|
The
foundations of the universe are about to be violently shaken
apart. A timeless prophecy threatens the order of galactic
civilisations, and one legendary race stands at the epicentre.
You are Gideon Wyeth - an unlikely hero who will become the
catalyst for the transcendence of his kind. The advent of
humanity begins...
Advent
Rising is a third-person, intergalactic action/adventure
of truly epic proportions, akin to a fast-paced action movie
where the player is swept up in an ever-evolving series of
sequences and events. A common legend pervades the galaxy
- that of an ancient race that will one day unite the universe.
Millions of cultures from vastly distant worlds revere and
hallow these mythological beings known as humans. Players
assume the role of Gideon Wyeth, a remnant of the last human
outpost, who must fight a deadly alien threat, to ensure his
species isn't wiped from the intergalactic history books.
What
should have been one of the finest Xbox games on the market
is going to come in for a lot of stick from the gaming press.
All the ingredients are here, yet something went terribly
wrong along the way- and that is a crying shame, because with
a bit of extra care Advent Rising could have been in
with a shot of being revered as the best game of all time
on the Xbox.
The
game starts off incredibly promising. As the game opens we
are introduced to your character, You Gideon Wyeth, a space
pilot, his brother and girlfriend. You are returning from
a mission and are told the news that a huge alien space vessel
is floating above your world. As you approach the planet you
fly alongside the alien craft and
you get to grab the controls of your ship as the opening credits
play.
All
you have to do is bring your vessel into land. You then wander
around the space station looking for your brother and your
girlfriend. This acts as the training section of the game,
where you learn how to use your fists, as you get into a bar
fight, and how to use your weapons in the firearms training
section of the space station.
A
little later and we are introduced to our villains - an alien
race that is planning to kill every last human on your planet.
But why do they use a portable scanning device on everyone
they come into contact with, before they kill them? Your mission
is to get you, your brother and your girlfriend away from
this space station as quickly as possible... but that's going
to be easier said than done.
I
wanted to give this game 10/10... I really did. I loved it
on so many levels. It's one of the best games I've ever player...
and yet, thanks to some really poor presentation, it is also
one of the worst.
Let's
start with the plus points. This is one of the most stylistically
impressive games you are ever likely to play. The storyline
is gripping, and you actually care about the characters (even
though the voice acting isn't fantastic and the cut sequences
are not the best, graphically). And the storyline has an interesting
twist early on - you have to chose certain actions that have
consequences - which I won't spoil here.
By
far the best element in this game - the one faultless area
- is Tommy Tallarico's music. This is hauntingly beautiful
- his main theme is one of the best I've ever heard on a console
game. And his in game music really helps to add the right
atmosphere.
Other
neat touches include antigravity areas, where you can turn
off the gravity in a room for a short time; being able to
change to first person mode at the touch of a button. The
aiming in standard mode is fairly haphazard (flick the right
analogue stick left and right to lock onto a target) so switching
to first person view is essential at various stages; and,
while you can't randomly hit your own men at the start of
the game, it is great to see that you can accidentally kill
them while you are attacking the enemy. I also loved the fact
that your
weapons accuracy and skill level increases as you play - which
is an interesting idea.
The
negative aspects include the fact that, as mentioned earlier,
the voice acting and cut sequence graphics are a little poor
(the worst example being a crowd of people rushing to the
screen where there is just a line of identical women - they
hadn't even bothered to change the colour of their clothes
or hairstyle) and the subtitles don't run at the same speed
as the voices, which is a little odd. Also there are problems
with not being able to hear some of the voices on occasion,
because of other background noise. The sound volume differs
greatly from the cut sequences to the playable section - which
means you have to turn the volume up and down constantly.
But by far the biggest problem is the games habit of suddenly
crashing for no reason - and this happens a little too frequently.
Also the graphics in the game have a habit of juddering for
no reason - so a ship flying near you will suddenly judder
all over the screen and then vanish.
While
you can roll and dodge, you're very unlikely to actually use
these moves during combat. It's much easier to just blast
the enemy and then find a medical panel and recharge your
heath meter. And, when you get to command a vehicle the controls
are rather difficult to get the hang of. Deciding which weapons
to pick up and which to leave is difficult as they all look
so similar. Oh, and whoever wrote the press release information
should be shot. This reveals one of the game's twists - one
that, when you discover it, comes as a bit of a shock... unless
you've read Majesco's synopsis, that is.
In
all honesty the presentation is atrocious. What
is very nearly one of the best games I've played in recent
years, ends up being just quite good. You are strongly advised
to rent this before buying.
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below.
|
|
|
£24.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
|
| |
|
|
|
£24.99
(Blahdvd.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£24.95
(Foxy.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£26.99
(Gameseek.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
