THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ASSAULT ON DARK ATHENA

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Starbreeze Studios And Tigon Studios

Publisher : Atari

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Sci-Fi First Person Shooter And Stealth

Release Date : April 7 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 512 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7600 Series
ATI : Radeon HD 2600 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 11 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The game picks up where Escape from Butcher Bay left off. Richard B. Riddick is a dangerous space criminal who can see in the dark. Johns, the man who originally took Riddick to the Butcher Bay prison for a bounty, helped him escape to avoid becoming a prisoner himself. On their ship together in a cryogenic sleep, they are dragged unwillingly into the Dark Athena, a gigantic mercenary vessel ran by Gale Revas and her second in command, Spinner. Riddick avoids capture as Revas and her men take Johns away. Using the same stealth tactics as he did in Butcher Bay, Riddick sneaks and hides throughout the ship seeking to escape, killing the guards and mercenaries he encounters along the way. Many of the guards are automated drones that are human bodies with implanted machine parts, controlled remotely from within the ship. He meets with a little girl named Lynn who is hiding from the guards in the air vent systems. Riddick makes his way to the prison cells and finds several people captured, including the former Captain of the Dark Athena before Revas took control. There he meets Lynn's mother, Ellen Silverman. She offers to make Riddick the tools he needs to escape through the air vents if he can get the right parts. She also asks to find Lynn because she is concerned for her safety. Another prisoner named Dacher offers his technical skills to help Riddick escape on a ship and unlock doors for him if Riddick can find him a com link. He agrees and finds the com link for Dacher and the parts for Silverman. Having again met with Lynn, Silverman keeps her word and makes him the tool he needs. Riddick moves on and is in contact with Dacher via video communication at computer terminals on the ship. Riddick frees the prisoners but most are killed, including Lynn's mother Silverman. Revas kills Dacher as he prepares the ship for their escape. Riddick finally meets Revas face to face. As they fight, he wounds her severely and she is thought to be dead. As he is preparing an escape pod to take off, Lynn is pounding on the door begging to take her with him. Revas, who is still alive as Riddick's pod takes off, fires a missile that hits the pod, causing it to crash on the planet Aguerra below. Riddick wakes up on the shore of a beach and he makes his way into an abandoned city. The planet is under siege from Revas' troops who are capturing civilians and harvesting their bodies to use for their drones. Riddick realizes his only way off the planet is to get back on the Dark Athena again. He makes his way through the city and back to the port where the Athena is docked. Spinner attacks Riddick in a robotic mech suit but is defeated. He gets back onto the Dark Athena and meets Lynn again. She tells Riddick her mother taught her how to make the drones turn on Revas' crew and attack them instead. Fighting ensues on the ship between the drones and the mercenaries. He makes his way up the ship and Riddick meets with Revas again, who is in a suit of armor with heavy weapons. He defeats her by pushing her into an elevator shaft and she falls to her death. Lynn meets up with him and they are seen going into the elevator. She asks him if Revas is coming back, and Riddick answers "When I say goodbye, it's forever." Then the credits roll.

As you progress through the game, the prison takes on a life of its own. Your fellow captives have stories to tell and missions to give, and fantastic voice acting brings each of them to life. Even the obscene graffiti scrawled on the walls and scratched on signs speak to their desolation and desperation. Whether you're conversing with inmates, sneaking in the shadows, plunging a shiv through a blueskin's neck, or stunning a foe with the tranquilizer gun before introducing him to your heel, there's always an unnerving sense of general agitation. The gameplay elements are fundamentally the same as Butcher Bay's. You will lurk in the pitch-black corners, use your eyeshine ability to see in the blackest of crawlspaces, gun down hive-minded drones, and slice up some enemies in a few different gruesome--and often satisfying--ways. Sadly, none of these aspects feel balanced. A protracted sneaking sequence in which you avoid a searchlight while climbing across a series of stacked boxes is tedious and uninspired, and poor enemy placement and cheating artificial intelligence cause some moments to induce tension headaches in lieu of actual tension. Every gameplay element feels split into chunks rather than flowing smoothly together. You play a short stealth portion, then a shooting portion, and then a quick melee portion; the pace feels stilted, especially when compared to its companion game. The multiplayer component feels unnecessary, though it's competent enough. You can join other players in one of six modes, in ranked or unranked matches. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag work exactly as you'd expect, though few people seem to be playing them. Instead, most players seem to prefer Pitch Black mode, in which one player skulks in the dark as Riddick, while the others equip their weapons and flashlights and smoke him out. It's fun to pick someone off as Riddick and slink away, or to gun down the gruff prisoner as he crosses in front of your beam, though the novelty wears off in time. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is many things: an attractive rerelease of an amazing game, a mildly disappointing sequel, and a forgettable online experience. If you haven't played Butcher Bay, it's a must-play. If you have, be aware of the sequel's abundant shortcomings before making a purchase.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

The Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena Trailer :-