Advent Rising

http://www.adventtrilogy.com/

I grabbed this off Steam for the PC the other day for $19.99 and was pleasantly surprised - I remember when it first come out on the Xbox and I toyed with the idea of buying it then, but wasn't sure.

It's like a 3rd person Halo-esque adventure that has Jedi style powers thrown in. The FMV is well done, although a bit flaky in the delivery at times, the audio stutters a bit, and the lipsync seems to be slightly out, but the story unfolds at a rapid pace and is an interesting and adult sort of sci fi yarn. It has Orson Scott Cards backing, since he scripted it, so that puts it above the usual european sci fi bullshit that rolls out from the likes of Jowood. The FMV does suffer from the "I'm from an Xbox" syndrome, similar to the recently re-leased Jade Empire special edition. But the in-game graphics are suitably sharp and sweet. Control with a keyboard can get a bit awkward at times, but mainly in the acrobatics area, the combat running and gunning is standard WASD and mouse look fare.

There are some nice set pieces, with space ships crumbling beneath you, and the action is always frantic. Nice array of weapons on offer, and duel wielding is standard from the off. When you begin to develop force like skills, such as lift, push and pull, things get very interesting. Later you develop shielding and blast force skills too. Stealing weapon skills etc. The combo of arms and force skills does seem to give you plenty of options when it comes to the boss fights, but the majority of the normal combat sees you usually adopt your favourite techniques and stick with them. Plenty of buggy and tank driving in there too. If you want you can flick to 1st person perspective, but I found it much more cinematic and natural in 3rd person.

Drawn in by it really, mainly the story, the alien lifeforms you meet and the immediacy of the action. Suprised it was very much overlooked, but then again, parts of it are a little flaky in places. Staggering about when trying to negotiate ledges etc. Very nice art direction, very cinematically put together. They did plan a trilogy, with a game on the PSP too, but sadly, it didn't receive the attention and it all went bad I think. Apparently the PC version is a bit more bug free and spruced up compared with the original Xbox version.

If you like Halo'ey action, it could be worth a butchers.