The new Riddick has stealth. It has dragging bodies about the place. It has the team of ex-Starbreeze staff Diesel promised. I can selectively list characteristics all paragraph, in fact – but you’ve already seen the picture. This isn’t the return to Butcher Bay we were half-hoping for.
Quite aside from Vin’s new homunculus-like proportions, the shift in perspective and platform means there’s little here that resembles Riddick’s adventures in first person in the last decade. Diesel’s Tigon Games would beg to differ, though.
“We are excited to be working with some of the original key Starbreeze team members behind previous Riddick games in order to expand the canon of the Riddick universe,” wrote Tigon’s Cos Lazouras. “The team has captured the essence of the franchise, and applied an originality of design to the mobile platforms.”
Hrrm. In any case, it’s not a PC game. But what’s this? A solitary shadow of hope, free from the garish glare of the unwanted truth? Gaming Corps say their iOS game is but the “first new installment in the ongoing Riddick saga”, and list AAA development among their priorities. Perhaps now, with the license in-hand and without the looming threat of a tie-in film to worry about, Butcher Bay designer Jens Larsson can turn his team’s experience to more ambitious ends.
Or perhaps we’re better off putting our faith in fellow Starbreeze refugees MachineGames and their Wolfenstein: The New Order. What d’you reckon?
Thanks, RPS.