the spotlights searching for you and beautiful blue lighting effects in the background looks very nice.
-----------------
Sound
---------------------
I can't remember much about the sound,but I remember it wasn't as atmospheric as EFBB.Not as much loud enemies or swearing or dialogue as in EFBB.
-------------
Overall
------------
It's a very average FPS which will mostly appeal to Riddick fans.
---------------------------------------
Overall opinion about this game package
---------------------------------------
If you're a fan of Riddick and haven't played EFBB yet,I'd recommend you getting this title as the Xbox version of EFBB cannot be played on Xbox360 and you need a good PC to play the PC version of EFBB.Don't expect too much from Dark Athena though.The game was a bit pricey too,considering the highlight of this package is a rerelease and the sequel was disappointing.