After five years of waiting, a sequel has finally appeared for the 2004 hit game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. The game includes multiplayer, a touched up version of Escape From Butcher Bay which even though touched up still shows its age, and the brand new sequel Assault on Dark Athena. Now many people will find the sequel disappointing because for the most part it takes what everyone loved from the first game and gets rid of it completely. At the beginning it starts off all sneaky with you lurking in the darkness and shanking your enemies in the head which is what made the first game so popular. But the more and more the game progresses the more it drops the stealth and picks up the run and gun type of gameplay mostly because the second half of the game takes place outside during the day time. I don't have a problem with that because I'm a hardcore fan run and gun gameplay, but fans of the stealthy gameplay from the first game will be disappointed. Some new guns are introduced such as the SMG and SCAR gun which are both fun to use. Something that pulled me toward the sequel was interesting characters. The first game had some great characters but I found myself being way more interested in Dark Athena's characters. Characters such as a little girl named Lynn who is hiding from the drones she calls monsters and the psychotic captain of the Dark Athena, Revas. I started to enjoy Dark Athena more than Butcher Bay, which is saying alot, and then towards the end it's almost like the creators of the game kind of gave up. Towards the end you encounter mini bosses called Alpha Drones which are kind of cool to kill. Before the game ends you encounter this enemy like six more times which is really annoying and begins to show the games weaknesses. The game also includes multiplayer which includes the same old team deathmatch and deathmatch modes. One of the more creative modes called Pitch Black puts one player as Riddick with his eyeshine ability and sharp Ulaks, while the other players are regular soldiers equipped with guns and their flashlights. The only objective is to find and kill Riddick. Whoever kills Riddick becomes him the next round. It took me about two days to beat both games and that's with taking breaks. If you haven't played Butcher Bay you should definitely give this game a pickup and if you have then its still worth a try with two full games and multiplayer its a great package. SCORE: 3.5/5
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