Advent Rising

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then there are some developers out there that should feel awfully flattered. Not that what I am saying should be taken with a negative light, but more as an observation of gaming as a whole. Let's face it, there are tons of games out there both good and bad that owe something to another game, whether it was an idea a developer got from seeing a game or an actual visual, lifted and recreated. So when I say that Advent Rising wants to be Halo 2, that's not only a compliment to Halo 2, but to Advent Rising. It takes a lot of panache and vision to try and take on a game as large and well done as Halo 2, and while Advent Rising isn't quite as epic or grand in scale as Halo 2, it does have some things going for it.

Promising epic gaming, Advent Rising features big action scenarios linked together with cinematics that the developers over at Majesco Entertainment proudly state is the first of a trilogy of games featuring the battle to save the human race. Playing as a hot shot pilot named Gideon Wyeth, a famous pilot from a famous family, you must fulfill a long-standing prophecy and defeat an alien menace using ever-developing powers. In fact, as you game along, Gideon will fight using two-fisted brawling, dual-gun wielding, superhuman abilities, vehicle driving and gun emplacements. It's all very familiar even if it is played from mostly a third-person perspective.   

But biting off more then they could chew, Advent Rising has some graphical problems. Most notably, the lag that seems to run hand-in-hand throughout the game. Never one to rest on it's laurels, bad guys come at you in droves, which only worsens the combat framerate as the game slows during all of the excitement. It's not so bad during boss fights and in areas where there is only a few bad guys but you will see it in heavy combat and even during some of the chase sequences while piloting the various vehicles. That being said, the game does have a fairly polished look to it with it's immense locations and great visual depth. In fact, I found myself standing around looking at some of the more impressive scenery on more than one occasion. The game looks good, and the bad guy aliens - while very similar in appearance to some other games - also look menacing enough. Character designs of the humans also stand tall, so I can say that the graphics are better then average, it's just that whole "lag" thing that steals some of the game's visual thunder.

Controlling the game is another thing entirely. The game developed a new type of targeting system called flick-targeting. What this means is, you can use the right thumbstick to direct your aim at the different aliens that flood your screen. Now as you move the stick, a targeting reticule pops on the bad guy, pull the trigger buttons and Gideon will let loose with whatever weapon he is holding. Frustratingly though, you must also use the right thumbstick to look around as well, so on more then one occasion I would take my aim off of a close target and fixate on some way off target. You really must work at it to develop a sort of middle ground that works for you. In the end, I found that middle ground and can play the game with a certain style that fits me, but I can't say I'm crazy about the whole thing.

In the grand scope of things, Advent Rising does have a big budget feel to it, which includes the in-game Dolby Digital 5.1. Nicely, Majesco really pumped up the sound effects and in game audio to support that 5.1 surround sound. Voice acting comes across as reasonable considering the cusp of humanity is about to go down the drain.

While mostly a quality designed game, I found that the game did try and force some things that I didn't feel as necessary. One of which is a cheesy bar brawl that occurs at the beginning of the game that serves no purpose to the game other then to establish that our hero knows how to fist fight. If this same scene was placed into a movie, it would be reviled as it gives no real credibility to the overall scope of things. If we won't accept it in movies, why should we accept it in games that are striving to be epic? Just an observation folks, if we accept mediocrity in all it's facets, then it will become the standard.

Gameplay: 7.0
That thumbstick really can hinder the action, be careful while doing battle. You eventually hop into a 4x4 vehicle that has you racing around the landscape at breakneck speeds. The control of that and other vehicles takes a little to get used to, but they do control tight enough to be enjoyable.

Graphics: 8.0
The architecture looks great, the aliens look great, the humans, the vehicles, the whole universe in which you play all looks great, but the lag really kicks in when things get dicey. And you can expect dicey all through the game.

Sound: 8.4
Big-budget sound for a big-budget game. I'm on board for the Dolby Digital quality, glad this game has it.

Difficulty: Medium
The game has an auto save as you hit checkpoints. And if you should die, you'll pick up relatively close to where you just kicked the bucket. That darn lag is as much an enemy as the weird dog aliens that leap at you.

Concept: 7.0
Aliens trying to destroy human kind is as old as videogames themselves. Vehicles and two-fisted shooting is also fairly common, what I thought was clever was the introduction of superhuman abilities that lie dormant in humans, only to be used when the time is dire.

Overall: 8.1
You do get used to the lag and the interesting controls, but darn it if this title isn't fun. Hopefully the second in the series will tie up those lag issues. But for big-budget action gaming, this title should easily fill your appetitive.