"The best action/adventure game ever? Maybe."

Now I was never a huge fan of the Tomb Raider games, too much difficult moves, not enough shooting. I did enjoy True Crime, and this is what Advent Rising is like. To put it simply, a very awesome game. It is very realistic in the action department. You can only hold two weapons at a time, although they can be rocket launchers it adds a nice element to the game. For those who like the rundown type of reviews here goes:

Realism 9/10:
The fighting is very realistic, damage is pretty realistic, but points are dinged for holding any two weapons at one time and a large amount of ammo. It makes up those points for great movement, dodging, and the fact that every enemy drops a weapon. The lack of crosshairs irked me at first, but then just added to the realism.

Graphics 10/10:
Now this is no F.E.A.R. kind of realism, but the graphics fit. It's kind of cartoony, but since it is a sci-fi game it works really well. The movies are done well, vey Haloish and flow almost seamlessly. The in-game graphics are very nice. The people act very real, the monsters are threatening without being overly scary, and the physics are great. In some parts you can turn the gravity off and you move accordingly. The only thing that may detract people is the widescreen format. It makes it seem more like a movie and I like it. Good thing is that it will run an alot of machines.

Story: 8/10
I'm not a huge sci-fi junky, time travel is usually as far as I go, but this plot is very nice. Some overused parts but very nice. It keeps you playing when the action sometimes drags on, but that is rarely.

Controls: 10/10
The controls seem daunting at first. When I first played it, I thought that I would never like them. After a couple of minutes I really liked them. Everything is layed out nicely. Although if you don't have a two button mouse, the game becomes very hard. The reason being one mouse button controls the left gun a so for the right. It makes it very easy to have two seperate weapons and fire them in different occasions.

Sound: 9/10
Very nice, that's all that can be said. Low volume music adds to the background and downplayed sound effects make it seem more real.

Gameplay: 10/10
It plays like Max Payne, only without the bullettime and huge amount of weapons. The game is excellent in every regard. Everything flows nicely, the atmosphere is captivating, and the plot draws you in with its relaxed style and far out there, but somehow possible storyline. The controls take the training to get used to but it becomes like second nature after a while. The action gets frantic if alot of guys come rushing at you, but it is very true. No one survives for long, including you, and there is no one guy at a time fighting.

Overall: 10/10
I am not a huge fan of action/adventures but this game is great. I give it a 10/10 because it is one of the few games that deserves it. It is like a independent movie. Very low key coming out, but a surprise underdog that I hope gets a huge following and becomes a best seller.

If you are looking for a game that will bring you back until the end, pick this up. If you liked Tomb Raider or True Crime, pick this up, and If you wondered what Halo would look like in third person, pick this up.

Just buy the game already, you computer will be able to handle it and you will love it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/06