Advent Rising is a good game that was harshly underrated everywhere.
The gameplay in Advent Rising is great. There is a flick targeting system similar to the system in Drake and the 99 Dragons except much better. All you have to do to change targets is flick the right thumbstick in the direction of the enemy you want to shoot. People say that its a nuisance when you are trying to run away because it always targets the nearest enemy/liftable item, but it is simply solved if you click the right thumbstick.You get some regular guns, and some pretty cool alien ones also. About one fourth of the way through the game, you start to get some psychic powers. Once you get the powers, you never has to use guns for the rest of the game, if you do not want to. The gameplay overall is extremely fun.
The graphics can be spotty sometimes. The characters look pretty good. For some reason, everyone's legs take up two-thirds of their bodies. It is kind of strange, but I like it. The powers and guns look good with the best looking power being the alternate fire of the power Aeon Pulse. Framerate can be a problem sometimes. It dropped down into the single digits when there were large explosions with bodies flying everywhere. Strangely though, it only happened two or three times throughout the entire game. Overall the graphics are passable.
The music in this game is breathtaking. Beautiful orchestral tracks throughout the entire game from the famous video game music composer, Tommy Tallarico (some credits include Earthworm Jim, Maximo, and Twisted Metal). As for the sound effects, they all sound like they should for video game weapons, alien and human. The voice acting is very impressive also, with great performances by the main characters. Advent Rising's sound overall is superb.
A.R. takes anywhere from 12-14 hours to complete. Unfortunately, once you are done with the single player, there is not really too much incentive to go back and play it again except for a choice at the very beginning that effects something towards the end of the game. There is no multiplayer in Advent Rising so, once your done, your done.
Advent Rising was supposed to be part of a trilogy. It is not going to happen. Since Advent Rising (and Psychonauts) sold extremely poorly for Majesco, they did not think it would be smart to invest in the rest of the trilogy. The founders of Advent Rising (the Mustard bros.), are now with a new company. They have expressed that they would love to finish the trilogy, but is nearly impossible right now because Majesco has the rights. Hopefully someday the trilogy will be complete.
Anyway, Advent Rising is an extremely fun, albeit short, game with fun gameplay, and an amazing soundtrack. If you pick this game up with an open mind, you will like it. You can pick it up at Gamestop for $9.00. Go pick it up.