Antaeus Rising set out to overcome the barriers and finally give us an RTS with a good first person interface for control of all units. In the end result, I am still really uncertain to say if it was a success or a failure. I'd say success in the fact that they finally overcame the challenges blocking the path of its predecessors and made a hybrid game that was exceptionally designed and fun to play. I'd say failure in that it can't really even be considered a strategy game anymore, regardless of its strategic aspects, and leans more heavily toward the action genre. Provided you know what you're expecting with the game, though, and that it includes a light balance of strategy tossed in with the squad and FPS aspects of the game it holds true to it's expectations, and, for me at least, exceeded them. I'd say that Antaeus Rising really takes a giant leap for hybrid games, and proves that there are still new genres to create (and probably a whole pile of Antaeus clones will pop up within the next six months.) If you were hoping for that one long lasting game to buy for the year, though, I'd have to recommend against it. It's a rather lengthy single player campaign (21 missions, though some of them can take days), but if you're going for that core strategy game, Emperor: Battle for Dune is probably the top choice for the summer (review coming in a few days), and if you're looking for the best action game in the world, there are a lot better multi-player capable games out there for sheer vehicular carnage. Still, though, Antaeus Rising is pretty much the only game of it's type, so if you just want a game with a good story, or just want the unique combination of genres, Antaus is what you're looking for. (Note that, as with many of my section titles in reviews, you'd have to play the game to appreciate the title here <g>.)

Graphics - Sound - Gameplay - Depth - Multiplayer

Reviewed by John Del Percio

GRAPHICS 93 % Overall the graphics were great. I've heard others complain about them, but I thought they were just fine. Granted, they weren't Giants' or Quake III's level of graphics, but then again, it doesn't need a liquid-cooled chassis to run, either. The jagged cliffs and mountains looked remarkable while flying over them, the water had some cool effects, and damage and explosions were great. Models and textures were good, and in-game cinematic were exceptional. There really isn't much to complain about. SOUND 91 % A few points of here because I noticed a few times that the sound would break away or begin to "chirp." An encounter I've only seen once before, in Unreal 1, for some odd reason. It seems to only happen on SB Live!'s, but considering that's what at least half of the gamers out there are using, that's not saying too much. Some of the sound effects would also get annoying or repetitive, and I noticed no visible support for EAX, though that doesn't mean it wasn't supported. Still, though, they weren't "bad" and there isn't too much to complain about here, either. GAMEPLAY 93 % I wouldn't exactly call the game "deep." It had a fairly good sci-fi story, a fairly easy learning curve, and overall fun gameplay. That still doesn't qualify it to be "deep." DEPTH 95 % What can I say, it's fun! I had a blast trying to weave around apache's while taking out some oil derricks to stop enemy production. No matter how much technicality the game may be able toe be slightly faulted in, the bottom line is simply the fun factor, and that is one thing that Antaeus has plenty of. MULTIPLAYER 0 % Unfortunately Antaeus Rising featured no multi-player support, though I think it would have been interesting to see what it would be like head-to-head.

One thing that should be noted in the scoring of this review, if you're used to the normal GameVisions rating system, is that we've changed how we do the scoring a bit. For some time we've been boxed into a corner by most games coming up to a high rating, and having nothing to differentiate between really good, pretty good, and decent reviews. Now, each number range is dedicated to the "quality" of score, and the 10 units in it are for the degree of review, such that the 90's are for good games, the 80's are for ok, games, and anything below that really says something about the game. A 91 is a low good, while a 99 is an exceptional good. At least, this is sort of how the system works out. It is still a percentile system and will be treated as such, but this is a general guideline that will be followed now. If you need to compare this review to a previous GameVisions review, add 5 to any score below 95 for a rough estimate (thanks to those that posted on the forums regarding this matter.) Furthermore, the overall score in this (Antaeus Rising) is not an average of the separated scores. In some cases a game can be worth more than the sum of its parts, and Antaeus is on of those games. Antaeus Rising has been nominated for the category of Best Hybrid Game in the 2001 Top Pupil Awards. Overall Rating

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