Before I started to play Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, I found myself wondering how a seemingly created for Sci-Fi character found his way into a computer game. It’s to easier to answer, really. With a quiet, enigmatic character, there’s a lot of back story to explore. And when that back story is set in the realm of science fiction, there’s a lot of room for dark hallways, big explosions, and funky weapons. Assault on Dark Athena embraces all of this with a degree of success that movie tie-ins are not supposed to achieve.

Virtual Programming continues to be one of the most prolific Mac game publishers, this time bringing us The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. This 11-hour chapter—which also includes an HD remastering of Escape from Butcher Bay—serves as a prequel to the movies “Pitch Black” and “The Chronicles of Riddick,” starring Vin Diesel as the anti-hero Richard B. Riddick.