Advent Rising

Added August 26th, 2004 by Stephen Webster

While at E3 2004, a friend and I had a chance to stop by Majesco and take a look at Advent Rising. This game, a game by the rookie studio Glyphx,looks simply amazing. To call it anything less than the most promising game of E3 would be an injustice. Check out the trailer ...

Quicktime 30.6 MB

Despite our lack of appointment, Nick and I were fortunate enough to attract the attention of a Majesco Q/A after complaining about an Advent kiosk crashing. In fact, Advent seemed to have quite a few bugs to work out, considering how long it has been in development. We were told that the game had seen very little play testing before the show, and is only about 65% complete. Considering the amount of work already put in to the engine and unique control system, Advent Rising certainly looks to be at least this year's runaway sci-fi sleeper hit.

Among the core gameplay elements are vehicular combat, a bullet-time type gunplay mechanic, and spectacular melee attacks. Watch the above trailer for more of that.

Since the show floor is always so noisy, I made it a point to ask the Q/A about the soundtrack. For a brief preview of Advent Rising's music, as well as a making of video, click here. We were told that the L.A. Symphony Orchestra has been entrusted with the game's score, and judging from what we have heard so far it was a wise decision.

I probed a bit deeper to see how much the talking press junket would reveal. When I inquired about the game's voice acting, he claimed that there would be a few celeberty voices, but none that did not fit the character. I asked for specifics and he responded, "Well, for instance, we have a member of the A-Team as one of the game's characters." I pitty the fool who cannot make a good guess as to who that may be. "But you see, it is not, how we would say, out of character. It works. We don't pick people just because of celeberty."

From what we saw at E3, Advent Rising could either be a phenominal accomplishment and an amazing gaming experience, or a dud with overgrown potential. The camera was sluggish, though it was explained to Nick and I that the camera does not function like others found in standard 3D adventure games. Utilizing a "flick system," as the representative called it, the right thumbstick is flicked in the direction of a nearby enemy, thus locking on. I kept trying to rotate by holding a direction on the camera stick, but to little success. Toward the end of my time with Advent, it began to make sense. There is also a nasty little sound glitch that causes the game to slow down signifigantly. The rep claimed that this had been fixed a day before the show in the team build, but not corrected on the floor.

The main press Advent Rising has gotten is with regards to its writer, Orsen Scott Card. According to the Majesco Q/A, Card is "so famous and well off, he could sit around all day and not do anything and still be okay. [...] So, despite the fact that we want a simultaneous launch of [the game] and Mr. Card's book, it just won't happen. But still, we'll see."

Look for Advent Rising early next year on PC and Xbox.