Review by: Brandon "Eye Shine" Cackowski-Schnell

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a tough game to grade. The game is comprised of two parts: Escape from Butcher Bay which is outstanding, even if it's just a visually upgraded version of an older game and the second, brand new part, Assault on Dark Athena which is merely decent. There's also a multiplayer component comprised of six different modes, none of which seem to have a healthy enough contingent of players to make a night out of it.

If you've never played Escape from Butcher Bay, then you missed out on one of the best games on the original Xbox as well as being the best movie tie-in game ever released. The game tells of the story of how Richard B. Riddick, anti-hero of The Chronicles of Riddick movies escaped from Butcher Bay, the toughest slam in the galaxy. It also answers the question of how he got his famous eye shine ability, used to such great effect in Pitch Black.

When we first meet Riddick, he's being escorted to Butcher Bay at the hands of Johns, his bounty hunter captor. Once he lands in the prison, it isn't long before he has to prove that he's tough enough to handle himself, usually by beating someone's face in. The game sports an impressive amount of combat animations depending on the weapon that Riddick is wielding. If he's wearing some knuckle dusters, he busts out the heavy strikes and elbow blows. When he's holding a shiv, his strikes are quick and lethal. As well as a normal melee attack, a well timed counter attack unleashes an instant kill with an accompanying animation that will have you seeking out new weapons just to see the brutal counter.

Riddick's ultimate goal is to escape the prison, however in order to do so he'll have to work the quid pro quo system laid in place by the cons already in Butcher Bay. Do a favor for this guy and he'll get you a weapon, do one for this guy and you can make it to the infirmary. At first glance it seems like an RPG, but it's more akin to an adventure game as your reward isn't experience points, but access and items.