Advent Rising review

So I'm immensely proud of myself. I just finished a game for maybe the fifth or sixth time in my life. (Granted I've really only been playing PC and console games regularly since about 2002, but still.) Scott got me all hyped up over Advent Rising after doing some research on it (we saw the trailer before Episode 3) and I was not dissapointed.

Plot:
It's really sort of a playable movie, the first in a planned trilogy. Seriously, the soundtrack alone is better than most instrumental movie soundtracks out there currently. Anyway, the story revolves around Gideon Wyeth, a military-type pilot guy from a planet called Edumea. The first ever alien race that the humans on this planet know of arrive (called the Aurilians) and give them the bad news that, oh shit, another race (the Seekers, or N'kul) is on its way to kill them all. Edumea is destroyed, and Gideon and a couple of others are the only known survivors. Apparantly the human race was thought to be a myth and possesses god-like powers that you learn to use as the game progresses. (The Aurilians keep referring to Gideon as "Exalted One" which cracked me up to no end.) And the game pretty much follows Gideon as he tries to get the word out to the galactic Senate that the Seekers killed his race, with much explosions and badassed-ness along the way.

Gameplay:
I played the PC version (there's also an X-box version out) and it went pretty well for me. There was a couple of bugs along the way. One of which we caused by trying to trick the game into using surround sound (which it didn't like, but the game was fine without it.) Once or twice, a door would refuse to open and I'd have to restart the program. But it wasn't enough to ruin my experience (which apparantly some of the bugs on the X-box version were) and the only reason I yelled at the game was when I kept getting repeatedly killed due to slow reflexes. I used a gamepad to play it, which was pretty convenient. I've heard that some of the targeting isn't as convenient with a mouse. Oh, this game uses flick targeting, which was pretty useful in that I could just flick the target and save time or find enemies I didn't know were there, but caused some problems when I was trying to escape from bad situations I caught myself in.

Design:
It's a really beautiful game. It manages to have a wonderful use of color without being gaudy, and while it's not photorealistic, that's fine with me. (Someone complained that "The humans' legs are too long and it looks stupid!" to which I respond "It's a stylistic choice and I guess this person's not an anime fan because OH NOES long legs.") The Aurilians' ships and planet were absolutely beautiful, and the Seekers' ships, weaponry, and soldiers are suitibly threatening. I loved the animations of the dodges, fatalities, and a few of the powers. I felt like such a badass while doing some of those stunts. I congratulate the design team and orchestra, even if I feel like I should smack the marketing and distribution people. (There were a few problems with the release date and then stores actually getting the game afterwards.)

All in all, it's a game I can in good faith recommend to others. There's a prequal comic series (still about Gideon, only before Edumea's untimely demise) coming out later this year that I plan on getting, as I loved the story and look foward to seeing expanded on. It is NOT, despite what you may have read on Gamespot, a Halo ripoff. If anything, I'd say it's more in the lines of Jedi Outcast with a better story and no lightsabers (but some happy destructive powers to make up for that). In fact, Jan Orrs's voice actress plays Marin, a human survivor. Oh, the guy who did the new Batman's voice in Batman Beyond (Will Friedle, also the semi-"special" older brother in Boy Meets World) does an excellent job as Gideon. In conclusion: Great story, great music, great art, good control on gamepad, a little bit buggy.