Now this is a game with one of the most interesting storylines, from the mind of Orson Scott Card. It ends with a cliffhanger, and the gameplay isn’t the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced, but that doesn’t make it bad. It just knocks it down a few points.
The first part of the game sets the scene, and has a way of making everything you do seem futile, your efforts to survive useless. Our hero, Gidean Wyat, is a pilot who will never be the same. He met two alien races on the same day as they came to his homeworld. The first treated humans as gods, showing an extraordinary amount of respect. They had hoped to give humanity a good two-days warning of the other race, called the Seekers. Too bad they miscalculated, and two minutes later a large armada arrives. More ships in the air than humans on the ground, all space-stations and military outposts are destroyed within the first hour of combat. Humanity continues to fight like demons, and eventually think they’ve driven back the enemy swarms. Then something unexpected happens. The aliens start throwing rocks..rocks the size of mini-vans, from orbit. Only one ship survives the destruction of the planet, with the last humans in existence..
Considering the fact that I only described the beginning of the game, it’s stupid to call it dull. However, I must say it wasn’t as engaging as it could have been. You can beat these large, brutal aliens with your bare hands, and health is so easily regained that you rarely feel danger. Then there’s the almost Force-like powers that you earn throughout the game, making you capable of destroying starships with waves of your hands and block powerful blasts with a simple thought.
It’s an interesting game, with an excellent storyline..but the gameplay is somewhat lacking. If you’re looking for another Halo, where you feel like there’s nothing other than you and the virtual opponents ahead, this may disappoint you.