Advent Rising

"The greatest game nobody ever played."

Advent Rising
X-Box

Many high profile reviewers have labeled Advent Rising as being an ambitious third person shooter that fell short in many areas. I believe a lot of this criticism is undeserved. Advent Rising does a lot of things right. It's got decent graphics, an amazing musical score, and a great story. Is it lacking polish? Sure. I'll admit that it is, but then again, every game has its flaws. Advent Rising is fun to play, and that's what counts most.

Story.

The story, written by Donald Mustard, is one of the games strongest points. Screenplay for the game was written by Cameron Dayton and author Orson Scott Card. Card was responsible for the award winning science-fiction book, Enders Game, and the series that spawned from it- so ya know this has got to at least have a decent story… There are some small similarities between Enders Game and Advent Rising. If you follow the story closely, you'll pick up on one or two things. Anyways, here's how it goes- You control Gideon Wyeth, a pilot stationed at Edumea, a human outpost planet in the near future. Humans in this game are unknowingly seen as ancient and powerful mythological beings to other alien races. One race, the Seekers, have recently discovered that humans actually do exist. The Seekers feel threatened by the humans power and set out to destroy them. Another race, the Aurelians, hope to warn the humans before it's too late. Luckily, the Aurelians get to the humans first. Gideon is one of the few chosen to meet them once they arrive. The Seekers appear almost as soon as Gideon is informed of the imminent threat. Soon after, Edumea is destroyed. Gideon and Marin Steel (another pilot), are some of the only humans that manage to escape with the Aurelians. In the time you spend with these aliens, you discover and harness various psychic powers that all humans inherently posses. It is with these powers that you set out to save the galaxy from the Seekers. I won't tell you any more except that the story ends on a cliffhanger that leaves you begging for more.

Gameplay.

The gameplay in Advent Rising has its ups and downs. Throughout the course of the game, you will discover many different types of weapons and powers you can use in your fight against the seekers. You can dual wield any combination of these that you want. As you use a weapon, it will eventually level up and upgrade to a total of five times. You can even upgrade your acrobatics and melee abilities. This leaves for a seemingly endless amount of ways to take out the next wave of enemies. It never gets old. In order to target something, you simply flick the right thumb stick in its general direction. This is the aspect of the game that most people seem to have trouble with. “Flick-targeting” takes some time to master. With certain powers that target inanimate objects as well as enemies, such as lift, it is sometimes hard to lock on to the intended target. To be honest with you, if you find yourself using these powers a lot, then you're missing out on some of the more fun and unique abilities that are available to you. You should stay away from these powers unless you're dead-set on making Gideon as Jedi-like as possible. In my opinion, flick targeting isn't a huge downfall. It's one of the features that separate Advent Risings gameplay apart from any other game. There are actually a couple other games today that have adopted this unique and fluid play style.

Graphics.

The graphics are yet another unique aspect of Advent Rising. I haven't played any other game with graphics quite like these. While they aren't very realistic, they work well with the overall “feel” of the game. You'll notice that a lot of the human NPC models are the same, but it's not like that s a huge deal. They're all destroyed along with Edumea. You'll never have to see or bother with any of them again.

Sound.

The sound was very well put together. The orchestral score was done by Tommy Tallarico, a famous videogame music composer. The music is, well… amazing. It really sets the mood for the game. For some reason however, it mutes in and out during gameplay. This can get kind of annoying at times as it detracts from the epic feel that the music gives the game.

Advent Rising is the first part of what was supposed to be a three game trilogy developed by GlyphX Games and published by Majesco. When it was released, there was a $1,000,000 play and win contest through Xbox Live. To win, you were supposed to download and find hidden Advent Rising icons in game. Unfortunately, the game fell well short of its projected sales. Majescos financial situation was so bad that they decided to focus only on handheld games. Plans for future Advent games along with the $1,000,000 play to win contest were scrapped.

Story- 10
It's no Final Fantasy VII, but its still one of the best videogame stories I've ever experienced.

Gameplay- 9
Flick-targeting takes time to get used to, but its fun from start-to-finish.

Graphics- 8.5
Unique graphics that fit the game perfectly.

Sound- 9
Great orchestral score put together by Tommy Tallarico. Really sets the mood.

Price- 10
I bought it for $18 shortly after release. You can probably find it for less than $15 in the bargain bins today.

Replay- 3
Only one in-game decision that affects the story. No multiplayer.

Overall- 10
Easily makes my top three favorite game list. I wasn't expecting much going into this one. Definitely worth a buy at less than $20. Great game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/23/07