I was finally able to complete Advent Rising over the weekend. While the gameplay mechanics were a bit clunky and frustrating at times, the story was one of the best I’ve seen in a video game. The developers did an excellent job of writing a story that flowed well and of creating dialogue that sounded natural.
And if you are planning at any point to play the game and don’t want to have the story spoiled, this would be a good place to stop reading.
What I was most impressed with was the storytelling. The pieces and elements of the plot were skillfully laid out, and the surprise of additional story and gameplay after the closing credits was a very nice touch.
Advent Rising did raise many more questions than it answered. Here’s my running list of questions that I hope are adequately answered somewhere in the next two installments:
- Why were the Seekers scanning the humans, if their only directive was to entirely annihilate the human race?
- Was Ethan really killed, or did he somehow manage to survive?
- What was the pyramid object that Gideon took from the temple, and what is its significance?
- Who are these ‘gods’ that have been the objects of the Aurelians’ worship?
- If the prophecies refer to the advent of the humans, a future event, what is the relationship of these ‘gods’, who already exist and have existed for centuries, to the humans? Are they some future, already-ascended version of the humans who are currently experiencing advent or some malevolent race impersonating deity?
- How was Gideon transported to another planet?
- How did they know he was coming, who he was, and what he could do?
- What’s next for Gideon and Marin? Will they meet up again, will they continue on together, and will they survive the coming trials?
Advent Rising is a great game, and I am looking forward to the next two chapters. On the upside, they will likely be produced for the Xbox 360, taking advantage of the powerful processing resources to render the graphics and make them visually stunning games. On the downside, they will likely be produced for the Xbox 360, which I can’t yet afford.