Not as great as I hoped, but not as bad as many reviews claim
User Rating: 8 | Advent Rising XBOX
Bottom Line: This game is worth renting if you like science fiction and action games, depsite the low score on this and other review sites. Sure, there are some things keeping it from being a terrific title, but hopefully the Brothers Mustard will polish the rough edges by the time the promised sequel ships. A skilled player can beat it in a day or two, so I do not recommend it as a purchase. It does make for a fun couple of days, though, and the RPG elements encourage a replay or two. Pros: Music. Wow... even though I rarely agree with Tommy Tallarico's game reviews on G4, I am, after playing this game, a big fan of his sound design. The music is quite good... so good in fact that my girlfriend came in and commented on it specifically. I have the main theme running in my head all day... really epic stuff. Style. People have complained about the artistic approach of Advent's characters in numerous places online, but I find the cartoon aesthetic of Advent to be charming in the same way that the World of Warcraft engine is... simple, but beautiful. I like the exagerated legs and animations. The aliens are neat looking as well, albiet somewhat derivative of the Covenant. This game is vibrant, colorful, and looks really outstanding on a widescreen television. Character Progression. I enjoyed choosing which weapons and abilities I wanted to focus on. Leveling them up doesn't take long, either, which I felt was nice compared to some rpg style action games where it takes you forever to gain small improvements. I want to play again and make different choices... like focusing on melee and dodging. To me, this was the strongest element of the game. I always applaud games that give you more options than you can possibly take advantage of on one playthrough. Story. I really enjoyed the cutscenes, and one really gets the sense that the story is going to take players to some interesting places as the trilogy unfolds. I like knowing that this is just the beginning of a long, arcing story. The dialogue was for the most part above average, but wasn't as epic as I had expected when I learned Mr Card was involved. I felt like many exchanges between characters were suprisingly naturalistic, rather than the melodrama normally associated with the genre. Cons: Framerate issues. Yes, the framerate is at times a real detriment to the action. Even cutscenes stuttered and paused with regularity. I feel like the game could have been coded better to run on the xbox, and am curious to see if the PC version has similar bottlenecks. Targeting. While the flick targeting system is an improvement over many games, and might even become the standard for similar games in the future. it is frustrating that one can't turn it off and haul ass in a reliable way (like in Jade Empire, with the L+R triggers). Length. The game is just plain short. I felt like I did when I saw Kill Bill vol 1... "That's it?" Of course, when a game leaves you wanting more, that might not be a bad thing, but then again, I wouldn't blow $50 on this one if I were I you. This game has "Rent Me" written all over it. Difficulty. As many reviews have stated, once you get your psychic powers, the show is over, so to speak. You can kill with such ferocity and ease that the difficulty just plummets from the midpoint on. Sure, this is in line with the "humans as supermen" premise of the game, but it is still a game 1st and foremost. The baddies at the end should have been a bit tougher, methinks. Despite negative comments found within the Gamespot review, this game really left me fired up to play the sequels. I have high hopes that the dev team will listen to the gamers and fix the elements of the game that would keep the franchise from becoming a classic. Furthermore, I can't wait to see what this highly stylized universe looks like on next gen hardware. I am also curious what they will do on the PSP, since there is no "stick to flick", so to speak.
