Advent Rising Review (Xbox/PC)
The first, last and only game developed by GlyphX, Advent Rising’s poor sales almost bankrupted publisher Majesco nearly single-handedly. Designed initially as an ambitious action sci-fi trilogy epic (in addition to a fourth game titled Advent Shadow for PSP) with contributions from author Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game, et al), the Advent Rising tale instead ended with just this one game. Sadly, the story of Gideon Wyeth, a survivor of the human genocide with amazing abilities, will never find closure. Advent Rising is a fast paced third person shooter. Armed with a vast arsenal of firearms and psychic powers, Gideon takes revenge on the Seeker alien race and discovers humanity’s role in the universe. Players are free to equip guns and abilities in any dual-wielding combination, and the more a weapon/ability is used, the more powerful it becomes. The options and the fluid controls truly makes the player feel powerful, and the action incredibly fun. Unfortunately, Advent Rising does have a dark side, and it manifests itself in some technical issues that crop up here and there throughout the course of the game. Stuttering cut scenes, framerate dips and the occasional bug are infrequent, but not uncommon. These problems will likely turn off many players, and I don’t blame them, but I find them to be little more than unfortunate minor annoyances, personally, and they have never impacted my enjoyment of the game. The PC version (which is available on disc, as well as on Steam …
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25 comments
VenomD5 on June 4, 2010 at 3:05 am
lol I was like, “Craig knows about this game? Awesome!” I love this game so much, that I bought three copies when circuit city closed down. it was like 3 bucks each, if memory serves.
Awesome Review! did not know that about the voice actor Will Friedel, pretty cool
famicomdork on June 4, 2010 at 3:06 am
Got this with my DVD copy of Seed (fuck anyone who bashes me for liking a Uwe Boll film), and looked at a few reviews for it online. Based on what I’ve read and seen, this game is going to stay in my Seed case..and never come out.
BattleGamerNews on June 4, 2010 at 3:14 am
I would have played it if it wasn’t written by Orson Scott Card.
NESSNESMASTER on June 4, 2010 at 3:30 am
Poor Majesco……so many issues……
DeathAdder83 on June 4, 2010 at 4:44 am
If I still had my old XBOX, I would take your advice and check it, but it is long gone. Regardless I always love to find out about “gems” that were over looked, maybe I can get it on the PC one day.
FeralPersona13 on June 4, 2010 at 6:04 am
This game does look absolutely awesome, as soon as I am able, I will definantly pick this game up. Despite the few bugs it may have, I would still play it and absolutly fall in love with it. If I can get past a floor glitching in my Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past game, I can definantly handle the bugs in this game without much concern. GREAT REVIEW LUST! 5/5!!!
gaaramax1235 on June 4, 2010 at 6:44 am
looks like star wars
Yanoss1313 on June 4, 2010 at 7:29 am
looks like i’m booting up steam today =D
AlexConnolly on June 4, 2010 at 9:07 am
Great review, Craig. Advent Rising was released on Good Old Games for a mere 5.99USD, incidentally.
jake7x7 on June 4, 2010 at 1:41 pm
This looks alot like ass Effect
japanatic722 on June 4, 2010 at 2:12 pm
This looks like an AWESOME game!!!! I wonder why it didn’t sell…?
BillyBobMcFee on June 4, 2010 at 2:15 pm
It’s too bad it didn’t sell, It looks really good. It looks like the Uncharted 2 of 2005!
interghost on June 4, 2010 at 3:38 pm
It must be horrible for the game designers to put so much time into a game and then have it flip like that. It looks like a nice game. Im not a run and gun fan but looks interesting. Cool stuff matey cheers ;o)
TheLoneGamr on June 4, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I bought this game when it first came out mosly because of the other Majesco published game Psychonauts. I fell in love with this game despite its problems. Too bad we’ll never know how it ended. Both this and Beyond Good and Evil I would like to see finished, but it will probably never happen. :-(
TheCodedArm on June 4, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Why don’t I check out Advent Rising? Because I have a 360 and it tells me not to check out Advent Rising!
Xpert74 on June 5, 2010 at 10:26 am
This game looks really interesting, but I don’t have an original Xbox, and I’m not sure if I could run it on my computer. It’s definitely on my radar now though, for if I ever do get a hold of an original Xbox.
dalhar20 on June 6, 2010 at 4:14 am
Ambitious, great potential, the story was great, the soundtrack was great and awe inspiring, the main character looked like a complete badass while doing flips in slow motion and sniping aliens in the head all the same time And even though greatly flawed one of my favorite games of all time
alienwarelaptop100 on June 7, 2010 at 10:14 am
Woooowwwwww i remember beating this game a long ass time ago….NICE TO SEE IT AGAIN!!
MPH4991 on June 15, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I played this game a few years back. I loved it. It’s story was EPIC! and it’s Combat was thrilling. It’s funny that the story was written by Orson Scott Card, because I like Ender’s Game. and I used to watch Boy Meets World and loved Eric Mathew, who voices the main character. This game should have had a lot more success then it did..
stivking on June 16, 2010 at 5:33 pm
You forgot to mention that the same person who voiced Raziel in the Legacy of Kain series voices one of the main Areliens (i dont know if i spelled that right).
I loved this game it did have a lot of problems (most of which i looked trough) but the thing i hated the most was driving,just way too much difficult.
Skillside on July 13, 2010 at 5:30 pm
@TheCodedArm 360 is lying to you. If 360 told you to jump off the cliff would you do it?
TheCodedArm on July 22, 2010 at 2:44 am
@Skillside So tell me how I can play Advent Rising on a 360?
Alexius314 on August 1, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Will Friedle also voiced Terry Mcgenis in Batman Beyond, which was absolutely fantastic.
jkeuwk on September 1, 2010 at 8:29 pm
This was one of the best games I ever played… once I gave it enough time.
I think the problem was, unlike most action games which start out really strong and then get lazy towards the end (y’know, once people have bought them) this one got better and better as it progressed. But most consumers aren’t patient enough to wait through three levels before they get their powers, y’know?
tvandlust on September 2, 2010 at 12:21 am
@jkeuwk Yeah, the game definitely requires a little patience to open up. It’s very rewarding for those that stick with it, though.