Visuals are very sharp and recreate a space station-like atmosphere fairly accurately. You must rely on the camera set up in the rooms, so full access to certain areas will obviously be obstructed. Character models and animations are very smooth if not a little stiff in execution. Aliens and other strange monsters are designed quite well, but nothing you haven't seen before in any B rate sci-fi flick in the past. The worlds simulate a futuristic atmosphere quite nicely, and the characters' pale skin goes to prove that the sun's deadly UV rays are indeed not safe, so tanning beds were not taken into space. If not more reminiscent to other gaming ideas before it, the visuals stand up well enough.

Audio in this game is the key, it's not only for the ears, but your commands are set in this manner as well. First, let's talk about the voice acting and sound quality coming from the game within. The orchestrated soundtrack sets the eerie mood quite nicely, and revs up for some heart pounding music when fighting enemies. Voice acting is done appropriately for some characters, overacted for others, and some makes you wonder how they got the job. Overall, the package is a little muddled, but does the job adequately enough to get by and become entranced in the game's story and mood.

As for the game play part of the audio; you must do a quick exercise in mouth muscle relaxation. Ready? A-E-I-O-U…repeat. Okay, now that you can enunciate, make sure you keep this in mind when directing Rio. If you speak too fast, too slow, unclear, or not at all, mistakes will happen, which can end up with frustrating results. When done properly, and you are in control of the appropriate way to speak to the game, the control scheme works quite effectively. You also need to watch the screen as talk icons let you know when and how much you can talk. There are surprisingly thousands of words Rio will respond to, and given the right commands to the correct location is the key. The only thing that really hampers this concept is when you don't know what to call a particular item. For instance, say there is a coffee cup, a pen, and a notebook on the table in front of Rio. You can highlight the cup and the pen, but the notebook won't and can't be highlighted. So you try some experimental phrases like, "Look at the Book." Rio responds, "Do what to what?" Next you try, "Pick up the book." Rio responds, "Do what to what?" Oddly enough if you say, "Look at the table." Rio will say, "You mean this?" and the notebook will highlighted. Finally you can say, "Pick up the notebook." Now you'll get the response, "Okay, picking up the notebook." Rio will then proceed to read the contents. Frustrating? You bet, but that is only one of the game's few shortcomings. If you speak correctly, the game will do what you ask. This also holds true in battles, so when you command Rio to shoot at enemy number 1 and in the mouth, you must say, "Enemy one, mouth, shoot, shoot, shoot!" Any blurry enunciations will have her shooting the wrong body part, the wrong enemy, running in circles, or worse of all, healing prematurely. All in all, the game's voice commands have a few snags, but generally work quite well.

The story and game can be completed in less than 10 hours, which is quite typical for a game of this nature. If you are like myself, this is plenty, as I don't have all the time in the world to spend on just one game. On the other hand if you have nothing better to do with your time, 10 hours will blow by you in an afternoon/evening.

If you like movies like Panic Room, or ever wanted to remotely control someone from monitors in a room, then this game has you written all over it. If you're an adventure fan who likes a little innovation and decent story, then you must pick this up as well. If you generally speak in strange tongues, mumble, or talk in slang, you may want to consider a rental at best. Just remember, while the title supports most USB headsets, it does not provide one. If you own the original SOCOM, or if you play Madden online or even Karaoke Revolution, you should already have this necessary tool. You cannot play the game without it, which in the end, is the games appealing point and charm.