Riddick comes out of hiding in new Dark Athena video
The video features a couple of elements that we were especially impressed by. The first is a visual nuance, but one that speaks to the effort being put into the polishing of the final game. In the segment where Riddick hangs from a pipe and moves along it, hand over hand, there wasn't one iota of clipping – no "hand through wrist" glitching, nada. The look of the game is extremely solid.
The new gameplay mechanics are impressive as well. The half-man, half-weapon characters in this trailer are "drones" – cyborgs created by the Dark Athena crew from the hapless passengers of ships they've raided. Riddick can kill these enemies and use them as human shields, while using the gun grafted to their arm to shoot. As you'd expect from a real body, it's difficult to push it forward, but dragging it's a snap (which factors into overall strategy). It's also possible to control these guys from a remote terminal, hence the red-hued POV you catch at one point during the footage.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
msh_hitman @ Dec 4th 2008 4:42PM
Got me interested in it :D Anyone know the first song that comes on in the first part of the trailer? Curious to know who it is unless it's something original.
SimbaDogg @ Dec 4th 2008 8:21PM
this has me very interested. i never thought i'd play any of vin diesels video games (wheelman, yuck)
but honestly, i wish universal would actually make another movie before VD hits 50. i know he's a lot older than most people think (pretty sure he's in his mid 40s). i loved pitch black and the chronicles of riddick.
Arno @ Dec 4th 2008 4:45PM
I predict some bad framerate issues in the final game.
sicsided @ Dec 4th 2008 5:06PM
I don't. The first one played so well, and still looks great today. Sadly that graphical power is on Vin Diesel, yet the game was awesome.
User @ Dec 4th 2008 5:17PM
I don't think there will be framerate issues, Starbreeze knows what they are doing.
The original was a surprisingly awesome game. I played it a couple times through which is saying a lot since I hardly ever do that.
I think it was the first fully normal mapped game with full dynamic lighting and shadows (beating Doom 3 to the Xbox) for the original Xbox and it ran very well -
Cj @ Dec 4th 2008 4:46PM
I wonder if there is graphical difference between the remake portion and the Dark Athena portion.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 4th 2008 6:10PM
Giant Bomb said that the original game will look just as good as Dark Athena.
Ogre722 @ Dec 4th 2008 4:46PM
it looks a lot like the Id tech engine.
DangerMouse @ Dec 4th 2008 5:14PM
The first game came out around the same time as Doom 3, and featured the same type of real time lighting. In my opinion, Riddick utilized the lighting way better, and the game was much better, too. Voice acting, story, character design were all top notch.
Cash @ Dec 4th 2008 7:10PM
The real time lighting was better because Butcher Bay actually *had* lighting, unlike Doom 3, which should have been called Stumbling Around in the Dark.
Obie @ Dec 4th 2008 4:48PM
Looks great, I never played the original so this might be worth checkin' out.
syrik zero @ Dec 4th 2008 4:56PM
This will be awesome!
Ebichu @ Dec 4th 2008 5:10PM
What the hell? This game totally flew under my radar. I didn't even know it existed.
Erluti @ Dec 4th 2008 5:12PM
Yeah, get it. I own the original and it's pretty sweet and the new content has encouraged me to get this one.
Although I'm hoping it's only gonna cost $40, so I don't have to shell out full price for a game I bought 1/2 of already.
Mics @ Dec 4th 2008 6:28PM
@Erluti
I don't think that's the right way to look at it. Starbreeze could have just as easily NOT included the original campaign and just given you Dark Athena as the sequel to Butcher Bay that it is. The fact of the matter is, you're getting 2 games for the price of 1, not 1/2 game for the price of 1. Besides, I will be gladly paying full price for this AAA title. The original Xbox version was AWESOME.
Dickweed @ Dec 4th 2008 5:24PM
Uhhh........that was the shit and will look better on the PS3 thanks to a team of 30 make-believe developers and programmers taking the extra time to polish this title specifically for the console.
Blah blah blah eyes roll.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 4th 2008 6:11PM
?
Jakka ( The Order of Haters of Balance) @ Dec 4th 2008 6:27PM
!
Dickweed @ Dec 4th 2008 6:47PM
What are you two the symbol twins? Which part of my comment did you both not get?( holding middle finger to monitor)
J @ Dec 4th 2008 6:48PM
.
zuburi @ Dec 4th 2008 7:04PM
: #
Deck @ Dec 4th 2008 5:24PM
I'm with Ebichu on this one. No idea this one even existed. Though now that I do, I am really interested. This looks quite promising. Something by just hearing the title, I wouldn't really expect. (Since I didn't know anything about it beforehand.)
Erluti @ Dec 4th 2008 5:31PM
Haven't you seen Pitch Black? If you haven't you got to scope that out. It's good stuff. It's sequel, Chronicles of Riddick, was a terrible film. I don't even think it was originally written for the Riddick character.
The Dark Wayne @ Dec 4th 2008 5:46PM
yeah Pitch Black was good but Riddick was just a huge departure. Pitch Black was just realistic space sci fi, i dont even think they had laser guns, but then in the second it was that shitty sci fi fantasy BS. Thankfully, the game stuck more to the gritty realistic sci fi than the second movie did
GenBanks @ Dec 4th 2008 6:12PM
The voice at the beginning is so ridiculously deep that it made me crack up :)
But yeah, I'm optimistic about this, the first one got good reviews on PC but I never got around to trying it out.
seifer @ Dec 4th 2008 8:47PM
Do not mock the Diesel.
StarFoxA @ Dec 4th 2008 6:20PM
Wow, I'm impressed. I'll have to keep an eye on this game.
KiraXD @ Dec 4th 2008 6:22PM
it is vins voice right? im assuming since using his likeness in the game... that his voice is actually used too?
mismajor99 @ Dec 4th 2008 6:30PM
great to see it's coming for PC...I loved Riddick on the platform, looked amazing on once 9800XT...
J @ Dec 4th 2008 6:47PM
I think I love you, but what am I so afraid of?
Arnon @ Dec 4th 2008 11:42PM
Holy shat that looks beautiful.
tod @ Dec 5th 2008 12:27AM
pretty nice there
Mister Servo @ Dec 5th 2008 1:22AM
I'm kind of glad that I never got around to playing this game the first time it came out. Now I get to experience the whole pretty package with fresh eyes.
Martin Coxall @ Dec 5th 2008 7:47PM
What could be darker? None. None more dark.