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[PhatSaqs]

http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=SiteMain.showGamePage&Game_ID=88&page=1

Pretty good rant. He makes some good points IMO. After running through the game a second time I like it even more. And I really do hope the Glyphx guys get the chance to continue the trilogy.

Have you ever seen an independent or small budget film where you could tell by the story and direction that the people behind it were geniuses in the making? Like Terminator, with its experimental effects and choppy stop motion… Advent is like that. The difference is that in Hollywood talents like these are showered with praise and given more money and resources to create their opus, where in gaming, select “press” see these instances as an opportunity to salt the wound; search for every last bug and put them under a microscope.

Does Advent slow down? Yes…Is Gideon dynamic to the environment…no. But as they said in one of Cameron’s many future opuses; “you have to look with better eyes than that”. Advent is a Halo scope game by a first time developer meant to immerse us in part one of a cinematic trilogy, much like Star Wars; another cobbled together first effort. On the whole the game is an experience no sci-fi fan should miss and in a proper environment would be critiqued for what it does right, over technical flaws inherent of time technology and a first time developer. This, right here, is why games like this are endangered and why our industry often veers in the wrong direction. As long as it’s easier and safer to put out cookie cutter flavor of the year games, we won’t see proper strides in gameplay. New ideas and franchise players such as this need support, not undue scrutiny.

Want me to go off on the technical snafus of GTA…Got an hour? But it’s a great game! Do you see these outlets doing that? No? Hmmm; I wonder why? Did anyone bag on Halo when Covenant troops glitched and ran into crevices like broken robots? Of course not…Or how about the trees in Halo 2…They’re square…and have no transition to the ground. I could have modeled them better. Anyone pick that apart? No; of course not, because it’s an awesome game. It was also made over three years on a titanic budget with a huge team and cutting edge tools, the same tools and treatment Donald Mustard and company now deserve to complete his trilogy. They should also recruit David Siller, one of the best producers in the country, if not the world, who is currently shopping for a new home. Only one of the main guys responsible for making the original Crash the game it was and creator of the first ever American made Capcom hit; Maximo. With Dave on the team, Advent is a 10…But that’s just my two cents.

We all scream for original games and innovation and here Glyphx and Majesco are delivering, and all certain outlets want to do is focus on what should be regarded as asides; things easily explained within the context of the development process. Well, enough. I said my piece. They are entitled to their opinion and their process. I just don’t agree with it. I don’t mean to throw stones. Lord knows I’ve scored some games high that many people weren’t so wild about…(P.N. 03, Voodoo Vince…) I just feel that in this case certain reviews have been overly critical in the scheme of things.
To Donald and everyone at Glyphx (and Tommy T. for a truly stunning score) I say hang in there and let the game buying public (who seem to love it) be your guide. I only hope the right message gets through so that we see you guys again real soon. Our cover will always be open for Advent Rising.

 

[IJoel]

I agree.

For me, the main issue the game has, though, is its length. It's just too short (8 hours or so.) While that doesn't bother me much, I can see it being a big issue for people only able to buy 1 game every now and then.

Otherwise, the positives outweight the negatives by a lot.

 

[akascream]

As long as it’s easier and safer to put out cookie cutter flavor of the year games, we won’t see proper strides in gameplay.

But this is one of the reasons I wasn't interested. I saw a tv commercial and it honest to god looked like a Halo clone.

 

[Blackace]

It is not that I dislike Dave it is just most the time I don't agree with him...but this time when you are right you are right....

 

[Razoric]

good rant... it really does show the differece between the VG critics and movie / music critics.

 

[Apharmd Battler]

Yeah, I rented it over the weekend and technical issues aside, I reallyl like the story, pacing, and progression of this game. I think I'm about halfway through, and I hope Glyphx doesn't throw in the towel. I want an XBox360 sequel! I still wouldn't recommend this game for full retail price due to the blantant technical issues, but I'm all over this when the inevitable price drop ensures. It's worth it for the story alone.

I love the abilites you get and it's not hokey rehash, X-Men wannabe mutant abilites. So truly creative stuff with all sorts of dynamic possbilites. Even with the broken engine, this game is still a blast to play.

 

[daegan]

I think the other answer, besides not mentioning technical screw-ups, is to call everyone out on them. It disgusts me how high Ubisoft's yearly games get scored with the number of glitches and mistakes and omissions in them.

 

[Mrbob]

PC version is coming out at the end of the month for $30. I think I'm going to grab it.

I think the other answer, besides not mentioning technical screw-ups, is to call everyone out on them. It disgusts me how high Ubisoft's yearly games get scored with the number of glitches and mistakes and omissions in them.

Winner. I've always spoke out about this too but reviewers stay mum on the issue.

 

[thorns]

Gamespot rated it 5.7 right?

 

[Pedigree Chum]

One of my favorite games this gen had horrendous slowdown. That game is...Sky Gunner. I try my best to look at games as a whole rather than break them down into separate parts. I totally agree with Halverson here.

 

[Razoric]

One of my favorite games this gen had horrendous slowdown. That game is...Sky Gunner. I try my best to look at games as a whole rather than break them down into separate parts. I totally agree with Halverson here.

What's interesting is they do this for some games but not others. Like the guys said, look at freakin GTA. I could list 100s of flaws that game has (gameplay, story, and techincal wise). But I don't because overall I love the game.

And like others have said about Ubisoft... great graphics / presentation but the bugs kill their games sometimes (IE WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE TO WATCH THE CHAOS THEORY INTRO VIDEO EVERYTIME I REMOVE MY CT DISC FROM XBOX?)

I guess all it takes to win reviewers are pretty graphics and a bit of cash on the side.

 

[Gattsu25]

completely agree with this article...I'm glad I played through the game as I greatly enjoyed it. The guy is right and the gamespot review is a perfect example of the blatant hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness that plagues this industry

 

[dark10x]

I think the other answer, besides not mentioning technical screw-ups, is to call everyone out on them. It disgusts me how high Ubisoft's yearly games get scored with the number of glitches and mistakes and omissions in them.

Yes, this is very true.

One of my favorite games this gen had horrendous slowdown. That game is...Sky Gunner. I try my best to look at games as a whole rather than break them down into separate parts. I totally agree with Halverson here.

Sky Gunner slows down, but it's nothing like AR. The base framerate in SG is 60 fps and it holds it plenty of the time. When it slows down, it drops to 30 fps. Nothing like Advent Rising, which hits sub 10 fps at times and skips all over the place. Finding 30 fps in AR is very rare...

The GTA reference is solid, though. The GTA games are pretty broken, from a technical standpoint, and the budgets are huge. However, those games are far more complex than AR from a design standpoint. A wide open game like Morrowind or GTA is much more difficult to polish up than something like AR.

Advent's technical problems shouldn't be downplayed. I'm also really enjoying the game, but it is one of the most technically inept titles I've played in years. It's falling apart at the seams. The framerate hits Perfect Dark levels at times, there are bugs galore, and the game mechanics just aren't as solid as they should be.

Like I said, I'm having a very good time with it...but it isn't really THAT original (PSI-OPs + Halo, basically) AND the game is very very broken from a technical standpoint. I do feel that people have been much too harsh on it, though, and I would like a sequel. I also don't wish to come off as overly negative here. It deserves praise... but the problems shouldn't be ignored as they are too severe.

I don't really agree with the movie comparison either. The situation is very different.

(IE WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE TO WATCH THE CHAOS THEORY INTRO VIDEO EVERYTIME I REMOVE MY CT DISC FROM XBOX?)

It's a cache issue (it's copying data during the video, you know). CT is pretty unpolished, but that's one issue that isn't really a bug. Doom 3 XBOX goes through the same thing. SOMETIMES, you can skip them...but it really depends on YOUR XBOX.

 

[.hacked]

Advent Rising for GotY 2006

 

[Razoric]

It's a cache issue (it's copying data during the video, you know). CT is pretty unpolished, but that's one issue that isn't really a bug. Doom 3 XBOX goes through the same thing. SOMETIMES, you can skip them...but it really depends on YOUR XBOX.

ugh well i suspected it was CT because ive never had a game do this to me (and i own doom 3 as well).

 

[PhatSaqs]

ugh well i suspected it was CT because ive never had a game do this to me (and i own doom 3 as well).

I think NG does something similar to this too.

 

[SKluck]

The slowdowns aren't that bad later in the game, I think they got better as the game progressed.

But great game, All the ideas they have just shows lots of promise as a developer and a series. Just needs a layer of polish these guys probably don't know how to achieve being their first game.

The bugs aren't showstoppers anyway.

 

[Sinatar]

ugh well i suspected it was CT because ive never had a game do this to me (and i own doom 3 as well).

The Xbox data cache will save game load data until you play 3 different games, as soon you load 3 different games the cache is cleared completely and needs to be reloaded. CT, GR2, Doom 3, Ninja Gaiden, and some others all load it at the start during their intros.

 

[The Faceless Master]

But this is one of the reasons I wasn't interested. I saw a tv commercial and it honest to god looked like a Halo clone.

yeah, that's the same thing i thought when i saw the commercial before episode 3...

some people in the audience even believed that it actually was halo

 

[Crazymoogle]

Sky Gunner slows down, but it's nothing like AR. The base framerate in SG is 60 fps and it holds it plenty of the time. When it slows down, it drops to 30 fps. Nothing like Advent Rising, which hits sub 10 fps at times and skips all over the place. Finding 30 fps in AR is very rare...

dark, did you actually play through Sky Gunner? I mean, your comment holds up for most of the game, but the final level (I think, the one with the clouds to fly through) is just an abomination of sub 10fps chunking.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

dark, did you actually play through Sky Gunner? I mean, your comment holds up for most of the game, but the final level (I think, the one with the clouds to fly through) is just an abomination of sub 10fps chunking.

the game has a 30 FPS mode, don't know if it's smooth or not

 

[dark10x]

dark, did you actually play through Sky Gunner? I mean, your comment holds up for most of the game, but the final level (I think, the one with the clouds to fly through) is just an abomination of sub 10fps chunking.

Yes, I've finished it. That's not 10 fps chunking. The game runs in a field rendered mode and will always draw 60 frames of animation. When it is unable to handle the load, however, the game appears to halve in resolution and speed. So, when the game is running at 30 fps, the resolution you are seeing appears as 640x240 and the actual gameplay speed is 50% of what it should be. That is why the slowdown seems so severe in the game. If they simply chose to drop frames, it wouldn't have been a problem.

So, during the final level, the game is running at 30 fps...but the slow motion and halved resolution really make it feel much worse.

Advent Rising doesn't do this, of course, but it also rarely holds 30 fps for more than a few seconds. The game tears constantly and never holds a constant framerate. The game is all over the board...but usually sticks towards the low end.

 

[border]

By all accounts, Advent Rising is near-constantly chugging and occaisionally a slide show. That's a pretty huge problem that is always affecting gameplay, yet he compares it to a poorly modeled tree or once-in-a-blue-moon AI glitch in Halo (both of which have no effect or minimal effect on gameplay). The comparison to Terminator is pretty awful since that film as about a minute of stop-motion photography. This is more like a version of Terminator that has constant audio and color problems throughout the entire film.

Quit trying to prop up a broken game by citing its ambition, and quit encouraging developers to release full-priced beta versions to the public. Games are unpolished enough as-is.

Seems as though Play decides months in advance what they are going to like, and hold strong to that even if the final product is sub-par. Anything that gets a preview cover story tends to do pretty well when final review time comes around.

 

[MarkMacD]

good rant... it really does show the differece between the VG critics and movie / music critics.

My eyes just rolled up so high I can no longer see.

Comparing the technical problems in Advent Rising to those in Halo is like comparing the Holocaust to a hangnail.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

I watched the Gametrailers.com review of the game and honesly all the bugs they pointed out seemed fairty critical to gaming enjoyment.


It got a 5.7 score from gamespot? if 6 is average and then i think GS rated teh game just right.

 

[Gattsu25]

My eyes just rolled up so high I can no longer see.

Comparing the technical problems in Advent Rising to those in Halo is like comparing the Holocaust to a hangnail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

 

[Kobun Heat]

What hurt Advent Rising for me wasn't the technical stuff. It was the fact that the story, graphics, and gameplay were so boring as to nearly put me to sleep. The fact that it crashed like a bitch every now and again was just gravy.

 

[border]

He cries about the game reviewing community, but if you look at the GameRankings page almost everyone is giving it 70-80%. Isn't that a fair score for the sort of "obviously flawed but still promising" type of movie/game he's harping about? GameSpot seems to have lowballed their score because the reviewer didn't understand how to play the game, but that's kind of offset by the fact that Gamepro gave a 9.0 to a game crippled with technical problems.

I don't feel he should be obligated to give the game a bad score, but reducing such a huge problem to a tiny bullet in the +/- sidebar and never really discussing the extent of the framerate issues.....that probably isn't doing your readers any favors (I'm assuming that the "game reviewers suck" section isn't going to be in the print version).

And did Halverson just give away the ending at the end of the review? :lol

 

[rod furlong]

Watching and enjoying a low budget indie film is one thing. Watching and liking a film while the projector keeps breaking down every few minutes and the soundtrack cuts in and out the whole time is something different.

 

[MarkMacD]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

You do understand that the point -was- to make a ridiculous comparison, right?

 

[sammy]

By all accounts, Advent Rising is near-constantly chugging and occaisionally a slide show. That's a pretty huge problem that is always affecting gameplay, yet he compares it to a poorly modeled tree or once-in-a-blue-moon AI glitch in Halo (both of which have no effect or minimal effect on gameplay). The comparison to Terminator is pretty awful since that film as about a minute of stop-motion photography. This is more like a version of Terminator that has constant audio and color problems throughout the entire film.

Quit trying to prop up a broken game by citing its ambition, and quit encouraging developers to release full-priced beta versions to the public. Games are unpolished enough as-is.

Seems as though Play decides months in advance what they are going to like, and hold strong to that even if the final product is sub-par. Anything that gets a preview cover story tends to do pretty well when final review time comes around.

(/thread.)

 

[Gio_CoD]

I was reading this guy's article and nodding my head at the same time. He had some great points. I was ready to walk out the door and go give Advent Rising a shot until he mentioned that he liked P.N. 03. Then I put my credit card back in the wallet and added this guy's name to my list of people that I shouldn't listen to.

 

[BenT]

Dave Halverson made us buy Atari Jaguars.

Never forget.

(And Wonderdog.)

 

[Apharmd Battler]

Dave Halverson made us buy Atari Jaguars.

Never forget.

(And Wonderdog.)

So true!! I HATED Wonderdog, b ut I still think he's got some legitiamte points in his writeup.

 

[satterfield]

Are you people playing the same game I am? The Advent Rising I'm playing is often rendered unplayable by its god awful graphics engine and constantly feeds you mediocre cinemas to make you forget about the pain of actually playing it. I can see some of the Metal Gear crowd getting into it because it's so laden with prose, but I would never, ever recommend that a friend buy it--or even rent it for that matter.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Dude, just because the characters are talking doesn't make it just like Metal Gear. Phew.

 

[Jonnyboy117]

I haven't played this game, but I would disagree with Halverson in general. A game has to be fun, and it has to be a smooth experience. You don't need a giant budget to fill those basic criteria. Alien Hominid is a perfect example...and it was The Behemoth's first console game, no?

I think the Advent Rising criticism also comes down to expectations for the story. The game has been billed as an epic story ever since Orson Scott Card was signing promo materials for it at E3 2003. Every review I've read says the story just isn't that great, the characters aren't well developed, and everything is told through stilted cinemas that are more distracting than anything.

 

[dark10x]

Dude, just because the characters are talking doesn't make it just like Metal Gear. Phew.

Seriously.

 

[satterfield]

Dude, just because the characters are talking doesn't make it just like Metal Gear. Phew.

I was talking about people who place a precedence on story over gameplay when they choose video games to play.

 

[CO_Andy]

If anything, Dave writes with an unbelievable level of passion that so many journalists lack.

Now, everyone go out and buy Killer 7 next month!

 

[dark10x]

I was talking about people who place a precedence on story over gameplay when they choose video games to play.

'cept the MGS games actually feature great gameplay.

 

[.hacked]

Advent Rising gets Dave Halverson's and morphix's stamp of aproval. What more do you want?

 

[satterfield]

'cept the MGS games actually feature great gameplay.

I suppose that's your opinion.

 

[Kobun Heat]

I was talking about people who place a precedence on story over gameplay when they choose video games to play.

Gotcha. But I wasn't taking you to task so much as I was ripping on Advent.

I suppose that you could compare it to Metal Gear inasmuch as they both feature characters who talk to each other. But while Metal Gear's stories are thoughtful and interesting, Advent Rising's story is the worst kind of dime-store novel garbage; so God-awfully boring, skimpy, and poorly plotted that I don't see how anyone could enjoy it, regardless of their gaming tastes.

 

[Porridge]

I totally agree with Halverson and I wish more writers were like him.

I don't think the term "fanboy" is derogatory when it applies to him, so fire away. because if hes a fanboy of anything, it's the videogame medium. and as a fan of videogames, I really appreciate that

 

[satterfield]

Gotcha. But I wasn't taking you to task so much as I was ripping on Advent.

I suppose that you could compare it to Metal Gear inasmuch as they both feature characters who talk to each other. But while Metal Gear's stories are thoughtful and interesting, Advent Rising's story is the worst kind of dime-store novel garbage; so God-awfully boring, skimpy, and poorly plotted that I don't see how anyone could enjoy it, regardless of their gaming tastes.

I completely agree.

 

[dark10x]

I suppose that's your opinion.

It is my opinion and one shared by many.

There are very few games that can truly be loved by everyone, you know.

 

[Mrbob]

Wow, Satterfield gets in another Metal Gear Solid dig.

Holy fucking shit I'm amazed.

 

[sammy]

For those of you that have made it through the Xbox version, can you give us any predictions for the PC version?????

$29, USB LogitechGamepad, Top-notch videocard, and posibility of patches --- worth it?

 

[Mrbob]

I have the PC version of Psychonauts, and the frame rate is much smoother. I expect Advent Rising should play much better on PC.