Release Date: 2006-08-08
Developer/Publisher: GlyphX Games
Genres: Action / Shooters,Adventure
Platforms: PC Games
Released earlier this year on the Xbox, Majesco and developer GlyphX
Games' Advent Rising was one of the most tragically ambitious games to
come along in a long time. In development for a few years, Advent
Rising tried to do an awful lot of things at once, attempting to
combine a cinematic gameplay experience with an all-new sci-fi universe
and some unique control and combat mechanics. Unfortunately, it failed,
thanks to a fairly uninspired storyline, extremely irritating gameplay
flaws, and a whole smorgasbord of technical problems that completely
wrecked the experience. Now on the PC, Advent Rising has improved. The
hideous frame rate problems that plagued the Xbox version are all but
gone, as are some of the sound bugs and control issues. With that said,
the new control scheme devised for the PC feels a lot more generic in
comparison with what the Xbox version tried to accomplish, and the
story and general difficulty of the game have remained relatively
untouched. It's a better game overall, but it remains a problematic one
in its own right.
Undoubtedly, Advent Rising is a better game on the PC than it was on
the Xbox, but it still isn't especially good. Though it's hard to blame
anyone for aspiring to create something that goes beyond the usual
sci-fi action adventure sameness we've all grown accustomed to, Advent
Rising rarely feels like it legitimately has such aspirations. It just
seems like it thinks it's a lot more original and interesting than it
actually is, ultimately coming off as kind of pretentious and pastiche.
The game doesn't really do anything mechanically that you haven't seen
before; the story never finds a way to grab you; it's pretty short
overall; and though several of the technical problems from the Xbox
version have been corrected here, it isn't enough to make it a
compelling product. Although GlyphX and publisher Majesco are billing
Advent Rising as the first episode in a trilogy, after playing through
this game, we think it's unlikely you'll be interested enough to care
about any possible sequels. Advent Rising is a disappointing effort on
all fronts, and probably isn't worth your time.
Released earlier this year on the Xbox, Majesco and developer GlyphX
Games' Advent Rising was one of the most tragically ambitious games to
come along in a long time. In development for a few years, Advent
Rising tried to do an awful lot of things at once, attempting to
combine a cinematic gameplay experience with an all-new sci-fi universe
and some unique control and combat mechanics. Unfortunately, it failed,
thanks to a fairly uninspired storyline, extremely irritating gameplay
flaws, and a whole smorgasbord of technical problems that completely
wrecked the experience. Now on the PC, Advent Rising has improved. The
hideous frame rate problems that plagued the Xbox version are all but
gone, as are some of the sound bugs and control issues. With that said,
the new control scheme devised for the PC feels a lot more generic in
comparison with what the Xbox version tried to accomplish, and the
story and general difficulty of the game have remained relatively
untouched. It's a better game overall, but it remains a problematic one
in its own right.
