The Advent Trilogy Blogspot - Advent Rising News

Possibility for more Advent?

2008-05-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

Probably not... but interesting to note that Chair Entertainment - where the Mustard Bros. scurried off to after the Advent implosion to create Undertow - has just been bought by Epic. We know they had quite some trouble getting the Unreal Engine to work well on the Xbox. Maybe Epic can help them out with that with the sequels???

Check out the press release and some comments over at my favourite blog - Joystiq...

Some very old info that was never posted

2007-09-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

Just tossing out stuff here from some recent google surfing while in an Advent mood/mode.

There was an IGN interview back about a whole year ago that might be of interest to some of you here.

And one more thing, it seems that a few of the hardcore Advent Rising fans from the old days have gathered on the Chair Entertainment forums. Now, I'm not saying that you should go there armed with pitchforks and knives and make Advent Rising assault and battery threads or posts, but you may want to give the forum a look, and that link is here.

Mustard update

2007-07-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

So Advent Rising has died off somewhere as has this blog really... but the briefest of updates as to what the Mustard boys are up to...

Their new company - Chair Entertainment - is now working on a new Xbox Live Arcade title called Undertow. IGN calls it a cross between Geometry Wars and Battlefield... underwater. And they think it's looking ok.

MTV.com of all places (ok so it's really GameFile) also have an reasonably interesting, now and then piece on the Don. Check it out.

Advent Comic #4 and the fate of Advent Shadow.

2006-04-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Advent Rising: Rock the Planet #4 was released on Wednesday, April 5.

Also, this is some old news, but hasn't been posted on the blog yet. Advent Shadow, the sidestory game outside of the main series of Advent Rising, along with other Majesco PSP titles, has been cancelled according to IGN.

IGN article

thanks to Sir_Brizz for the link.

One more thing. According to Rob Worley, Donald Mustard's new website is now active. Notice the email address.

PAL Advent release!

2006-02-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

Advent Rising quietly slipped into stores this week for Xbox and PC in Europe. After many delays Europeans finally get the chance to enjoy Advent. Surf on over to the Advent Rising Majesco Forums for a few opinions.

You can check out the Eurogamer review by clicking here. Even with the low score they did have some good points.

In other Advent news, please note that Advent Rising: Rock the Planet #4 will be on store shelves in March 2006.

Majesco is still committed to Advent.

2005-12-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

The following is taken from the January issue of Official Xbox Magazine (OXM).

To Be Continued...?

I was wondering whether you knew anything about an Advent Rising sequel. I think it’s one of the best Xbox games ever and the ending (er endings) really left me hanging. So for peace of mind, I would like to know whether or not there’s a sequel in the works.
-David Sianissian

We Say: You’re not the only Advent Rising fan, David. We dug the kinetic and story-driven action that GlyphX’s debut effort delivered, and the developer has always gone on record saying that the game was planned as the first of a trilogy. Unfortunately, Majesco wouldn’t go on record specifically addressing the future of the Advent series. What a representative for the company did say was, “While Majesco is currently focused on their new upcoming titles for 2006...we remain committed to our existing, originally developed intellectual properties including Advent Rising and Bloodrayne, but are not ready to make any announcements at this time.”

Thanks to Soma Holiday from the Majesco boards for the info.

Advent wins Best of 2005 award from IGN...

2005-12-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm being a bit over the top with the headline... Advent Rising won the award for Best Original Soundtrack on the Xbox for 2005 from IGN.

Pretty amazing effort for the soundtrack to shine through on a game that was NOT much appreciated by the critics.

Xbox Best Original Score -
Advent Rising

Advent Rising Comic #3

2005-12-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

The third Advent Comic is due out in comic stores on Wednesday, January 4th. Below is the very eye-catching cover for the third issue featuring Olivia. Like before, click on it for a better pic.

Advent Rising Comic #2

2005-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

Long time no post eh? The second Advent Comic is due out in comic stores on Wednesday, November 30th. Below is the cover for the second issue. Click on it for a better pic.

Final version of award winning FAQ

2005-10-27T03:27:00.000-07:00

Just letting you know that Berserker has delivered what is very likely to be the final version of an already amazingly comprehensive FAQ.

It is also an award-winning FAQ! It was named one of the FAQs of the month for June at GameFAQs.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/contest/fotm2.html

Great stuff Berserker.

European Extras.

2005-10-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Just highlighting a post from below from Robin, a regular visitor to this site.

(applies to PC version ONLY) Here is some important news. The PC version which is going to be released in the UK and other countries is different from the US version. The UK version contains a dvd with special features (behind the scenes and other stuff- for USA this was available in a limited edition in XBOX version only). Exciting news is that one level was deleted (due to AI and other technical difficulties) from the US version but that one is back for the UK version. Fourth level (which had some brief difficulties in terms of shooting- for both XBOX and PC) has been repaired and bugless. This news will soon be confirmed in the official website (early November). How do I know this? I talked to Blaine Christine and Ramin Mody (directors of the game, MAJESCO BOOTH) in festival in LA(for PSP and Playstation). Brought the news as soon as I could, hope rooney and people appreciate it.

Looks as if the European PC release may be worth the wait for sure. Some of us Americans may be compelled to import if this is the case.

On side note, and as thanks for the head's up, be sure to check out Robin's Aeon Flux site by clicking here.

Advent Comic Review

2005-10-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

Come this Wednesday Advent fans will have something to look forward to. Advent Rising: Rock the Planet #1 will hit store shelves all around the US. The first issue contains two comics for the price of one for a total of 53 pages of Advent. Now onto my little review...

The Cover

If you have ever been a comic fan, then you will know that the one of the most vital aspects to a comic's success lies in the cover - more specifically, the cover of the first issue, which can make or break that comic's success in the eyes of the consumer. I am happy to say that Advent Rising: Rock the Planet has one of the most eye-catching and detailed cover that I have seen on a comic in quite sometime. The sheer amount of detail that the artist put into Olivia is exquisite. Internet pics really don't do it justice, you have to see it up close for yourself to see what I mean. Click here to see a pic. The first issue actually has three covers - two for the first comic, and one for the second.

The Story

The comic starts out with Gideon and Ethan having just moved from their homeworld of Edumea to the planet of Artemus. The first two issues (actually first issue) revolve around them getting settled in on Artemus and how they cope with their new surrounding peers and overall lifestyle of Artemus. Each character stays true to the game. I'll go deeper into each character in a moment.

The Artwork

I must admit that I was a little worried about the artwork when I first saw a few pics from the comic. It takes a little getting used to at first since it's much different from the artwork that was shown during the game's release, but after getting used to it you will enjoy it. The expressions are very reminiscent of the actual game's characters and still keep each of their individual personalities in mind. Sometimes the expressions look a little strange though - a little too exaggerated.

Now let's get to each of the characters. To show how much each character is like their video game counterpart, I have decided to post a pic of the character's video game image alongside a few of the comic images.

Gideon Wyeth

Gideon's personality is still that of a whiny boy that is overshadowed by his big brother Ethan - not to say that he doesn't change later in the story. It's interesting to watch his relationship with Olivia progress in this issue.

Ethan Wyeth

Ethan is EXACTLY like his video game counterpart, in that, it was as if I could actually here the voice actor from the game speaking the lines as I was reading each of his statements. He's still cocky and still tries to be humerous. They have totally captured Ethan's character in this comic and Ethan fans will definitely be pleased.

Olivia

Olivia was definitely a naughty girl when she was younger, but you could always see that she had kind of an evil side to her. Well, not exactly evil, but an extremly flirty side, nonetheless...spunky, I guess you could say. The Gideon and Olivia scenes remind me a lot of the game, in that, she picks on Gideon a bunch in front of people. I definitely like her character in the comic, and would like to see a bit more of her in future issues - she doesn't appear as much as Gideon and Ethan in the first issue.

Overall, if you are a fan of Advent Rising and want some extra background on each character, and want to see the characters from game interact in their younger years then you will definitely like this comic. Nice job 360ep and staff!

Any questions about the comic?

2005-10-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would point out that Rob Worley (writer of the Advent comic), under the username "Robbo", is answering users' questions over at the Majesco Advent Rising forums if anyone is interested. Go to this thread if you have any questions to ask.

The first issue of Advent Rising: Rock the Planet is scheduled to appear in stores on next Wednesday (October 26th) in the US, and you can visit this comic shop locator service to find a comic store near you. For more info on the comic, see Rooney's post two posts below this one.

French release date...

2005-10-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

From an old friend of this blog algarys in a comment from a while back that I missed, some confirmation of a French release date.

Some more waiting it would seem... :(

February 3rd, 2006 for both Xbox and PC versions

This date is “official” and most of the French videogames sites mention it in their news, so I think this time it will be for good.
If you want proofs (well, at least, for those who understand French) :

http://www.clubic.com/actualite-22685-thq-precise-quelques-sorties-majesco.html
http://www.xbox-mag.net/webfiles/advent-rising__g534.html

Advent Comic News...

2005-10-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

OK... so this is hardly news (announced in August!), but came across something that hasn't been posted before here. So in the interests of keeping something ticking over...

Double Issue of Advent Comic for launch

Seems like the Advent Comic is launching as a double issue... here's hoping it's a little more successful than the game sales wise.

Interview with Rob Worley

An interview with writer of the Advent comic, Rob Worley... you can also check out his own personal blog for more stuff...

Rob Worley's Blog

Has anyone actually picked this up yet? Write in if you have any reviews.

Advent Rising on Xbox 360?

2005-09-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

It seems Microsoft has released a list of 80 games to 1UP.com for readers or any gamer to vote upon. The games at the top of the list will be considered for backwards compatability on the Xbox 360. So, vote for your favorites - namely Advent Rising which is at the top of Set B! So far Half-Life 2 and Panzer Dragoon Orta are in the lead for both sets respectively.

There is no need to sign up with 1UP.com and remember that you can vote for only 5 games in each Set (A and B). Also, this will end at 12 midnight tomorrow.

Click here to vote!

(thanks to awsmsteve at the Majesco forums)

European Release date set - November 25

2005-09-11T03:15:00.000-07:00

This appears to be a never ending saga... but this appears to be the most solid release date we have had so far.

November 25, 2005.

Gameplay.co.uk

Play.com

PC gamers speak out!

2005-09-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a collection of different reviews and impressions from the Majesco forums from different PC gamers. The Majesco forums are the only active place for any talk of Advent anymore. The reviews are all pretty positive, and I did not just go through and pick all the positive ones either -- there were no true negative reviews that I could find for the PC version from gamers. Some of the reviews are linked to because of the length, but those are some of the most noteworthy ones. A few of these are slightly edited.

x-42

I am new to the boards and would just like to add my two cents about the game. First Wow, just wow. It is an amazingly fun game. When I beat it I was just like wow. Now onto the specifics. Graphics I found were suitable. Nothing stupendous but for the most part quite solid. The black bars on the top and bottom is that just my computer or is it the game? Didn't see the point of them. The sound was amazing. The music was top notch and fit the mood perfectly. Sound effects were good. Voice overs were really good, I just wished they would have been louder. There were times when I couldn't hear what characters were saying especially in the middle of a battle. Gameplay was great. Very engaging completely satisfying. I found flick targeting to be pretty useless but that's just me.

I only have a few nitpicking issues with the game. The first is the intro sequence with the Majesco name and glyphx. You can't bypass it. Not a big deal but it is annoying. The second issue is much more important at least to me. The use of checkpoint saving is wrong. It is executed well and I didn't have to keep replaying long segments. I would like the more traditional saving. Multiple save slots and the ability to quick save and quick load. I really don't like it when games don't include this. I want to save every 5 seconds and I should be able to. I can't believe it is some kind of technical impossibility. It was probably something left over from the Xbox version. All that being said I would highly recomend this game to well just about anyone. It is just a deeply immersive experience one that I will play again and again.

Abraxas

A very deep review highlighting the pluses and minuses.

subordinater

The most unique review I have read around the net, and highly recommended.

Sithwitch13

A very entertaining read.

MutoidMan

I just bought Advent Rising for the PC, and after having played it for about 2 hours last night I'm really getting into it.

The "flick targeting" is a very cool feature. It took me a little bit of learning to get the hang of it but once I did I found it to be very useful. I also appreciate that manual targeting is the default, because sometimes I just want to mow down a small crowd of enemies and aiming at each one individually just wouldn't cut it.

I'm using a kb/mouse control setup, and I find that there's no need for me to use a gamepad. I think you guys have done a good job with the PC controls.

The graphics are very nice. Not bleeding edge, but still very nice. The cutscenes are well done and the sound is very good too.

I don't miss multiplayer because I like a really good single-player experience; something with an interesting story and good exposition to move it along in a timely fashon. In this sense, so far AR is delivering the goods.

I look forward to the last two parts of the Advent Trilogy on PC.

akitot

I've been keeping my eye on this game for sometime now, finally got it and I havent regretted it ONE LITTLE BIT. It is for me one of THE best games EVER. I loved every single moment of it, and only wish it was longer. The voice acting was great, the story...engaging and WOW. This is the first game Ive felt compelled to buy for PC (excluding the MMORPGs) in a LONG time. Im gonna try and get every single being I come across to try it out and buy if they feel so inclined because this game deserves good sales. I cant wait till the next part in what will probably be the best all around trilogy to come to the gaming world, for some time. Truly wonderous and praise to all who were involved in this glorious production. It was epic, truly epic. If you haven't bought it yet...BUY IT. You wont regret it.

And to all the bugs that are to occur I encountered only one, and all I had to do was reload the checkpoint and it was fixed (I went of the cliff in the car *i think its called the raptor* and when I respawned it was without the car...so the big flaming rocks made a big mess out of me).

Great game, the only thing that was lacking was graphics and who really cares...its all about the gameplay people.

I hold this game up there right next to halo, and I dont really see how its ripped halo off personally. The protaganists of both games are completely different. Games are about emulating encounters so saying halo used multiple vehicles, guns what have you and AR ripped it off is stupid because it was only a matter of time before a game did all that and Halo wasnt the first anyway as many people have stated. Yeah the only thing I saw close to halo was the style ie the flashy looks shared by the aliens etc, but it wasnt so close that they are exact clones. Use your imagination people we only have so many looks available with current consoles and theres only so many ways aliens can look, they have to be somewhat similar.

Ragnarok357

A deep review that is not afraid to pull punches and a personal favorite of mine.

Mireneye

I played and loved the whole game totally. First off, im a sucker for stylished graphics, so this suited me very well. Other then that, I love gameplay that lets me jump around and do various kinds of moves to kill my enemies in different ways with alot of different strategies, second time I played through I used the 'All Powers' cheat to be able to experiment throughout the whole game. And there's so much fun to do. Right when I bore about tossing enemies around etc usually there's a nice cutscene that puts you in the trail of the next part of the story which suddenly makes it all interesting again to go out and kill some more.

+ The story is solid and I love the characters wherein 2 of them feels very much like people I really know "yes, jokes as well" I had no gameplay problems at all, and the so called stupid AI did'nt bother me much, I mean, there's not many games where I see any good AI, last game I played with decent AI was Farcry alas, I may have played some other game but did'nt notice the AI... Usually I let it pass by...

+ Animations are cool, as long as you pay attention to the action and the whole scene instead of just looking at the player.

+ The story was developed by Donald Mustard and his crew, and OC refined dialouge throughout the game.

+ The music is awesome, really memorable, nothing more to say then a really big hit.

+ There are also a few really interesting secrets in the game... The Developers Room, The Mario Pipes and Some small alternative things you can do.. *SPOILER* Let the guard in the beginning after training who's shooting at you, live.

Now comes the stuff I think could have been done better.

- Lipsynch, yes I think the lip-Synchronisation isn't that great. However there are few games which have great lip synch.

- Maybe more screentime for Gideon and the 'survivors' to grieve. However we see them doing that 2 times... And I think that's enough I imagine them grieving alot during the time we don't play them and time goes by.

- The things that was cut off should have been left inside, like riding that really big Car they had and also have the ability to sneak as you can see in some older movies, neither of these 2 are bad ideas and should have been there in the game.

- Modtools, with the PC version there should have been an Editor and additional mod tools, that would definetly enable the game to live on for very much longer then the span of houers it takes to play it through on Normal/hard and Ultra.

Final secret of Advent Rising?

2005-09-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. Some of you may know me from the Majesco forums, posting in Rooney's blog, or perhaps through the walkthrough that I did for Advent Rising, but to the other 95% that don't know me, my name is Berserker, and I'll be helping Rooney to posts up the latest Advent news on his blog.

Just thought that some of you who do not visit the forums regularly would be interested in this secret easter egg hidden in Advent. I haven't added it to my walkthrough yet. This is most likely the final secret hidden away in the game. I find it hard to believe that it remained hidden for this long. The following contains very minor spoilers, but nothing too big.

This secret is located in Chapter 4 - The Awakening - Part E.

Through this level there is a series of three buttons which much be activated in this order...

Button 1 - In the room with the three shock troopers the first button, as you enter the room, is on the back of the right top portion of the area that holds rocket launchers in about the middle. Use the camera to see the area that I'm talking about. You need to charge jump up to it and there will be a little walkway area that you can stand on to press the button. Also, this pic may help. You need to destroy a black object in order to see it.

Button 2 - The room after you fight the two Seeker Elites, go to the locked door and do a charge jump to the area above the door. There is a button on the ground all the way at the end of this area. Destroy the black object first.

Button 3 - Right before you meet up with Enorym in the room with the dead Aurelian. Jump to the bottom and go to the furthest column in the back to find a button behind the column.

After all three have been pressed, backtrack to the previous room, and a new door is unlocked. Go inside to find...

The Advent Rising staff room complete with pictures of the AR staff! On the PC version a piece of music known as "Reya's Theme" will play in the background, but that is only on the PC version.

There is another easter egg in this room. You can press each of the consoles in the room one time each. You have to activate them in a certain order to get something special.

The right combination to activate them in is...

1. guy with the white guitar

2. guy with the black-rimmed glasses

3. guy with the wooded background

4. person with the long black hair

5. guy with mustache and beard

6. guy holding up the "Utah County Sheriff" sign

7. Donald Mustard (spiky hair and glasses, you should know him...)

This will activate a little something special in the center of the room that proves just how much ninjas rock!

Thanks to subordinater (Majesco forums) for the PC info, and the little edit that I just did and to rumporacer for another little detail I forgot to add. :D

Just in case I missed some details above, the original thread that I posted this in is here.

Advent seqel depends on Aeon?

2005-09-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Just highlighting something from the comments section...

Hey, Guys;

Believe it or not, I work for Majesco Co. I am not sure if I can tell you my actual job in Majesco but I’ll tell you this: The titles for other Advent Games were announced long ago- DON’T ASK ME WHAT THEY ARE- and as you might know the story and the script both were written at the same time. The only – and the only- factor that effects other Advent projects is Aeon Flux. If the selling of the game is well, get ready for more Advent stuff. I have not had the chance to go over all the posts - I visit a couple of them including their comments- but I've got to admit that you guys have made quite a community here :))

No way to confirm the source or the accuracy of these comments... but sounds plausible to me.

Update:

This was just confirmed on the official boards by PRosky (a Majesco Tester) to be in fact just speculation, so don't go out and preorder just yet, in hopes of a sequel. See the post in this thread on the official boards for details.

European release date?

2005-08-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

OK... this continues to be dragged out, but 'DeathAngel' has emailed in another report of the September 9 release date. Let's hope that the Xbox and PC versions arrive then.

Douglass Perry chimes in on Advent...

2005-08-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

Sure, it's just some online games editor... but Doug has been around for a LOOOOOONG time in this industry. Additionally, he edits the site that was the most positive about the game out of all the big players.

Advent Sequel
Can you pester Majesco and GlyphX about whether Advent Rising's sequel will ever see the light of day. Obviously you don't know anything yet, or else you would have told us, but I would really appreciate it if you could get an interview with someone from both of those companies and see what's up.

-Uwe Warg

Sure, I can pester them, but I can tell you right now that Majesco won't be publishing a sequel. Game journalists ripped GlyphX's first game like it a commie in 1950s American suburbia. Shredded it, some of it deservedly, but a lot of it not. So, partially because of reviews and partially because the game was not firing perfectly on all cylinders Majesco won't be publishing a sequel. As I understand it, GlyphX is most likely working on another title entirely.

--Douglass

It's not the news we want to hear... but I happen to know Doug personally and definitely think his opinion is worth noting.

We can still live in hope!

Original IGN Mailbag

Thanks to Chikn n a Biscuit over at the Majesco forums for the heads up.

The Future?

2005-08-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hey there Adventers...

So what does the future hold for the Blogspot? When I started it up I anticipated quite a successful launch of the game and a largish passionate community that would keep generating news worthy of getting excited about that would turn into coverage of Advent 2 etc.

As it now stands there are a few VERY passionate fans still around on the internet (check out the official forums for a good bunch of people). And I don't have faith that news of Advent 2 is going to be coming soon or be positive. I guess there is the Comic coming out... but there is not much on that out there.

If there is anyone out there that want's to start posting news/wallpapers whatever... let me know!

My big regret of course remains that I HAVE STILL NOT BEEN ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME! Oh well... one day it might arrive in Europe/Australia.

Thanks to everyone that has emailed, posted comments and of course to those of you that sent in content - was really great, and appreciated by many in addition to myself. Special mentions to Berserker and Algarys on this count.

Contest... cancelled

2005-08-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

Well... not really surprising... but I think Majesco has actually done OK by the fans...

August 15, 2005

To Our Advent Rising Contest Participants:

After careful assessment of the technical issues identified with the Advent Rising “Race to Save Humanity” contest, Majesco Entertainment and Xbox Live have determined there to be no technically feasible solution that would allow the contest to continue in a fair and secure manner. As such, we apologize for any inconvenience, but we must unfortunately cancel the contest.

However, as consolation, Majesco Entertainment has set up a program in which contest participants can receive two FREE Majesco Entertainment games for Xbox. Those interested are invited to follow the steps below for redemption:

1. Send an original Advent Rising Xbox UPC or photocopy of the UPC along with your name, date of birth, shipping address (we cannot ship to P.O. boxes) and Xbox Live Gamertag along with your choice of two (2) of the following games. You must be 17 or older to receive a Mature-rated game:
a. BloodRayne 2 (Xbox, rated Mature)
b. Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (Xbox, rated Teen)
c. Psychonauts (Xbox, rated Teen)
d. Raze’s Hell (Xbox, rated Mature)
e. Phantom Dust (Xbox, rated Teen)
2. Mail this information in an envelope to:
Advent Rising Contest Customer Service
P.O. Box 6570
Edison, NJ 08818-6570
3. Submissions must be received by September 15, 2005.
4. Additional information: Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery of games. Majesco reserves the right to substitute a game of equal value as quantities are limited. While supplies last. Limit one redemption per contest participant.

If there are further questions, please email Majesco Entertainment Customer Service at arcontestfeedback@majescoentertainment.com

Sincerely,
Majesco Entertainment & Xbox Live

It's not a million bucks, but at least you are guaranteed something here. In the end it probably won't cost Majesco much as I'm sure many people have just forgotten about the whole thing by now...

PC version is out

2005-08-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

OK - from multiple sources we can say for sure - the PC version is out!

By the looks of things we are not getting any reviews right away from the official sources... so please post your first impressions in the the comments section!

EDIT:
IGN review is out.
Seems to be a fair, if unspectacular take on the game. In a nutshell - an improvement on the Xbox version in terms of framerate, a less than perfect control scheme, and graphics that look dated. The last one is to be expected - a better than average Xbox game is definitely going to be a below average PC one without major retooling.

EDIT #2:
Gamespot review is out.
Another poor score from Gamespot - 6.3/10. As expected I guess.