Riddick: Dark Athena coming early '09, features new 10-hour campaign
by Randy Nelson 
{ Dec 2nd 2008 at 4:00PM }
click to enlarge
It's no secret that Atari rescued Starbreeze Studios' hi-def remake of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay after Activision-Blizzard kicked it to the curb. What you don't know – and we didn't know until we recently saw it in action – is that those added "Dark Athena" levels are quite substantial. They've been expended into an entirely new, 10-plus-hour campaign, complete with new game mechanics, full-game production values ... the works.Starbreeze told us that, despite the game being absent from anyone's radar for quite some time, it never let up on development. In fact, the acquisition of the game by Atari has afforded the team upwards of nine additional months of development time, hence the (essentally) second full game and what the team was visibly ecstatic about: more time to polish every last detail.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (Escape from Butcher's Bay is still there, looks amazing, and will incorporate new gameplay and tech developed for Dark Athena) is set for release in spring of 2009. Check back tomorrow for our full impressions of the new campaign.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erluti @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:03PM
Woo hooo!
I don't feel as icky for wanting to buy a game I already own! (Well, I guess now I only 1/2 own it!)
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:04PM
Fucking sweet!!
colinbell @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:05PM
This, along with Beyond Good and Evil 2, the next Tim Schafer game and Heavy rain should be top on every true gamer's list - one of the under-appreciated gems of last gen.
Bass Masterson @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:31PM
While I appreciate your committee instructing me as to what I should believe, I'd prefer greater clarification before I just kowtow to your dogma.
Why, exactly, should I love the Riddick game?
Is it the broken stealth that means you can crouch in the middle of a room and the guards won't see you, even when they're biking their legs against you?
Is it the by-the-numbers shooting in such exciting locales as a sewer! and an abandoned office!
Is it the bland mix of tepid shooting and tepid platforming (although I give them full credit for the 'innovation' that Mirror's Edge took the praise for)?
Just not sure why I'm supposed to love this game, when frankly playing it was such a chore I came nowhere close to finishing it.
antsmarching @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:57PM
@colinbell: What the hell is a "true gamer"? I'm pretty sure that everyone on this site enjoys video games. Time to get off your high horse.
Dirty @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:05PM
Looks like Atari made some decent moves. Hope it pans out for them.
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:06PM
The graphics whore in me rejoices at this news. Whenever someone would say 'Oh, GoW2 was the best looking game last console gen!' I'd laugh and point them in the direction of Butcher Bay.
NaeemTHM @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:10PM
Fucking awesome. Starbreeze ate trash and somehow managed to crap gold. Escape from Butcher Bay was the only good thing to come out of the Chronicles of Riddick and I certainly look forward to Assault on Dark Athena.
Haggard @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:10PM
I never played Butcher Bay but it's on my amazon wish list so I might get round to it some day.
Like it was said in a 'stiq podcast a few months ago.. it seems an odd game to remake considering it still looks and plays really well (and the PC version is already in high-def etc)
Strategy_Panda (the artist formally known as Titanium_Orchid) @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:37PM
64-bit too!
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 2nd 2008 6:57PM
Dark Athena is coming to PC, too.
Asacolips @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:17PM
The main reason for the remake is the Xbox 360. The original Riddick isn't backwards compatible, and it couldn't be for a number of reasons (I don't know if it was technical or MS just not wanting to spend the time). So Starbreeze being as awesome as they are, decided to make a full remake for the fans. Except now it's a sequel!
ScottG13 @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:14PM
How crazy is it that Atari has become the core gamer's friend this year with Phil taking the helm. Atari had become known as the Dragon Ball house in the last few years but with their efforts at picking up good abandoned projects and porting stuff like The Witcher I can't help but support these guys.
Duke @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:31PM
I was already planning on grabbing this game when it came about, and now I am more eager to do so. This is some good news.
Ranus Studios @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:31PM
I am pleased.
Wiinterfang @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:39PM
Remake? already? goddamn
Vidikron @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:56PM
Already? It's late as it is.
blindfromthesun @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:50PM
Keep it mind many people haven't played the original. I wouldn't call it a remake though. It is an enhanced version of the original (now in sparkly HD) and a significant expansion/sequel in one package. An excellent value I might add. If they have additional multiplayer content that would make it even better (original lacked multiplayer).
justshovejayohbe @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:41PM
There's 10 hours of expendable content? wow, the campaign must be REALLY long then!
ChiTownRuler23 @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:42PM
it cud be cuz i smoked 2 blunts but does vin diesel look like ludacris in this pic?
HazyCloud @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:29PM
Shouldn't need 2 blunts. And no, that doesn't look like Luda.
Erik Stroud @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:45PM
Yay, now its even better.I was thinking like a 3 hour thing, but 10 hours makes it even more worth the second purchase.
Courtney @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:48PM
Wow, that's going to be one of the best values in gaming next year.
zagile @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:53PM
Not if Valve beats them heh.
On the game- if enemies take less than 100 bullets to kill: SOLD!
Brodie-san @ Dec 2nd 2008 4:52PM
"What you don't know – and we didn't know until we recently saw it in action – is that those added "Dark Athena ..."
Eh, sorry, but it's a bit presumptious to believe that everyone doesn't know about the Dark Athena content being considerably meaty.
I'm not going to link it directly (because I don't believe in pimping a site on another's message-board) but a PS3 site out there (not Fanboy) back at the start of November reported on this - and posted up a high-res pit of Riddick from the new game to boot.
Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean the rest of us don't!
:)
Looking forward to your impressions tomorrow though - that's something we definitely DON'T know about. Yet.
Thanks.
J @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:21PM
There is a "Send us tips!" link in the upper left area.
Duke @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:25PM
Was that rant worth looking like a jackass?
Trulz @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:14AM
Congratulations. You are the biggest douche. Also, you put -san in your name, so you should probably jump off of a building.
j.howlett @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:11PM
i couldn't find this game when i looked for it years ago, i could have looked harder but i didn't have plastic back then. i got a demo somewhere though
BxGT @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:36PM
activision kicked this to the curb so they could keep milking gh and cod?
The Dark Wayne @ Dec 2nd 2008 5:46PM
who cares about quality when the quantity being measured is millions of dollars?
ChomskyKnows @ Dec 2nd 2008 6:56PM
hopefully they've fixed their buggy broken Starbreeze engine which allowed you to get significantly far into the original game never obtaining a weapon you'd need later (and unable to go back and get it) -- meaning you had to restart...and also the garbage with The Darkness where you had to completely restart from scratch, half-way through the game due to a bug that prevented progress in the main story line (it would freeze when you tried to access a certain street which you HAD to access). what a crap engine.
blindfromthesun @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:45PM
I didn't have that problem with Butcher's Bay. Sorry to hear that your Darkness and Riddick experience wasn't AAA (I rhymed :-P). To my knowledge there were one or two large glitches. I must have super console or something: Fable II never glitch'ed on me nor has any other game bar Oblivion. I think if people played the games as tested (and didn't skip every conversation and walk away as in Fable II) they wouldn't experience glitches. They happen for a reason and that reason I would hypothesize is that players don't want to play the game as intended. Not an excuse, but a possible explanation of why they happen.
ChomskyKnows @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:12PM
that's nonsense. there were barely any side missions in The Darkness at all (10 or 15 maybe?). They were utterly short and uncomplicated, but if you did them in a particular order the game didn't like, it crashed the entire main storyline. That has nothing to do with "playing the game in an unintended way" whatever that means...I just simply played the game normally.
Similar thing is happening to some ppl with Far Cry 2 - corrupts ALL your game saves if you happen to have the DLC. The DLC gives you new side missions, but it also corrupts ALL your Far Cry 2 game saves at a certain point. ALL of them. That's garbage. Ubisoft should be punched in the nuts.
Oblivion probably had 100+ side quests, some of which were complicated, some lengthy, with varying ways to complete them. Modifiers to a wide range of things, weapons, abilities, etc further complicate things. I expect a minor amount of Bugs from Bethesda. They get a pass from me.
But not Starbreeze who has a very uncomplicated task at hand. Poor engine, VERY bad game testing...has nothing to do with the gamers...Their games have no where near the complications of complex RPGs with a million different people with different stats, etc. Starbreeze games are basically FPSs with a couple side missions, the end...and they still manage to eff the whole thing up...
I'll bet you a dollar to a donut these new Dark Athena levels have a couple of insignificant side quests that if done in a particular order will crash the entire game...because these idiot Swedes have hired maybe 1 game tester...
Kamizar @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:44PM
Special edition should come with Riddick goggles...
LordChimp @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:04PM
yes...YES.....YES!!!!!
I really want to replay this game. Cannot wait. :)
blindfromthesun @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:37PM
The original release on the Xbox was the biggest sleeper hit. Loved it. Can't wait to play it again in HD with added campaign. Anyone know if there is multiplayer this time around? Wouldn't matter to me, however I know some people "need it" to justify a purchase. It is important that people buy the game this time: its too good to pass up.
t_m @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:56PM
Original was great.
Not sure i gt the business logic on releasing an "expanded remake". Surely making it a true sequel would sell better?
Am i the only one who thinks a Wii port of the original would rock, and be way to rake in a huge amount of cash?
I guess i just want to try the hand to hand combat with the wiimote and nunchuck... ;-)
gLitterbug @ Dec 4th 2008 11:23AM
I'm so freaking glad it comes to PC(unless the sources I've read that at was dead wrong). The original was and is still one of the best FPS I've ever played and so this is the best news to come along for me in a while now. Easily one of my most anticipated games now that I know it'll feature that much new content and I can play it on a PC.