Area 51
The day the Earth tried to stand still but was kind of fidgety
Tags: Area 51 Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Jun 23rd, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Area 51 (title page) | 1+ | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| First Person Shooter | No | ||
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There once was an arcade light gun shooter from Midway titled Area 51. This was light on plot and heavy on the action as most of those arcade games are. When it came time to convert the game to a home console, Midway decided that a total revamp was in order and changed it to not only a first person shooter, but threw in a whole new plot and created something that is a spiritual successor in name and concept only. This isn’t’ a bad thing, but those expecting a rehash of the arcade should definitely be aware.
Let’s get the bad stuff taken care of first, because while there are flaws, they aren’t enough to drag the game down to the point of having it be unworthy of purchase. The first complaint is the menu system. It isn’t very intuitive. It may be a small thing, but at this point it seems to be one of those pointless tasks that is taken for granted and it is clumsy – the interface is about as streamlined as a pregnant cow.
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The second issue that I have with the game is the voice acting. Bordering on the ridiculous, David Duchovnywas stunt casting at best. Oh, look, the guy who played an FBI agent investigating aliens and government conspiracies is… well, doing the same thing. How droll. His delivery is so whacked out that at times the main character could be a hippie. Marilyn Manson at least injects some humanity into his role of the alien attempting to help.
My third and perhaps biggest gripe has to do with the gameplay – it is WAY too linear. Go here, press this button, go here, get this access code, go here, open this door, etc. Now, I understand that there needs to be a progression with the game’s story, but the environments are nothing but one major corridor that restricts the player. This doesn’t make the game less enjoyable, but does hold it back from being better than it is.
Oh yeah, and checkpoints suck. I like being able to save my game when I want to.
Enough griping.
The story is fairly standard – the player as Ethan Cole, a member of a HAZMAT team is sent in to asses a “situation” and naturally things go from bad to worse. After several swarms of mutants Ethan is infected and things really start to suck, because after that point everybody is out to get Ethan.
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Of course, being infected does have some benefits. Being able to change at any time into a mutant drastically increases the amount of damage the player can take as well as inflict, but unable to use weapons. There are a couple of mutant specific ranged attacks to compensate for this however. This mode lasts for only a short time, unless various other mutants are used to feed Cole’s mutant reserve. Overall, the mutant powers are pretty cool, but most of the time they aren’t used for much. It would have been better to take the mutant meter away and have it be an indefinite ability rather than one that needs to be recharged.
The visuals are decent, but don’t stretch the Xbox to any point that we haven’t seen before, if not better. Thankfully it doesn’t look like a first generation PS2 game, unlike some other recent titles.
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Enemies will duck and weave avoiding your line of fire – at least in a direct firefight. The AI is a mixed bag, and that goes into the heavily scripted and linear path the player is forced to take. It would have served the game better to open up some areas and let the player come across roving patrols and attempt to go around them for example.
The scanner is one of the devices that is available to the player that serves to not only bring more of the story to life, but also unlock various bits of interest. Sadly, the original arcade game was not one of them. Finding the items to scan is easy enough and the scanner is pulled up the same way weapons are changed.
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The multiplayer is fairly rote, with nothing really on offer that isn’t handled better elsewhere. It’s not bad, just not as good as it should be. The levels are too cramped and well, it is just… standard online play.
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The game will take FPS veterans 15 hours or less to go through. Shorter games are good, as they allow players to actually finish a game and feel a sense of accomplishment, especially for those that are just getting into the genre. While it does feel cramped, Area 51 is fun to play. The story is a bit convoluted with nearly every sci-fi conspiracy thrown in, and half of it could have been tossed out in favor of a sequel. No matter – Area 51 is worth picking up and playing.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Plenty to check out via scanning and becoming a mutant + Frantic gameplay + Decent (if overfull) story |
8.3 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Original not inlcuded - David Duchovney sleeping through his role - Little more than a corridor crawl - Checkpoints |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Flawed but fun. Short enough for newcomers to the genre to finish and get a sense of accomplishment, though there is still plenty in there for FPS veterans. | |
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Tags: Area 51
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Jun 23rd, 2005 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
