Rage Runner
Rage Runner
Game
Game2006
Advent Rising
Developer GlyphX Games, Cavetap
Advent Rising is an action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by GlyphX Games and published by Majesco. The game was released on May 31, 2005, for Xbox and on August 9, 2005, for Microsoft Windows. Its story was created by The Mustard Brothers and featured a script written by science fiction writers Orson Scott Card and Cameron Dayton; the lead sound design was done by Joey Kuras working under Tommy… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
258 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
75
LovedLoved
139 positive · 47 negative
95% range 68–80%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 139 | 47 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 15 | 4 | 51 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
316 of 408 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
74% recommend · 143 yes, 50 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 193 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (457 of 592 positive).
Players praise the engaging story and soundtrack, but note the game is buggy and dated. [1][2][3] Many recommend using unofficial patches to fix technical issues and restore cut content. [1][4][5] Some reviewers express frustration over the unresolved cliffhanger and lack of a sequel. [4][6][3]
Liked
Representative posts
- [13]
Ah, Advent Rising... it's tragic when something this charming goes through a development hell and ends up so dilapidated. Not only that but it's yet another victim of risky marketing, leading to a hype-inducing premise. You'll see the potential as you play it, but being dragged down by severe micro-flaws, it leaves you with the question as to why they didn't take a little more time to even out the rough edges rather …
- [1]
So, here's the thing-- this game is a sweet sweet hit of nostalgia... if you can get it to run properly. Thankfully, I found some things to help it run smoother on modern platforms. If you follow these steps, you should be able to play it without any crash issues. Step 1: Install the game from Steam. Step 2: Navigate to Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/advent rising/System and locate the file titled …
- [4]
Be sure to grab the Advent Revising unofficial patch that enables widescreen support, fixes video playback issues and restores missing cutscenes that had been cut for the PC version. (Link here: http://www.miketyndall.com/setz/Advent%20Revising/) With that being said, we need a sequel for this! An enjoyable (if a little buggy) sci-fi third-person shooter that gives your character superpower psychic abilities to toy …
- [2]
I played this game a ton when I was a kid. It was clunky and lacked polish. Obviously it was rushed and was missing bits here and there. But something just clicked with me - the setting was interesting, storytelling and dialogues were great, soundtrack was PERFECT. I especially liked the skill progression system - you level up the skills by actually using them. And yes, this means you can jump in one place a …
- [14]
I don't think you can love this game if you didn't play it religiously in your formative years. It's one of the biggest pieces of junk ever made (at least on PC): shooting? not the best, camera work? not good at all, horrendous sound issues where some sounds are MUCH louder than the rest, cutscenes are recorded in extremely low framerate (and the restored ones are visibly made by running the camera with a mouse over …
Summarised from 34 of the 265 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Advent Rising sits at 75% positive across 186 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Following its Xbox release, the game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. The most common complaints were the large number of bugs which caused a range of problems including freezing. Another common complaint regarded the difficulty in using the targeting system. The game visual design choice was noted by several reviewers, pointing out that the characters all appear fairly elongated, although it has been said that this was a deliberate stylistic choice. Scott Jones of Maxim gave the game four stars out of five, saying, "The game's unique flick-targeting system—'flick' the right control stick towards an enemy and you're automatically locked…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 258 · most liked firstTurns out Tommy Tallarico did not composed any of the songs for Advent Rising. This is confirmed by one of the composers for the game. I have a screencap to share this. Props go to Igor for actually confirming this and if anyone is curious who did a lot of the music it went to this composer.
neutral · AI labelView post →Oh you mean Advent Rising the Orson Scott Card Written SciFi game that was going to change the industry
neutral · AI labelView post →So, here's the thing-- this game is a sweet sweet hit of nostalgia... if you can get it to run properly. Thankfully, I found some things to help it run smoother on modern platforms. If you follow these steps, you should be able to play it without any crash issues. Step 1: Install the game from Steam. Step 2: Navigate to Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/advent rising/System and locate the file titled Advent.exe. Right click on this file and select Properties, go to the Compatibility…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Everyone has their own nonsense beliefs. Some believe the world is flat. Evolution isn't real. Crypto isn't a scam. Me? I still believe this train wreck is good and deserves a sequel/reboot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All of the games are on GOG Sudeki: af.gog.com/en/game/sude... Advent Rising: af.gog.com/en/game/adve... Outcast: af.gog.com/en/game/outc... Giants: Citizen Kabuto: af.gog.com/en/game/gian...
neutral · AI labelView post →Advent Rising might be the jankiest most dogshit game I ever played, billing itself as a sprawling sci-fi epic and having a plot so thin and hackneyed that it made a puddle look like an ocean by comparison, rife with questionable game mechanics, bugs, and bizarrely lanky character models
negative · AI labelView post →Advent Rising is a game I wanted to play for years, since it originally released on the Xbox (with a strange prize money challenge attached). I remember it coming to PC and that this gave a small burst of life to it and even more interest for me, since I heard that they fixed some issues (but not enough since there are still patches coming out for the game). So I finally got it on steam and well, pretty much any review you've ever read for Advent Rising is a correct review. So if you're…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Shadow (1994) is delightful. It's fun, atmospheric, and does a great job of capturing the quaint charm of old timey pulp storytelling in a more modern action movie. It's just a treat, and I honestly can't believe it bombed, and as far as I know, never even got a cult following. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr only got one season and has mostly passed into obscurity. Which is a shame because it's fun and can be a great little time capsule from the days when people thought the future…
neutral · AI labelView post →@retroblast.bsky.social Question for you and your audience. What is a game that was widely hate but you loved? I'll go first. While the marketing for Advent Rising was awful, I had a blast with the bullet time mechanics and the story was genuinely interesting. Ended on a huge cliff hanger too.
positive · AI labelView post →So, i was playing this on windows 10 and hit a few snags and bugs while playing it, but it was pretty playable and i beat it...even that, there is something else which i will leave for those who actually beat the game as a suprise..anyways, here is my pro's and con's PROs: -Nice storyline that is sci-fi -upgradeable weapons and powers -aliens CONs: -Controller support on the game is wonky. I played with keyboard/mouse and that was fine by me. Some might see this as a con though, even though…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There was a contest in Advent Rising to find several symbols hidden throughout the game with the first person to do so receiving $1,000,000. Majesco later cancelled this contest claiming there was "no technically feasible solution that would allow the contest to continue in a fair and secure manner"
neutral · AI labelView post →Be sure to grab the Advent Revising unofficial patch that enables widescreen support, fixes video playback issues and restores missing cutscenes that had been cut for the PC version. (Link here: http://www.miketyndall.com/setz/Advent%20Revising/) With that being said, we need a sequel for this! An enjoyable (if a little buggy) sci-fi third-person shooter that gives your character superpower psychic abilities to toy around with and kill some baddie aliens, complete with an entertaining story…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing game. Needs a remaster, remake and continue the trilogy
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's Mass Effect before Mass Effect pretty much.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game that I played on xbox 360 long ago. Allows you to make some choices in the story line. Definitly shows its age now. I don't recommend this game though because I couldn't get it to run unfortunately. It keeps crashing, so I suspect that it has something to do with a poor port.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish modern Xbox studios would bring this back. This game felt incredible back on the original Xbox but does not adapt well to the PC experience. Definitely one of the games of all time tho.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Byte-sized review Run of the mill sci-fi third person shooter elevated by its storytelling Review in under a minute If Advent Rising didn't have a fairly engaging story I would have probably cashed my chips in way before our hero rookie space pilot even made it off the first planet but thankfully what is being told here is fairly enjoyable, if somewhat generic by today's standards. The caveats are that you will need to be able to get past the clunky graphics from the early to mid 2000's,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am so sad I slept on this game as long as I had. I get the impression that many people played the game for a few minutes, or so negativity concerning the awkwardly-navigated release of the game in its original incarnation, and never gave it a second thought. But I assure you, Advent Rising is a game that gets better the longer you play into it. You begin as Gideon Wyath, Captain BoringPants the ordinary guy, being forced into situations due to always, always, always being in the wrong places…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this game a ton when I was a kid. It was clunky and lacked polish. Obviously it was rushed and was missing bits here and there. But something just clicked with me - the setting was interesting, storytelling and dialogues were great, soundtrack was PERFECT. I especially liked the skill progression system - you level up the skills by actually using them. And yes, this means you can jump in one place a thousand times and level up your jumping. I ended up beating the game maybe 10 times,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Fall of a grate game......a sad memory for thous who wana play the 2nd game but we weare left in a ice land with a withe screen that says.....TO BE CONTINUE......never to continue ever again T_T
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would choose Advent Rising. Revisionist history will claim folks loved this game but it was panned for bugs and controls. Folks didn't show up for this game. Its on steam but I would give this game thats considered a fail another go.
neutral · AI labelView post →I originally played this game in 2006 on the original xbox, renting the game from a Blockbuster. I instantly fell in love with it's goofy jokes and humor. The story may feel a bit rushed and some cutscenes may be a bit scuffed, but even today in the year of 2024 the story and gameplay still hold up. Advent Rising still remains as one of my most favorite sci-fi games and I still wish it got a sequel to this day.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Idk why people name this game "Mass Effect's father". I played it till the end and it reminded me third-person Halo with some extraordinary abilities. Anyway, I give this post-Halo pre-Mass Effect sci-fi action a solid 7/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Twenty years ago, my father handed me a shiny copy of Advent Rising on CD, and my young gaming heart soared – until the bugs crushed my dreams in this poorly-coded physics engine. Fast forward to today, and thanks to a miraculous patch (better late than never!), I finally had the chance to experience this cosmic roller coaster the way it should have been played. And you know what? It was worth the wait. Advent Rising is like that ambitious, slightly awkward friend who trips over his own…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Advent Rising the Halo Killer, the Star Wars Killer, turns out it didn't kill either, poor management and not knowing who your fanbase are killed them and Advent Rising is just another copy of a copy. The story is nothing great and nothing we haven't seen a million times before. It does the minimum to function and has it's moments, but it's definitely overhyped in the reviews. Visually it mostly takes from Halo, but there's definitely some Star Wars prequel vibes in there as well. Now the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Advent Rising is not a bad game, but it's a game weighed down by its own ambition for wanting to be way more than the final product wound up being. It's definitely something worth experiencing at least once, though, if only to see the potential there was in it.
neutral · AI labelView post →Pleas give us a trilogoy
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I couldn't tell you if any of these would actually be good. But they seem to live in my head pretty rent free. Cypher Complex Silent Hills Star Wars 1313 Also the planned Advent Rising trilogy that never happened due to the first game bombing. It had a cliffhanger ending which still infuriates me
neutral · AI labelView post →+20 SOCIAL CREDIT ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠋⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⢁⠈⢻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠈⡀⠭⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠄⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣿⣷⣶⣶⡆⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣇⣼⣿⣿⠿⠶⠙⣿⡟⠡⣴⣿⣽⣿⣧⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣟⣭⣾⣿⣷⣶⣶⣴⣶⣿⣿⢄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⣩⣿⣿⣿⡏⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣹⡋⠘⠷⣦⣀⣠⡶⠁⠈⠁⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣍⠃⣴⣶⡔⠒⠄⣠⢀⠄⠄⠄⡨⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡘⠿⣷⣿⠿⠟⠃⠄⠄⣠⡇⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠋⢁⣷⣠⠄⠄⠄⠄⣀⣠⣾⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠉⠙⠻ ⡿⠟⠋⠁⠄⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⡯⢓⣴⣾⣿⣿⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⡟⣷⠄⠹⣿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ +1 WAIFU ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠛⠛⠉⠄⠁⠄⠄⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡟⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⠄⠄⠐⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⢀⡀⠠⠃⡐⡀⠠⣶⠄⠄⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣶⠄⠰⣤⣕⣿⣾⡇⠄⢛⠃⠄⢈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another classic from a bygone era. I hope they fired their marketing team. Seriously, their attempt at marketing was to try and lure people to buy the game with a sweepstakes scavenger hunt. They literally advertised like a million dollars to the person who could find it in game. It wasn't the best game during that era but it definitely was memorable. Then, they ported it to PC. Like most games from that time, there's issues with resolution and bugs. But, don't worry, most can be fixed by a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't think you can love this game if you didn't play it religiously in your formative years. It's one of the biggest pieces of junk ever made (at least on PC): shooting? not the best, camera work? not good at all, horrendous sound issues where some sounds are MUCH louder than the rest, cutscenes are recorded in extremely low framerate (and the restored ones are visibly made by running the camera with a mouse over the levels), mandatory crashes in some sections. Even the writing is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one is a bit confusing when it comes to a recommendation. On one hand it is interesting enough if you can get it on a dirt cheap sale but I wouldn't go out of my way to play it again and think it has quite a few shortcomings. The actual game is a blatant ripoff of Halo with some Mass Effect (yes I realized this came out after) / KOTOR mixed in. The way the story sections are presented is very similar to these games and the combat really feels like some alpha version of Halo 1 even down to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Time for a Retro Review! I have long held Advent Rising as my favorite game from the OG Xbox, but how does it fare 20 years later? Does it hold up, or has nostalgia gotten the better of me? Here’s my review: sightingames.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/r...
positive · AI labelView post →Great action adventure game set on a distant planet, a bit similar to Outcast. Plenty of shooting, different weapons, system where 2 different guns can be equipped at the same time. A bit of space dogfighting and interesting story. Outstanding soundtrack. Controls on PC version might be a bit quirky but generally lots of things can be keybinded. I strongly recommend to add mod to game that restore original cutscenes from Xbox version because PC version is missing plenty of crucial videos. Game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ah, Advent Rising... it's tragic when something this charming goes through a development hell and ends up so dilapidated. Not only that but it's yet another victim of risky marketing, leading to a hype-inducing premise. You'll see the potential as you play it, but being dragged down by severe micro-flaws, it leaves you with the question as to why they didn't take a little more time to even out the rough edges rather than building on a marketing campaign by holding a contest, releasing books &…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Look at this track list... You know, the first track on your video game all-star soundtrack, ADVENT RISING. Greatest video game music, and literally the ONLY JRPG representation is Final Fantasy, thrice.... odd choices too, "Liberi Fatali," I mean, it's good, but wouldn't be my first choice.
neutral · AI labelView post →Learning about that one Advent Rising game after the Wario64 post. Saying in an interview about your game that the comic is where the real story starts and will end, it will take a lot of media to get where the game starts, and you want people to be confused on where to start is actually insane???
neutral · AI labelView post →It's an old game that is not optimized for play on modern hardware. It works just fine on OGXBOX or XEMU, it feels clunky on PC.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Where do I even start with a game like Advent Rising? For those who don't know, this game was meant to be the "Halo Killer." It obviously got nowhere close to even touching Halo and Instead it had a horrible development cycle, with it being rushed to meet a deadline. It got mediocre to bad reviews and it completely flopped. This game should in theory, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ suck. But for some reason I kind of like it. Yes the combat sucks. Yes the writing is... Questionable?. Yes the graphics, even for the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Advent Rising is one of those games whose legacy is defined as much by what it attempted as by what it actually achieved. Developed by GlyphX Games with Cavetap and brought to Steam by Ziggurat, it arrived with the creative weight of a planned trilogy, a Hollywood-styled marketing push, and narrative involvement from Orson Scott Card—a combination that promised a sweeping science-fiction epic. The story follows Gideon Wyeth, a seemingly ordinary pilot who becomes entangled in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have you liked a video game that nobody else seems to? That's me and Advent Rising. First played it on the OG Xbox and never had a problem with it. Good story and fun gameplay. *shrugs*
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Related: have you ever played Advent Rising? It’s got this wonderful power arc where you start out with shitty Halo knockoff weapons that you slowly start to supplement with anime powers. Your powers grow over the game though, so by the end you have absolutely no need of the guns. It feels great.
positive · AI labelView post →Game keeps crashing but the story is amazing ;,( I wish this would get a remaster for modern computers.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A decent enough shooter. Ultimately fairly simple and you've largely seen everything the game offers in the first 15 minutes or so. Later on you get some "powers" you can use, but personally I didn't find any use for them apart from the boss fights where they are mandatory and in the normal combat it is much simpler and faster to just shoot everyone. Speaking of boss fights it is one area where 'Advent Rising' doesn't really shine and they are rather gimmicky and fairly boring simple encounters…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game. I hope a sequel comes out. Bring on steam deck verified!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WAY better than almost all the new games out at this time, seriously. 9.8/10 The ONLY reason it's not a 10 is because, yes, the graphics and voice acting are a little dated; but if you can get past that, this game is definitely a 10/10 hidden lil' Gem.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing game, underappreciated gem, the only issue is that they never finished this series
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished Advent Rising Just a completely inexplicable game on every level. From the awful flick aiming mechanic, the monotonous combat, the useless powers, all the way to the weirdly elongated character models that make all the humans look like praying mantises in disguise. This fucking sucks
negative · AI labelView post →Been playing Advent Rising and this whole game is so inexplicable
neutral · AI labelView post →Advent Rising is the retro game I wish they’d recreate.
positive · AI labelView post →THEY THROW ROCKS !!! THEY THROW ROCKS !!! THEY THROW ROCKS !!! Only a few games from the xbox classic era that was trying to be a halo kotor hybrid this predate mass effect i seen some people compare it to mass effect but that not fare and... yes the game is dated but back in the 2000's we loved it games like this. If you grew up on the classic xbox you had this game i got the classic and this copy sitting on my tv stand and i love it. yes windows 11 makes it crash a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So what we have here is a proto-Mass Effect, or Halo, with some well-known VAs (Batman Beyond's Will Friedle, Soul Reaver's Michael Bell, etc), some luscious design and more cut-scenes than you can count. They're awesome, too, depcting an alien invasion of first a starbase and then a planetside city with admirable applomb. It's hi-octane Military SF for the ages. BUT. The game is seriously old, has aged very badly, and despite vaulting ambitions might have bitten off more than it can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've known him since G4 Doing Electric Playground and him having the fucking gall to review a game he worked on and gave it a perfect score. That was ADVENT RISING.
neutral · AI labelView post →Fun fact, Card does actually have writing credits on a game called Advent Rising which prominently features epic space genocide. Spoiler alert, the game isn't very good
neutral · AI labelView post →Advent Rising was a so-so Xbox/PC game released about 20 years ago. I don't really recommend it as an essential game to play. But I do recommend its soundtrack! Here's "Advent Rising" by Tommy Tallarico (from the album Video Games Live, Volume 1) #videogames #vgm #videogamemusic #gaming
neutral · AI labelView post →4. Guilty Pleasure Game Nightmare Creatures! Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness Nostalgia and general atmosphere win out here. Advent Rising which I know people hate. I found it fun in how jank it was especially with cheats ON haha. The music is also great!
positive · AI labelView post →Highly underrated and so deserving of that sequel its developers so wish it could have had. If you've heard anything bad about this game, it's likely because of the console version odd control scheme and weird mechanics. The PC version is way better and perfectly enjoyable. While it won't blow your socks off, it's still a fun time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed this game. It reminded me of Star Wars, Halo, and The Matrix all mixed together.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If I'd played this back in 2005, I'd have been blown away. In 2023, it's a short, fun, retro diversion with a great plot, good cinematics, but so-so gameplay and a fair few bugs. On the whole, though, I enjoyed it. I'd hope a sequel was made to tie up the plot. Because it was developed with consoles in mind, the controls are, as you'd expect, pap. It was the early years of PC/console dual releases and the devs just thought "make it for a console with two sticks and six buttons, then just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please make the sequel a real thing this game has a lot of potential! Amazing story, cool guns abilities, characters. Yes the graphics are from 2005 but it has its charm.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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