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Advent Rising

Advent Rising Game Cover
75%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
graphics, stability
78% User Score Based on 384 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 3 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCXbox OneWindows
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Advent Rising Game Cover

About

Advent Rising is a single player shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Cavetap and was released on May 31, 2005. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

In Advent Rising, you are a human gifted with extraordinary powers, pursued by the hostile alien Seekers who seek to eradicate humanity. With a captivating storyline co-created by Orson Scott Card, the game offers an epic intergalactic adventure combining third-person shooting and dynamic abilities. Experience the dawn of humanity's destiny as the adventure unfolds.

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78%
Audience ScoreBased on 384 reviews
story145 positive mentions
graphics18 negative mentions
  • Engaging story with a unique sci-fi premise, written by Orson Scott Card.
  • Fun gameplay mechanics that allow for a mix of shooting and psychic powers, providing a satisfying power progression.
  • Great soundtrack that enhances the overall experience and atmosphere of the game.
  • Numerous technical issues, including crashes and bugs that can disrupt gameplay.
  • Clunky controls and a frustrating targeting system that can hinder combat effectiveness.
  • The game ends on a cliffhanger, leaving players without closure and no sequels to continue the story.
  • story
    304 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of *Advent Rising* is a grandiose space opera that follows Gideon Wyeth, an ordinary pilot who discovers humanity's significant role in a cosmic conflict against a powerful alien race. While the narrative is ambitious and features engaging themes of mythic importance and emotional stakes, it suffers from pacing issues, plot holes, and a rushed conclusion that leaves players yearning for a sequel. Despite its flaws, the story is often praised for its imaginative scope and the involvement of acclaimed author Orson Scott Card, making it a noteworthy experience for those who appreciate narrative-driven games.

    • “The story follows Gideon Wyeth, a seemingly ordinary pilot who becomes entangled in a universe-shifting revelation: humanity is not insignificant, but a species of mythical importance, feared and targeted by a powerful alien race known as the Seekers.”
    • “The narrative unfolds cinematically, emphasizing emotional stakes over simple mission progression.”
    • “The story is grandiose space opera with a touch of 'chosen one' tropes, yet it's told with such sincere charm that you can't help but cheer for it.”
    • “The plot ends on an unfortunate but very well done cliffhanger that will never get its sequel and the pace of the story is too fast.”
    • “The story is completely rushed and absurd; first contact with friendly aliens for the humans living on their current planet, they warn you about a second race of aliens looking to delete humanity, said aliens arrive within the hour of first alien contact, girlfriend is taken from the space station, earth is going to be destroyed by lizards with guided meteors, find female pilot to escape earth before it's being blown up, get feelings for pilot not 2 hours from having girlfriend taken, get superpowers in an alien training montage.”
    • “The storyline is really a beginning unfortunately, as the title will never see its trilogy completed, but the voice acting and feel of the scenarios are both dramatic and driven.”
  • gameplay
    136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Advent Rising" is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of third-person shooting and psychic abilities that some players find enjoyable despite its occasional clunkiness and outdated mechanics. While the game offers a captivating story and atmospheric elements, many reviews highlight issues such as bugs, floaty controls, and repetitive gameplay that detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game retains a nostalgic charm and is appreciated for its ambitious narrative and unique mechanics, making it worth exploring for fans of retro gaming.

    • “Mechanically, Advent Rising blends third-person shooting with an escalating suite of psychic abilities.”
    • “The gameplay is a mix of Halo-inspired shooting and Matrix-influenced superpowers, which somehow works despite occasional hiccups.”
    • “Overall, Advent Rising is a great game with fun gameplay, a rewarding skill progression system, and a captivating (albeit cheesy at times) story.”
    • “Gameplay is somewhat 'floaty', you don't feel grounded.”
    • “The game is a buggy mess, and the first section of the game is much harder due to missing tools and a much worse health regen mechanic than you acquire later on.”
    • “Controls are very janky and the bugs are numerous, gameplay is average and story is bland.”
  • music
    80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its epic and cinematic quality, often described as one of the standout features that enhances the overall experience. Composed by Tommy Tallarico, the soundtrack is noted for its emotional depth and memorable compositions, although some players mention issues with sound design and repetition in certain tracks. Overall, the music significantly contributes to the game's storytelling and atmosphere, making it a highlight for many players despite other gameplay shortcomings.

    • “Even players who struggle with the gameplay often remember the music and worldbuilding long after the credits roll.”
    • “The music score is worthy of an A-list movie; the music producer had to have asked themselves, 'If I were boarding an enemy ship in space, what would I want playing?'”
    • “The soundtrack on the other hand is really great and done by a real orchestra.”
    • “Sound design is completely messed up, with some noises being louder than they should be and in some sections lacking sound or music entirely.”
    • “Music kind of gets a bit repetitive by the end where in every cinematic it plays the same dramatic music again and again and again.”
    • “Came here for the soundtrack, left because that's all there was.”
  • graphics
    80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely regarded as outdated, reflecting the early to mid-2000s aesthetic, with many players noting their clunky and low-resolution nature. Despite this, some reviewers appreciate the nostalgic charm and artistic style, suggesting that the visuals do not significantly detract from the overall experience. While technical issues and graphical glitches are common complaints, the engaging story and gameplay often overshadow these shortcomings for those willing to overlook the dated visuals.

    • “The graphics were new at its time; today they are certainly outdated - but in a nice, sweet, and charming way.”
    • “Despite its old graphics and some bugs, the story, gameplay, and music are beyond the standard.”
    • “If you're willing to give it a shot and look past some of the older graphics (which have held up pretty well, I might add), you will find yourself enjoying the story and gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are very late 90s, early 2000s.”
    • “The AI can downright hinder gameplay and the graphics look ancient for the time it came out.”
    • “The graphics, the story, everything is just fantastic!”
  • stability
    34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of glitches, crashes, and bugs that significantly detract from the overall experience. While some players find enjoyment despite these issues, many describe the game as "buggy" and "unplayable" at times, indicating that its age contributes to these persistent problems. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the game has redeeming qualities, its stability issues are a major drawback.

    • “Since it's on UE2, it shows its age, but it plays great on modern hardware. The best part is I can play it on anything now, like a laptop or an old hardware PC, which it also runs great on.”
    • “Unfortunately, the age of the game really lets it down now in terms of visuals, and it is by no means bug-free, but these are very small gripes and will not hinder your enjoyment!”
    • “With the game being old, it has various bugs that ruin the game experience, the biggest of which either crashed the game even in compatibility mode. I also had various freezes, especially in cut-scenes where it would freeze the video but keep playing audio.”
    • “The game is a buggy mess, and the first section of the game is much harder due to missing tools and a much worse health regen mechanic than you acquire later on.”
    • “Camera glitches make the game basically unplayable after the 4th cutscene when entering the hallway.”
  • emotional
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its cinematic narrative that prioritizes emotional stakes, creating a deep connection with players. Reviewers express that it evokes a range of powerful feelings, from excitement to heartbreak, and is praised for its heartfelt storytelling and immersive experience, despite some technical limitations. Overall, the game stands out for its ability to make players feel genuinely invested in its characters and story.

    • “The narrative unfolds cinematically, emphasizing emotional stakes over simple mission progression.”
    • “Whatever cult status Advent Rising has achieved to this day is most likely stemming from how genuine and heartfelt the whole production is.”
    • “The story is wonderful, exciting, heart-breaking, and accompanied by lovely music.”
  • optimization
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting uneven performance, numerous bugs, and control issues, particularly with vehicle handling. Even on modern hardware, many experience significant frame rate drops and stuttering, indicating that the game has not aged well in terms of technical performance. While some users managed to improve their experience through personal adjustments, the overall consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization work.

    • “I optimized the controls and graphics quite easily, and I find that it still looks quite nice and the framerate issues from the console version are gone.”
    • “Even on modern hardware, the game shows its age through uneven performance, scripting hiccups, AI quirks, abrupt difficulty spikes, and animation stiffness.”
    • “It's bad... too many PC problems and optimization problems, and controls.”
    • “With that being said, it has a huge number of bugs, does not deliver on as much as it tries to, and needed some serious optimization work.”
  • character development
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the growth and depth of characters, others find it lacking and dated, reminiscent of 90s design. The ambition behind the storytelling is noted, but many feel that the dialogue and overall character development do not meet modern standards, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “The characters are very good and there is actual character development - you grow as a character during the game.”
    • “Character design could have been a bit better done, but what can you expect from a B-list title that got nearly less than two months of television advertising.”
    • “While its dialogue and character development occasionally show their age, the ambition behind the storytelling is evident, and the orchestral score—one of the game’s most enduring strengths—elevates the drama into something operatic.”
    • “Character design could have been a bit better done, but what can you expect from a B-list title that got nearly less than two months of television advertising?”
    • “- poor character development”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often leading to extended periods of idle play rather than engaging gameplay. While there are enjoyable elements, such as a variety of guns and cool powers, the necessity to grind for ability upgrades and the frequent need to dodge during combat detract from the overall experience.

    • “The game has a lot of cool guns to choose from while you play, but there are like 4 you will use constantly, and the rest are only useful when you are forced to use them. The powers are actually pretty cool, but having to constantly dodge to let them recharge after using them once or twice, especially in the forced powers sections, makes it tedious.”
    • “Obsolete and tedious gameplay.”
    • “I found this game to be a bit tedious.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is characterized by its goofy jokes and light-hearted dialogue, which many players find endearing and entertaining. Reviewers appreciate the developers' willingness to take risks with the comedic elements while maintaining high-quality voice acting and cinematics. Overall, the humor adds a charming and enjoyable layer to the gameplay experience.

    • “I instantly fell in love with its goofy jokes and humor.”
    • “It is fantastic to see the developers stepping out of their boundaries and trying something risky while maintaining professional voice acting, superb cinematics, and humorous, light-hearted dialogue.”
    • “I already played it like 15-20 times in my life and never even saw a game-breaking bug; 2-4 bugs in one playthrough, and all of those are funny.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of "Advent Rising" is characterized by its narrative ambition and imaginative science fiction elements, creating an uplifting experience for players. While it may lack mechanical refinement, it remains a compelling exploration of a potentially expansive universe.

    • “It gives the game an atmosphere that is very uplifting.”
    • “For those who value atmosphere, narrative ambition, and imaginative science fiction over mechanical refinement, Advent Rising remains worth exploring, both as a story and as a fascinating artifact of what could have become a much larger universe.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers limited replayability due to its short playtime of 6 to 9 hours and a lack of substantial story depth, though a single impactful choice provides some incentive to replay. Overall, while the game has potential, it suffers from issues that detract from the overall experience, making it hard to recommend without improvements.

    • “It's relatively short - 6 to 9 hours of play, but there are some story choices (well, one choice of who to save to be exact) that makes it replayable.”
    • “I spent most of the game thinking it's a great game, just lacking in story, but the more I played, the less enjoyable the game became. There are a lot of things that could be smoothed out but were not thought about enough. I honestly would recommend the game otherwise, but I just can't, and not because of modern standards since I love older games. This one was strong; it just needs a patch to make it more playable.”
    • “It's relatively short - 6 to 9 hours of play, but there are some story choices (well, one choice of who to save, to be exact) that makes it replayable.”
  • monetization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization aspect of the game is perceived as lacking, with users noting that the character design suffers due to the game's lower budget and minimal advertising, suggesting that the overall investment in quality may reflect its monetization strategy.

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69%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews
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2h Median play time
2h Average play time
2-2h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Advent Rising is a shooter game with science fiction theme.

Advent Rising is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One and Windows.

On average players spend around 2 hours playing Advent Rising.

Advent Rising was released on May 31, 2005.

Advent Rising was developed by Cavetap.

Advent Rising has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its graphics.

Advent Rising is a single player game.

Similar games include Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Beyond Good & Evil, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition, Bionic Commando, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and others.