I'm really tired of people bashing on Dark Athena. Can someone please explain to me how it's a bad game? Because it has some action? Almost the entire second half of Butcher Bay was nothing but action (btw there is nothing wrong with action)! I admit that the first one is much more memorable but it suffers from severe pacing issues. I could list them all but I don't really want to do it unless someone gets really defensive. What I'm trying to say is: Butcher Bay is not a masterpiece. It is an excellent game and is one of my favorites but it has a lot of flaws that people just seem to overlook. Don't you guys remember the final boss and the ending? Fucking awful!

I personally think Dark Athena is much more balanced which is perhaps its greatest flaw. It has a lot of memorable sections but it's just so colorless; the majority of the game is spent looking at grey metal corridors and blue lights. Still, it has much more prominent stealth gameplay which was lacking in the original (I find it just baffling that some people say Dark Athena has boring stealth or even no stealth). Most of the sections were impossible to ghost whereas here there are usually plenty of shadows. Also, people who say Dark Athena has no RPG elements like the original are fooling themselves; Butcher Bay had zero role playing elements. Being able to say yes or no and buying weapons does not = RPG.

Anyway I'm fresh off of finishing it so the wonderful power of hindsight may change my opinion later on, but I thought about the things people have said about the game the entire time through and I completely disagree. I don't really want to ramble on about it that much I just want to hear some convincing arguments for why it's bad, or at least why it's worse than Butcher Bay. I consider them both fairly equal, even though Dark Athena is a little bit too long and Butcher Bay is more memorable.

Because people like to complain and fit in with others, so they join the crowds and chant what they chant? They think the world revolves around them and their own beliefs, so they must hate what is not like them?

I think both the Riddick games are great. Dark Athena has everything a 1980's action movie would have, it's really fun. I played through the Riddick games on the hardest setting, because I really wanted to be in Riddick's shoes, and it was really fun. I had to redo a whole bunch of scenarios because I kept dying, but it was worth it. In games like this when you finally get past a really tough part, it feels like you accomplished something.

If you're looking for someone to tell you why it stinks, I can't do that, I like Dark Athena. I had zero problems with the textures or look of Dark Athena, I thought the atmosphere was fun. There were several parts where I didn't know what I should do, use stealth or fight, in the end I just used my instincts and it always worked out. In some parts I was rather scared, thinking to myself "What do I do!? What do I do!?". Neither Riddick games are RPG's by the way(who is calling them an RPG?).

In my opinion, people will always hate and lash out at something for dumb reasons. I think you should just ignore it and enjoy the game like many others do, the loudest opinion being shouted on the internet isn't always what most people feel.

The most "helpful" review on that game on GOG.com?

"Escape from Butcher bay was a surprise hit. It looked great, it played great, it sounded great. It mixed FPS, first person brawler, stealth, adventure and RPG elements in a very fun and thought out way. "

Try this instead while considering the veracity of the above "review":

"Thief: the Dark Project bay was a surprise hit. It looked great, it played great, it sounded great. It mixed FPS, first person brawler, stealth, adventure and RPG elements in a very fun and thought out way. "

After playing the Escape from Butcher Bay, I decided Dark Athena would be a waste of time. These games are so limited. So scripted. So predictable. So boring.

They are not RPGs, that's for sure. They're not brawlers either. They're not adventure games and certainly not stealth games.

They are for casual gamers. They are for the peasants. The console breed.

If you are a member of the PC master race, this game will disappoint, because it's worst offense is being stupid.

Can't tell if serious...... You can't believe that "PC Master Race" rubbish ? If you don't like the game fair enough there are games others like which I don't like. Just because a game is designed to reach the masses doesn't mean its because of console, statements like that are just plain wrong.

Designed to reach the masses is just euphemism for "dumb".

I'm not totally disagreeing with you but your statement about consoles I am disagreeing with. Personally I don't think Riddick is a bad game at all, in fact its pretty good if you ask me.

I´ve only played the remake of Butcher Bay bundled with Dark Athena, but in that Double-Pack I really cannot see the letdowns of DarkAthena.
Dark Athena got very gripping dialogs (better than in Butcher Bay!), a very cool setting and generally the same "retro SciFi-Movie"-Style, but, of course, in a slightly different setting.
The only big letdown I can notice is the part in mid-gameplay. Fighting the same Boss round five times isn´t that much fun, even if it was fun the first time. But Butcher Bay also had those shitty moments, so that´s not much problem for me.

In general, athmosphere of both parts is great!
And that´s why we are playing those games, isn´t it?