Player’s Club: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena review

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

Rated M for Mature

Released April 7

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Published by Atari

What It Is: Remember the Vin Diesel movie Chronicles of Riddick? You were probably too busy convincing yourself John Kerry wasn’t a horrible candidate to notice this giant bomb. Games based on movies are traditionally awful, but somehow the video game tie-in, Escape from Butcher Bay, easily outperformed its nominal source material both critically and commercially. The unique stealth-focused first-person shooter boasted excellent production values and a tight narrative focus, exactly unlike the movie’s sprawling sci-fi nonsense. Five years is a long wait for a sequel, but for those who’ve forgotten or never played the original, Dark Athena comes with a spruced-up current-generation remake of Butcher Bay. So that’s two complete games on one disc, both overflowing with Diesel’s comical cheerlessness.