Diesel "begged" for Riddick multiplayer

By Oli Welsh Published 19 March, 2009

Added it late in development.

Actor and games magnate Vin Diesel has revealed that he "begged" for developer Starbreeze to include an online multiplayer mode in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.

According to Diesel, whose Tigon Studios company takes an active production roles in games like Riddick and automotive actioner The Wheelman, he pushed the mode through relatively late in the title's development.

"We were well into production on the game and I begged for an online component for this," he told X-Play in a video interview, "and everyone rose to the occasion and created something really compelling."

The new Riddick is a direct sequel to Xbox and PC game Escape from Butcher Bay, which is also included in a full high-definition remake.

Diesel also offered his thoughts on the past and future of videogames to X-Play.

"When I first played videogames, we'd have to go into a Radio Shack in New York City to play Pong," the actor said, showing his age somewhat.

The future's very different though, Vin says. "With the new popularity of massively multiplayer online games, we are going to see a shift, a change in our society if you will."

Diesel recently revealed that Tigon is working on his dream game, Barca B.C., a historical MMO set during the time of Hannibal.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is out on 24th April for 360, PC and PS3. Plenty more at the gamepage.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • NorfolkNClue #1 3 years ago

    Maybe he's not as dumb as we thought!

  • kestral #2 3 years ago

    Maybe he reads eurogamer.

  • Apostle #3 3 years ago

    Hi Vin Diesel! I really liked you in that movie! :)

  • Artemis_Matsas #4 3 years ago

    At least it seems that he is a gamer and he knows what he's talking about.
    I really enjoyed the demos of both Riddick and Wheelman.
    They are in my shopping list.

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #5 3 years ago

    He's a massive WOW nerd, apparently.

  • kinky_mong #6 3 years ago

    If he knew that much about videogames he'd know that the last time Starbreeze shoe-horned a multiplayer mode into a game it was dreadful (The Darkness if anyone didn't know what I was referring to).

    And I don't like to condemn games without playing them but if that video at the end of the Riddick demo is anything to go by this multiplayer will be just as bad.

  • AphoticCosmos #7 3 years ago

    He's a nice chap

  • bodypopper #8 3 years ago

    Uh-oh. Sounds like something in the game will need patching post release.

  • Daymare #9 3 years ago

    He's also a massive, errr, breakdancing nerd, apparently.

  • menage #10 3 years ago

    @Kinky mong

    +1

    Darkness was ace, could have been even better without all the wasted energy on the MP debacle. Blargh, getting tired of generic MP and Co-Op n games getting this much attention. they're all fucking the same or trying to be COD4 or Gears. Putting it in doesn't make it good by default.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/09 @ 10:41

  • kangarootoo #11 3 years ago

    I seem to be the only person not seeing this as resounding good news.

    We haven't actually played the multiplayer feature yet, so we only have his word that it is compelling.

    First off, I'm a fan of Vin Diesel and think he is much underated as an actor (not least because of some of his film choices). However, a game producer he is not (the only bit of Butcher Bay that could reasonably described as shite was all his idea).

    What I see when I read this article is a "celebrity producer in feature creep shocker". In his own words, they were "well into production" when Vin Diesel decides they need multiplayer, something that most fans of Butcher Bay would agree is not really a core part of what the original experience was all about.

    I've played the demo of Athena, and I found it to be pretty lame. Certainly not what I was expecting given it has the awesome Butcher Bay title as its foundation. I am very much hoping it was simply a badly chosen demo piece.


    Now if this turns out well in the end I'm sure everyone will all say he was right after all, but I'll still be thinking that cocking about with your production schedule when it is in full swing, adding new features that are not part of the original plan, is irresponsible project management.

    I wonder how many late nights the dev team had to work because Mr Diesel (like so many who are just not that good at serious development) thinks feature creep on a massive scale is acceptable.

  • kangarootoo #12 3 years ago

    @kinky_mong and menage

    Ah, so I'm not the only one :)

  • peteb #13 3 years ago

    Ruh Oh!

    Having visions of "The Darkness" Multiplayer

  • muscleblade #14 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    You are not alone. Im pretty sure the MP will be mediocre at best.

    Im afraid the singleplayer wont be top quality either. I loved Butcher Bay but not enough to buy this. Many better games i need to complete.

  • Gearskin #15 3 years ago

    Vin Diesel powers Chuck Norris!

  • Darren #16 3 years ago

    Well I'm buying Assault on Dark Athena purely for the single player experience so I don't care how the multiplayer mode turns out as long as it hasn't impaired the campaign in any way (e.g. it's buggy or unpolished because focus was moved on to the online portion of the game). Based on the awful laggy online modes in The Darkness though, I don't expect Riddick's will be any good and it doesn't inspire confidence to hear they were added late into development. I bet they''ll be the usual uninspired deathmatch and capture the flag type modes myself.

    I can't imagine anyone is buying the new Riddick game to play online though so I don't suppose it'll matter how the online mode turns out. If it's good then it's a decent extra for those that want it, if it isn't... well, it won't matter will it? It didn't ruin The Darkness after all.

  • muscleblade #17 3 years ago

    @Darren

    Since half of the achievements is MP based i think it will ruin alot for completionists. I hated the Darkness for this. I mean you wouldnt understand since you dont like challenges in games. Most people however do.

  • kangarootoo #18 3 years ago

    @Darren

    "e.g. it's buggy or unpolished because focus was moved on to the online portion of the game"

    That is exactly my concern, as it would be with any feature creep activities.

    There are only so many hours in the day, and its not like they will finish and polish the single player experience completely before working on the mp aspects.

    You can guarantee that the focus will have changed, the only unknown is (as you say) whether the result is a noticeable drop in quality.

  • Chtulie #19 3 years ago

    Couldn't Starbreeze explain to him, from their experience with the Darkness, that in this sort of a game adding multiplayer adds nothing of as much value as spending that time & effort on making the singleplayer even better.

  • muscleblade #20 3 years ago

    I really hated the fact that most reviewers ignored the broken multiplayer in The Darkness. I mean no game where a huge part of the package is totally broken deserves an 8/10.

    Mr. Driller online is another example where Eurogamer failed to inform the users that the mp was unplayable.

  • kangarootoo #21 3 years ago

    "Couldn't Starbreeze explain to him, from their experience with the Darkness, that in this sort of a game adding multiplayer adds nothing of as much value as spending that time & effort on making the singleplayer even better."

    Explaining that kind of thing to an experienced publisher in the industry can be tough enough :)

    The key thing I find is that if someone doesn't properly understand a certain area of development, they are by result unable to fully comprehend the issues. In other words, if they don't properly understand the problem, the solution seems "obvious".

    Sometimes people just see the perfect end result in their minds, and can't envisage just how many hurdles need to be jumped to get there. Everything looks great on paper - its the actual implementation where the wheels can fall off (and then explode... twice). With the greatest of respect to Mr Diesel, I'm not sure would really grasp the important details of thew situation (because he has simply never developed a game before and actually seen what is really involved).


    @muscleblade
    "I really hated the fact that most reviewers ignored the broken multiplayer in The Darkness. I mean no game where a huge part of the package is totally broken deserves an 8/10."

    You know, I didn't even know there was a multiplayer aspect to The Darkness. I think 8/10 is actually a touch high (only a bit), but even so if there is enough of a single player experience I'm not sure the review score should really be affected if the mp is poor. I guess ideally each side of the coin would get its own review, or at the very least it own score (or at the very very least a closing caveat saying "If you like multiplayer, know off two points cos its a bit crap).

  • stevetuck #22 3 years ago

    the darkness is one of the most fun games i have played in a while and its like £5

  • kangarootoo #23 3 years ago

    For £5 The Darkness is probably a 9/10 (if not a 10).

  • muscleblade #24 3 years ago

    "For £5 The Darkness is probably a 9/10 (if not a 10). "

    If money is an issue probably. I enjoyed the Darkness singleplayer too. But the overall package was mediocre.

  • muscleblade #25 3 years ago

    Xbox World 360 Magazine UK:
    Despite the name on the box, AODA's latter half makes it a supporting act to Butcher's Bay's main attraction. It doesn't matter how many triple twists and double somersaults a gymnast pulls if he smashes his face on the landing, and AODA crash lands pretty bloody hard. Fortunately, it's a broken nose limited to a small part of a packed box. [Apr 2009, p.82]

    Since ive already played Escape for Butcher Bay i can do without this game i guess.

  • symmetry #26 3 years ago

    The cheapest I can find it for is £8.95.

    Although I haven't checked second hand stuff.

  • symmetry #27 3 years ago

    OK, second hand is £6.00 - that's not bad.... I may have to buy it.

  • stevetuck #28 3 years ago

    £4.99 from gamestation :) its where i got mine from

  • kangarootoo #29 3 years ago

    Anyting under a £10 is a massive bargain for The Darkness. It is very good, and my gripes only kicked in during some of the latest "other worldly" levels.

  • Darren #30 3 years ago

    @muscleblade - I see a game's multiplayer as nothing more than a bonus so having a broken one like The Darkness did and even Call of Duty 2 before it (on the 360) doesn't change what I think of those games because my opinion is based purely on the single player only. Even in the previous generations before online gaming became the norm, the multiplayer modes were always an extra for me, nothing more.

    The Darkness was a great single player experience just as BioShock was. Developer's seem to think that every FPS needs an online mode now yet BioShock was all the better and more refreshing for not having one. The developers even admitted that they didn't include a multiplayer mode so they could focus on delivering a quality solo experience. Now I hear the sequel will have online multiplayer and that leaves me concerned for the quality and length of the rest of the game.

    Personally, I think there is too much focus on online gaming these days when it isn't necessary for every game IMO. There's a sense that the online modes come at the expense of a shorter single player game as seems to have happened with the recent Resident Evil 5 for example.

  • menage #31 3 years ago

    Yeah, the multi in The Darkness was crap as hell, but the greatness of of the SP saved the day. I don't think the whole package in itself has to be on the same level if one thing really stands out. Just look at Halo 3 or Killzone 2, SP isn't that remarkable, still grand scoes all around.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/09 @ 16:23

  • muscleblade #32 3 years ago

    @CountFapula

    You misunderstood me. I would love the Darkness without the MP. But as long as its there i think it drags down the overall quality.
    And as Darren says it probably made the singleplayer shorter too.