It has been a long time since Richard Riddick first left his bloody mark on the gaming world, but it was revealed at Comic Con that the Furyan menace’s long-awaited return is not that far off. The Game Reviews has confirmed that The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will beat its way onto store shelves on April 7, 2009.

The game includes an enhanced port of Riddick’s previous adventure, Escape from Butcher Bay, as well as an all new campaign. For those of you who missed it the first time, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a first-person action title that follows Riddick’s journey through the bowels of a dangerous high security prison. The new campaign picks up immediately following these events, setting Riddick loose in a hostile spaceship with several new abilities. The games feature brutal hand-to-hand combat as well as numerous stealth mechanics that take advantage of Riddick’s ability to see in the dark.

Dark Athena also includes online multiplayer modes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and a unique offering called Pitch Black that has one player as Riddick using his night vision to stalk and kill the other players—who are standard soldiers—in the cover of complete darkness.

It was also revealed that a demo for the game was in the works and would be available for download sometime in early March. No indication was given as to whether this would include gameplay from the enhanced Escape from Butcher Bay port or Assault on Dark Athena. Both campaigns will be unlocked from the outset on the retail disk, so those who have had enough of Butcher Bay will not need to replay it in order to access the new content.