The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is an action-adventure first-person shooter that incorporates stealth elements and was developed by Tigon Studios and Starbreeze Studios. It is the second installment in the Riddick series of video games. It was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows and Mac OS X.
== Plot ==
Richard B. Riddick, portrayed by Vin Diesel, is brought unwillingly aboard the Dark Athena while in cryogenic sleep with a bounty hunter named Johns. Riddick avoids capture and watches as Johns is taken. Using the same tactics as he used while imprisoned in Butcher Bay, he sneaks around the vessel to escape. 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. He also meets Lynn's mother, Ellen Silverman, who offers to make Riddick the tools he needs to escape through the air vents, but he wants her to find Lynn. 
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 and tools. Having again met with Lynn, Silverman keeps her word and makes him the tools he needs. Riddick moves on and has Dacher in contact via video communication at computer terminals on the ship. Riddick frees the prisoners, but learns that many were killed, including Ellen Silverman. Revas kills Dacher as he prepares the ship for their escape and Riddick finally meets Revas. 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, called Aguerra, below.
Riddick wakes up on the shore of a beach and makes his way into an abandoned city. The planet is under siege from Revas' troops, who are capturing civilians and harvesting their bodies. Riddick realizes the only way off the planet is to get back on the Dark Athena. He makes his way through the city and back to the port where the Athena is docked. Spinner, Revas' second-in-command, attacks Riddick in a robotic mech suit, but is eventually defeated at the hands of Riddick. He gets back onto the Dark Athena and meets Lynn again. She tells Riddick her mother taught her how to make the drones attack Revas' crew. Fighting ensues on the ship between the drones and the mercenaries. As Riddick continues to move through the vessel again, he battles 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."
== Gameplay ==
Assualt on Dark Athena is a first-person shooter with a heavy emphasis on stealth. Riddick can kill enemies with a variety of weapons, which include his fists, guns and his ulaks. Riddick can use his eyes as a flashlight of sorts, an ability he had acquired while in Butcher Bay. If used in dark areas, it allows him to see the bodies of people and drones around him, but if used in a lighted area, it makes him become slightly blinded.
Along with Assualt on Dark Athena, Escape from Butcher Bay has been remastered and re-released. Although, it is nothing more than a graphical upgrade. There is also an online multiplayer feature, that allows players to play a variety of modes. One mode, called "Pitch Black", a reference to Riddick's first appearance, has a one player playing as Richard B. Riddick, who is unharmed, while the rest of the players chase him down. Riddick has an advantage, as he can use his eyeshine to see throughout the dark corners of the stage.
== Reception ==
The game received positive reviews, citing voice acting and the use of shadows as its strongest point. GameSpot praised the game for its voice acting and stated that "You may not hear better voice acting all year: It's that good." However, the game lost favour in AI and multiplayer.
Although, Assualt on Dark Athena was criticized for its poor AI system and poor multiplayer. Although, the "Pitch Black" mode was received positively.
Category:Games released on the Xbox 360
Category:Games released on the PlayStation 3
Category:Games released for Mac
Category:Games that are rated M
Category:Games released in 2009