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Advent Rising Review for Xbox |
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| Monday, June 13, 2005 |
| | Title:
Advent Rising
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Action
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Publisher:
Majesco Games
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Developer:
GlyphX Inc.
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Release:
5/31/2005
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
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To play Advent Rising is to experience a multitude of different feelings in the span of eight hours. Eight hours being the length of the game, ultimately leaving off with a conclusion that will leave the player hoping for more and wondering whether or not they got what they paid for. Advent Rising is a game full of ups and downs, and acts as a beacon of hope for gamers. Typically, games are created to entertain; Advent Rising was created as a model for games to come.
Originality is a touchy subject among gamers. With more and more developers opting to use formulas that have proven to work in the past, gamers are left with little to play from the field of originality. Advent Rising suffers under this pressure, and as much as it tries to be unique, much of its plot unintentionally borrows from other hit games and movies. Even with the legendary science-fiction author Orson Scott Card penning much of the script, story elements from Halo and the Matrix are evident and quite obvious. While nothing in Advent Rising comes off as a blatant rip-off, and no direct references are made to other stories, one can’t help but wonder if Mr. Card has been keeping up with current sci-fi works since “Enders Game” hit big.
The Story
Giddeon Wyeth is Advent Rising’s protagonist, but sadly, his character is never really developed to its fullest potential. The player is left to assume many things about his character and personality, and what little is shown of his emotion and inner turmoil throughout the game doesn’t really conjure up many clues to spur the imagination. The supporting cast doesn’t add much flavor to the story either, and the drastic plot twists that were meant to shock and stun come off as strange. While unexpected, they seem too out of place to actually add anything to the story. The biggest twist appears late in the game, and while it certainly is shocking, it leaves a question that can only be answered by a sequel. Moves like this inspire thoughts of a rushed script and a play-it-by-ear plot development strategy. It seems almost as if the developers are waiting to see how gamers react to the story in Advent Rising before writing the next piece of the trilogy.
The story isn’t all bad though, certain parts of Advent’s storyline will leave you genuinely satisfied, and the main plot is handled well, though it could have been fleshed out better to bring the world of Advent to life. All in all, the story complements the game well despite its shortcomings in character development and pacing. The experience is ultimately satisfying and leaves plenty of possibilities for the next two iterations in the trilogy.
Gameplay
From a gameplay standpoint, Advent Rising performs well in some areas, while it flounders in others. The framerate, being the most noticeable trouble spot, seems to have a mind of its own. At times the game can handle dozens of enemies onscreen at once without bogging down in the slightest, yet other times the game slows down to a crawl in the weirdest places. There are times where the game nearly stopped moving in areas containing virtually no complex geometry or enemies. This problem echoes the feeling that the game was rushed, and while the framerate trouble isn’t an incredibly common occurrence, it’s annoying enough to warrant a mention, as it can be a deciding factor in whether Giddeon lives or dies in certain firefights.
The core gameplay of Advent evolves with time, and it’s almost solely this feature that makes up for Advent’s sub-par storyline. When the game kicks off, Giddeon can only use his hand-to-hand combat skills and a few weak firearms. Over time he will develop stronger hand-to-hand moves, and will have a full array of weaponry at his disposal, from sub-machine guns to rocket launchers. What really seals the deal though is a huge gameplay element that reveals itself roughly halfway through the game and changes the way the game plays. In the world of Advent, humans are legendary figures with unimaginable powers. Why they have these powers is never full explained, but they add loads to the gameplay nonetheless.
The first power available is “Lift”. “Lift” gives Giddeon the power to lift objects and enemies into the air using only the power of his mind. This power, and all other powers for that matter, take up one of Giddeon’s available “hand slots”. Each hand slot represents one of Giddeon’s hands and can hold one weapon, or one power. For instance, one hand can have a weapon equipped, while the other has “Lift” equipped. This allows you to develop your own custom play style with plenty of options for how to dispose of Seekers; the Advent equivalent of the Covenant from Halo.
Light platforming and psi-combat is periodically interrupted by vehicle segments that serve to break up the monotony of Advent's gameplay. The two vehicles Giddeon can take control of during the game include a Scythe, which is basically a jeep with a turret and boost feature, and a Seeker Tank, which resembles something out of Star Wars, hovering in the air and firing rockets at unfortunate foes. Stationary turrets can also be used, but they’re not nearly as exciting to use as the moving vehicles.
Average gamers will be able to blast through Advent Rising in about 8 hours, but the true fan may want to play the game over again to experience the game’s alternate storyline (a choice made early on decides certain pieces of dialogue). Majesco also set up a contest for the first 6 weeks of the game’s release, with hundreds of prizes being given away. Contestants can download easter egg icons via Xbox Live and, upon finding them within one of the levels in the game, they will receive a code which can be submitted to www.advent-rising.com for a chance to win hundreds of prizes including cash prizes of up to 1 million dollars. This adds a small bit of replay value to the game, as even after the contest is over, the icons can be downloaded for a fun hide and seek side quest.
Graphics
On the visual side of things, Advent is a mixed bag. It has its own visual style--and it fits the game well--but more often than not, it seems like a combination of muddled textures and an Alter Echo artsy style. The design leads you to think that the developers may have been dropping acid while making the game, which would also explain the plot twists. Though Advent mixes cartoony visuals with disproportioned characters (why are everyone’s legs so long?), it works. At least they didn’t opt for full on cel-shading.
Sound
The audio is the games strongest point. Tommy Tallarico Studios orchestrated the score, and the fruits of their labor have proven to be amazing. Unfortunately, the music can never be fully appreciated because the audio is so horribly put together. A sad technical error causes the audio to move in and out, distorting the volume. Not only is the volume jagged, but the music shows up in some pretty odd places. It was fairly strange to blast blood thirsty Seekers away to music that had a sad and depressing tone.
Overall
On the whole, Advent Rising is a good game that didn’t quite live up to its full potential. While it’s an exciting and fun experience, it doesn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations many had for it, and some of the features promised didn’t make it in, either. Despite its technical shortcomings, however, and its lackluster storyline, there’s still hope for the sequels to expand upon and tie-up the games loose ends. For the time being, Advent Rising is merely a good game that has hopefully set a course for a great trilogy to come.
-Zackery Tackett
| The Core Score |
Overall
8 |
| Fun |
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8 |
| Gameplay |
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8 |
| Graphics |
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7 |
| Audio |
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8.5 |
| Replay |
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6.5 |
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