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Advent Rising
Probably going to be one of my last current gen reviews, but anyway this going to be long ass so prepare to read.
First off, before I even talk about my review, lets look back on what so called "Pro" reviewers did to this game. Due to the fact that it did not exactly live up to the massive hype surrounding it, reviewers did their best to destroy it, and anyone who might think of checking it out. I'm here to dispel the myth reviewers created, that this game isn't worth a 5 out of 10, and that it's buggy to no end. Now, lets talk about the good features.
- The absolute best soundtrack composed and produced for a video game in years. This is the sort of music you'll be hunting down MP3's for after you play the game.
- Action scenes that rival those seen in just about any video game to date, including the awesome Max Payne series. Consider this, you target the enemy, do a flying, spinning leap forward, waste him, then target his buddy, flip midair, land, fly backwards, fire, and then you not only kill the other bad guy, but you blow up scenery, and all heck literally breaks loose. That's an example of ANY of the game play to be found here. Not even mentioning the Vehicle scenes, and their "Hollywood" style flip a million times and drive fine. Do a 360 while being barraged by missile, and then hit the cliff side doing 80mph, flip 4 times, and drive right at the enemy ship, firing at it, and it explodes the MOMENT you go flying through it. Yep, doesn't get much better then this.
- Cinematic that really set the stage, and make you feel like your not playing a game, rather, you are watching a movie that you control. You will actually grasp what is happening, why it's happening, and what to do next. You will also be quite entertained, as like the rest of the game, the cut scenes are Hollywood quality.
- Top notch voice acting, backing up the characters and storyline, easily on par with KOTOR's or Half Life 2, or even The Longest Journey(10 points if you actually know this game)
OK, so now that I got that out of the way, lets talk about the bad features.
- Sometimes easy to get lost, due to a lack of a map. Can't say I have any idea how people get lost. The game basically indicates where to go, based on smart design choices in the levels, that while not being absolute linear in nature, keep you on track.
- Sound sometimes will cut out for a second or two..but really, this is easily ignored, and only happens a few times.
- Very rare, but occasionally, when fighting many enemies at once, you could "fall" through the level. This got me once or twice, but again, I "died", and then reloaded the checkpoint. In under a minute I was back in action, no "falling" this time.
- This game is somewhat short..yeah, about 10 hours tops. I beat it in 6. Still, it plays a lot like a Million dollar motion picture, so it flows fast...basically, it works for once, a game having short game play time. Not to mention, you can go back and play again, the game does have some replay to it.
That's it. So for all the good versus the bad points, how in the hell did reviewers and people online claim this game wasn't worth 5 dollars? I'll tell you how.
If you have the PC version, and your complaining about visuals, your nuts. Yes the textures aren't on the "Half Life 2/FEAR" level, but did you notice that, they work? Let alone, the game doesn't take 30 years to load due to insanely high texture mapping. People also complained about floaty game mechanics and animations. I just have to shake my head, and point to Halo on the PC. It doesn't get more shaky then that port.
Next, we have the debate over the graphics in general. I would like to know what crack reviewers were smoking when they said the effects and character models looked like they were from a 1999 PC game. The character models are top of the line, and carry a sort of Anime/Comic book stylization to them, but again, it works well...considering how much jumping/flipping/dodging you will do in the game.
Finally, we have the "flick" targeting system, which on the PC works by having you use the mouse wheel to target. Takes 10 minutes to get used to, and then you'll grasp why you shouldn't just FPS the entire game out. When you target after a certain point in the game, time will slow down. There is no bar, or meter that says how many times you can do it, so insane slow-mo gunfighting is always there. Of course once you see your character flying through the air, laying waste to everything in his path...you will no doubt have your jaw on the floor. Mind you , this is BEFORE you even get your powers.
So what is the sum total here? A game that will be considered a classic by few, and crap by many. I say that's OK. They can go play whatever they want, and I'll play this. Advent Rising isn't the BEST game of all time, nor does it claim to be just that. What it is, is the most cinematic driven game to date. The music, sound, and game play, match the style and presentation, and feel of the entire package perfectly.
So after all this, if your still considering buying this one, do yourself a favor, and buy it. And this game is highly sought after it was released and I have no doubt, wind up on "Home of the Underdogs", just like "Arx Fatalis" and many other great games, that average gamers or reviewers had a bug up their ass when reviewing.
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