User Reviews (11 - 21 of 37)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

The greatest game for the X-Box?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

In this generation of gaming, a dark age if ever there was one, where great games are few and far between, and sequel after sequel sells while great aspirations so often go unrealized, swept away in the flood of mediocrity, comes a game that turns me back into a true believer...

I've been around. I've owned so many game systems, tried so many styles of games. I've looked and searched and hoped and dreamed...that there would one day come a game that took the strengths and lost the weaknesses that have plagued seemingly every action game.

What does a good action game need? What have they been lacking? Well, think of all those stupid first-person-shooters, all those mindless action games. They have you mowing down hordes of enemies...and then jumping across a gap and falling to your death! You're blasting your way through all kinds of madness, and then you can't find the key to open the stupid door to the next area! How often I would dream of a game where there's no stupid jumping puzzles! No stupid key searches! Instead...you blast enemies, the story progresses, and the doors OPEN when you approach them! YES!!!!! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This game is what every Star Wars action game wishes it was. It's what Jedi Knight should have been. It's what Gun Valkyrie shoudl have been. It's what I've been waiting for...a fun game!

The beginning of the game you're walking around and talking and training. Then you meet the aliens. And all heck breaks loose. And wow! Suddenly with both X-box triggers you're blasting through hordes of enemies as the ship breaks apart. And from there the action almost never stops.

Your abilities level up as you go, and after a few levels you get POWERS. Then the game immediately goes from good to AWESOME. All powers have level ups that come from usage. And as the game progresses the powers get progressively cooler. But the real greatness comes not from the powers but what you can DO with them. You can grab weapons out of enemies hands, then shoot them with them. You can freeze time and run to enemies and take them down in hand-to-hand combat. You can put up energy shields and then backflip and cartwheel in and out of their path while firing energy blasts out of your hands. You can snipe with guns and toss enemies around with with telekinesis. And because you of the awesome targeting system and excellent control menus, it's painless to target enemies and switch weapons and powers.

Most of the complaints in this game seem to center around said flick-targeting system, glitches in the system, slow-down, and camera issues. Some also don't like the difficulty. To all of this I say...what's your problem?

The flick-targeting system is brilliant. It allows you to easily switch targets and focus the camera instantly. You can adjust it's sensitivity if it's not working for you quite right. Same with the camera. But honestly, this is an ACTION game. AJUST TO IT! Every game has camera issues! Most action games have slowdown! And as games with bugs go, please keep in mind that Knights of the Old Republic has more bugs than the state of Florida and people got over that! Honestly, the bugs, slow-down, jaggies, WHATEVER simply aren't big enough to even be an issue.

The game has INCREDIBLE level design. It has loads of cool weapons. It has GREAT boss battles (fighting a flying tank single-handedly for the first time was so much fun the first time!). It's LOADS of fun. It has a great story, great music, great controls, adjustable difficulty, inspired characters, good voice-acting, and simply limitless possibilities for gameplay.

For a long while I thought this was a four star game because of the bugs and slowdown and whatnot. But in light of the slow-motion dodging, the music, the gamespy, and the incredible amount of FUN that this game is, I simply cannot give it fewer than five stars. This is one of the most under-rated games I've ever played, and probably the best game for the X-Box, with only the phenomenal KOTOR games challenging it. Everyone who likes action or sci-fi games should definitely play this game. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. It's just too deep and fun a game!

An Amazing And New Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Advent Rising is the first in an epic trilogy. And to be honest, I think they started it off wonderfully.

Now, there are some technical issues though. These issues are pretty minor to me. The only people that will not play this because are a few nit-picky gamers. The issues are: a few framerate drops sometimes. When there's alot of of stuff going on, the framerate drops a bit. And another thing, sometimes the sound drops for a minute. But as I said, these problems are very minor indeed. I barely even pay attention to it anymore.

The music is one of the best parts of the game. It was done by Tommy Talarico Studios and they did an amazing job on the music. All the music fits in perfectly with the right moments. It really imerses gamers into the experiance. I would have to say that this is the best game music I've ever heard in a video game. Really!

The graphics are great as well. All the enviremonts are made perfectly and are large in size. The water and plants all around are beautiful. The cinematics are simply phenominal as well. All the animation is well done too. And it also gives you the option to restart, continue, or skip.

The gameplay is very good and extremely fast pace. All the action is fast and satisfying. You can dual wield any weapons together which makes for a great time! During the course of the game, you get powers, which are all unique and fun to exucute and watch. But like I said above, when alot of stuff is happening, the framerate drops a bit. But it isn't really a problem.

Overall, I say Advent Rising is a great game. Besides the technical problems and all that, it is perfect! I reccomend it completely!

Advent Rising

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Advent rising has an excellent story. The weapons range from alien weapons to your own superhuman powers. The gameplay and graphics are simply amazing. The levels are so full of color it looked like a PC game. The gameplay although repitive at times is very fun most of the time, plus the mix of cars and turrets is great. The cut secens really move the story along which is probally the best part of the game and I can't wait to see where it goes in the follow up games.

good action, but a little glitchy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I loved Advent Rising, but there are parts in the game where it it seems like there is a glitch. Like in the beginning where you first see Seekers, when one scanned a civillian, he started beating him up. When he was beating him up, the sounds of the Seeker punching him were off from the actual cut scene action. And sometimes after a cut scene, it just freezes and goes right into game play and that can ruin the moment. Otherwise besides a few glitches, I really did love it and I am not judging the game by its slight glitches. I highly recommend playing this if you like action games, but anyone who doesn't like drama in an action game might not like it, but even you people who don't like drama should give it a shot.

Forget the tech issues, the game itself is seriously flawed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off, I have to say that most people who played this game complained about the glitches. I have noticed none. No glitches, no bugs. The framerate is bad, true - think playing an MMORPG in a crowded city on a modem connection. Well, I HAVE done that before, so the framerate didn't bother me.

It's the game itself that makes me wish I held on to that $50. You can upgrade your firearms the more you use them. This sounds like a Good thing. If you like a weapon a lot, you can just keep using it to make it more effective. Unfortunately, you quickly realize that there's a little thing called Ammunition, and it barely appears enough in the levels to let you USE the gun, let alone let you blaze around with the leveled-up firearm of your choosing.

However, you won't be using your guns much once you get your Psychic Powers stolen directly from Psi-Ops - erm, I mean, once you get your legendary, mystical powers that all humans possess. With these powers, the "leveling-up" concept is much more effective. Use a power a lot, and it levels up. The End. Some of the powers are seriously taken directly from Psi-Ops, though. Except in that game, you could pick up anything you like. In Advent Rising, you can only pick up whatever the game developers want you to pick up.

Still, the game has its moments. Jump around a lot, and your jumps get more evasive. Soon, diving to the side brings the world into slow-motion, granting you the ability to throw enemies and shoot grenades, all in one graceful leap. It looks pretty, and it's fun. The vehicle parts are also enjoyable. The "flick targeting" - flick the analog stick towards an enemy to target it - can get a little frustrating as the analog stick you're flicking also targets the camera. Sometimes, you'll be trying to target a certain enemy, but it insists on targeting the big object the enemy is standing by. Or it will remain locked onto a target that's behind you, when all you really want to do is see what's in FRONT of you. But overall, it works.

The music is just incredible...the one part of the game that really lived up to all the excitement I'd built up after years of waiting for its release.

However, the story is really what disappoints me. The movies are so DISCONNECTED from the main game it's absolutely ridiculous, and pulls you out of any shaky atmosphere the music and graceful jumps managed to provide. I'll just give you an example. You're running across a field. There's a group of aliens at your back. Suddenly, you notice a jeep sitting out in the open, all alone. You run up to it, thinking you can jump in, turn around, go back to the aliens...but Lo and Behold, once you get within ten feet of the jeep, the screen blackens, a cutscene starts, and suddenly there's about ten soldiers standing around the jeep, chatting, while your main characters walks up to them. I swear the soldiers weren't there before. So instead of relaxing and enjoying a cutscene, you're jarred from the "game" reality and enter "cutscene" reality. In "game" reality, you're standing in a dusty desert, with sand drifing in the wind. In "cutscene" reality, you're standing in a grassy field, the grass leaning and rippling in the wind. It's just jarring, lazy, and it gets me angry.

The game attempts to give you chances to make Decisions that affect the story. The way it's implemented would indeed have been novel and well-done, if your Xbox was actually an NES and the year was 1987. As it is, the decisions have no emotional involvement, and most of them are resolved ten minutes later. There is one pretty heavy decision that occurs early in the game. Well, not as heavy as it COULD have been (you don't know how drastic the consequences will be when you make it), but it's still a nice touch. However, I Choose Wrong, and as a result I was stuck with with a shallow, poorly-written character for hours afterward. My lesson: No matter what your instincts tell you, sometimes you have to leave the girl behind.

All in all, Advent Rising is disappointing and not worth your $50. The gameplay is all right, but I've seen better (much, much better). The story is blah. Unless you're an extreme sci-fi fan who experiences intense pleasure at the thought of aliens and spaceships, then this game just isn't worth your time.

actualy 3.5 ,this could have been an amazing game if.......

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The developers had/took more time to iron out the kinks.Now the gameplay is very addictive,fun and some what innovative for a third person shooter.You get the choice of ten or so realy kick a$$ guns plus several different ' powers' like force push,exploding ice shrads from your hands, levitation and others.Now what is cool is that you can hold a gun in one hand and use the free one for your powers so you can double weild a la halo 2,...kinda.But cool none the less.Now a new and interesting feature is the targeting,you 'flick' the right thumbstick in the diection you see the enemies on screen and they will be selected in your cross hair.This works pretty good I might add, since I was dredding the worst when i heard about the targeting.Now this game is actualy alot of fun and you wont want to stop playing once you get into it.BUT there are some problems.1 the framerate in some areas is piss poor, well not that bad but there is some slow down when theres alot of things going on on screen,and sometimes you will move pretty sketchy.The graphics and all around art style of the game is very well done.Now to me it was almost like I was playing a third person HALO game,from the worlds,enviroments to the weapons,vehicles and characters all seemed to be from the same mold if you know what I mean.Thats not a bad thing either because if your going to use ideas from a game make sure its a top notcher like the halo series. PROBLEMS- there was a couple of times the game actualy froze up on me during the cut scenes.frame rate was prety choppy at time. The audio is kind of hit or miss every so often and the game is kinda short, you could beat it in a day or two, about 10-15 hrs.But you might need the god mode cheat to do so because the enemies are relentless somtimes.

All in all with those little problems aside, this is one game worhty of a rental at the very least.I've been hooked for 4 days straight and just beat it.If only they waited an extra month to fix all the little issues in the game this would have made my top ten list for sure.It is however one of the BEST games I have played this summer.

VERY GOOD GAME

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off im not a kid I just dont want to waste my time and make a account. Anyways on to the review. This game was excellent I had a lot of fun playing, and it got better as it went on. I loved the super powers you get and had alot of fun beating seekers until they were jell-o. However THE TARGETING SYSTEM NEEDS TO DIE!

Advent rising the most UNDERRATED game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Advent rising simply is a great game. The gameplay is fun and unique combining groundbreaking elements never before seen in a video game. It had top-notch sound as well as pretty good graphics and effects. The game does have a few visual glitches but these are soon
forgotten; lost in advent rising's greatness.
Gameplay-5
sound-5
story-5
graphics-4

Advent rising simply was given much hate and distaste undeservingly. The reviews for the game are great scratch a few from gamespot.

Flawed but Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: June 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that this game is not another Halo. In no way does it attempt at coming close. It is, though, a fun and interesting game set in the Sci-Fi world. Yes, it has its own share of flaws like difficult targeting and jumpy scenes, but overall it plays well. There is a little bit of a learning curve.

I have been playing video games for quite a while and it took me about an hour to get used to the controls. The story is penned by Orson Scott Card, who by the way wrote the fantastic sci-fi adventure novel Ender's Game. The sound is dramatic and well done, and even brings back fond memories of the singing monks in Halo.

The graphics are top notch. I do not want to ruin anything for you, but when you see the gigantic space station floating out in space as you rocket over to it is awe inspiring. The characters are memorable and the story provides some shockers that left me glassy eyed and open-mouthed.

Let's review:
PROS
Beautiful Graphics
Well Written Story
Interesting Weapons
Vehicles
Memorable Musical Score
Dynamic Characters
Replay Value
Secret Powers

CONS
Targeting Issues
Jumpy Scenes
Falty A.I.
Not quite Halo

Overall this game has been enjoyable and a fun experience. There will also be 2 more games following this one. Depending on the choices you make in this game will depict how the story plays out through the next games. I would rent it first and see if you like it at first then, buy it. Hope this was helpful.

Advent Rising- The Beginning of a Legacy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: June 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Advent Rising is the first in the Advent Trilogy. This is a great start for a franchise that is sure to have people talking for a long time. The game does have it's glitches, but they seem small and unimportant compared to the game's great aspects. I am really suprised by the low scores that have been given by IGN, GameSpot, etc. I think this trilogy will be a compelling, original experience, that will have it's fair share of glory before it is through.

First, I want to state that Tommy Talarico Studios has done a phenomenal job with the music. The music was what really brought together the whole experience for me. When the humans started to be attacked, I got a real sense of tragedy that only great music can deliver. Throughout the entire game, I was drawn in by the simple, yet effective, melodies. Advent Rising has some of the best audio of this year.

The next thing I want to talk about is the story. You play Gideon Wyeth. The younger brother of renowned captain, and playboy, Ethan Wyeth. The story is that you and your brother are to escort an ambassidor onto an alien shuttle, so that your races can become allies. The aliens, who are called Aurelians, warn you that the Seekers are coming to destroy the humans. The story draws you in so quickly, that you will find it hard to put the controller down, even to go to the bathroom. Some of the cinematics are very long. Advent Rising compensates for this by letting you pause during the cinematics, and letting you skip them, or restart it, but I digress. Back to the story. Very early in the game, you are faced with a tough decision. Both your brother Ethan, and your fiance Olivia are injured. You can only save one. It makes little difference in the end who you choose, but I found the outcome very sad.

Next comes the gameplay. This game is very interesting, because it is kind of a Third Person Action Shooter RPG. Let me explain. There are a variety of elements in the game, that keep it diverse and fun. The RPG element comes into play, when you have used a weapon or ability so much, that you become more proficient in the skill. Later in the game, you learn from Kehlem, an Aurelian, how to levitate objects. You gain different unerthly skills throughout the game, which you can become more proficient in.

Overall, Advent Rising is amazing. It is an original, fun, and extraordinary experience. The stunning visuals, beautiful music, and compelling gameplay, come together to deliver a refreshment from the same old games. This is a sure contender for game of the year. Advent Rising is the first in a trilogy that will take the gaming world by storm.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions