We really don't want to know what Vin Diesel plans to do with this pair of shiny metal ice skates... but when he appears in the brand-new, 10-hour Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena campaign this Spring, there's no way we won't tag along for the sequel to arguably the best movie-licensed game ever made.
That's right -- Dark Athena is not a remake of 2004's brilliant Escape from Butcher Bay. And when Universal Interactive's Bill Kispert called Athena's new campaign "robust," he wasn't kidding. Joystiq is reporting that while Starbreeze went through the trials of having their game thrown from Sierra to Atari, they never stopped working, and a new 10-hour campaign with "new game mechanics" and "full-game production values" was the result.
Since the original Chronicles of Riddick also clocked in at about 10 hours, we can only draw one conclusion: Dark Athena is a sequel.
And as it turns out, Atari marketing materials reflect this fact as well. At the bottom of a fact sheet GameCyte acquired this morning, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is listed as "Bonus Material" that just happens to be included with the game:
- Bonus material –Escape from Butcher Bay, considered as one of the best games of 2004, has been re-mastered and will be included along with The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Featuring online multiplayer combat in addition to the new campaign (which, incidentally, is set on board a mercenary ship of the same name), The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena will let you drop nasty mercenaries with these tiny, weak-looking hands in Spring 2009.
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
If this is as good by today's standards, as the original was in its time (ok, it had a couple of bad parts, like the mech controlling areas and a crappy boss or two), it's going to be one hell of an experience. I can't wait.
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:56 am
good by today's standards? huh? the FIRST game is still GREAT by today's standards. so, yeah.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 pm
@lord hines:
Here here. The PC version even looks great, with the resolution and AA cranked up nicely on a modern video card. Most current-gen X360 and PS3 titles don't look much better.