ic-games Review - Area 51 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Area 51

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Midway Studios Austin
Publisher: Midway
Reviewed: Playstation 2
Genre: First Person Horror
UK Release: 27th May 2005
Article Date: 07th Jun 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £34.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 87%

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Pros

Really pushes the PS2

Good Storyline

Stunning FMV

Great Audio

Cons

David Duchovny

Some AI glitches

Evidence collection breaks up play

Screenshots

7 of 9

With THQ ready to serve up the tantalising prospect of allowing us to ‘Destroy all Humans’, Midway in their wisdom have given us all one more chance to kick some serious alien ass FPS style. With a star studded cast from David Duchovny to Marilyn Manson, developer’s Midway Studios Austin (formally Inevitable Entertainment) have spared little expense in taking the basic light gun shooter of yesteryear and trying to replace it with something more up to date.

You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to work out any premise of Area 51, the now infamous (albeit supposedly) home to all things alien in the US. You play as Ethan Cole, (voiced by David Duchovny) a member of the specialised HAZMAT team sent into Area 51 to investigate reports of a viral outbreak in the heart of the site. As you arrive at the epicentre of the outbreak things suddenly take a turn for the worse and you’re thrust into a world of conspiracy, greed and government cover-ups. What’s going on? What the hell are these mutated soldiers and scientists doing? And more importantly why the hell are they infecting everyone? It’s up to you, and you alone to get to the bottom of the mystery and single handily put a stop to the alien menace one more time. The only thing you can be sure on is that them blasted 'greys' will be involved somewhere along the line.

Things are always kept pretty basic gameplay wise so don’t expect any challenging puzzles from this one. Anyone familiar with the likes of Doom III and Half Life shouldn’t find events too confusing. Missions usually just revolve around the simple ‘fetch a key card’ premise and never really take off from there, However, that’s not to Area 51 detriment, if you are looking for a frenzied FPS then Area 51 will satisfy as it’s literally jam packed with hoards of Aliens just ready to rip you to shreds. Enter one room and you could find yourself ambushed, clear the room and things will be quite for a while until you stumble somewhere else you really shouldn’t be and the fire fight starts all over again, there’s certainly plenty of opportunities to hone your shooting skills. The stop start style that made games like Doom an instant hit is prevalent here, and at times it actually feels more ‘satisfying’ than the graphical masterpiece Doom III itself due to the more involving storyline.

And it’s during these tense gunfights that you’ll occasionally stumble across evidence that can be scanned by your sophisticated onboard information system that was used so well in the Metroid Prime series. Well, we say ‘sophisticated’ but once you actually try and extract any information from the scanner you suddenly realise how primitive it actually is. For some reason you can only view these collected nuggets of information by completing the chapter (to save your place), then quitting out of the game, and finally selecting the extras in the main menu. Since the information you gather is actually integral to the storyline it’s unbelievable that the developers opted for this hopscotch approach. And it’s a shame because it’s during the evidence gathering sequences that you’ll be treated to some of that stunning FMV that moves the plot forward quite nicely. Gathering this information is not actually necessarily to complete the game, but skipping these moments will leave your time in Area 51 a far emptier experience, Half Life without the life if you will.

Similar to Shade: Wrath of Angels and even a dozen games before that, Area 51 features a dual personally role. Early on in the game Ethan manages to get himself infected by the very virus that he’s been sent in to eliminate – and that can only be bad news for our lead character. Although for a short period Ethan has the ability to control the transformation, giving him the ability to evolve and return back to human form at will. What this basically gives you is a few new attacks, a much stronger melee punch and a special viral spit that can take down enemies from a distance. The graphic engine also alters the visual experience significantly to represent a predator style vision, with heat signatures for nearby enemies whilst everything else is portrayed in a blurred hue To make up for the lack of weapons, when Cole is in his mutant form he’ll be able to withhold a significant larger amount of damage before falling to his knees. The only problem with the mutant/human option is that you’re never really required to be in any specific form and playing in the human ego is slightly more advantageous so you naturally end up sticking in that role.

SCREENSHOTS

Graphically Area 51 looks every bit as mysterious as you would imagine and it’s welcome to see the Playstation 2 being pushed to its limits to build up the atmosphere. Alien bodies fly across the screen Van Damn style as you unload everything you’ve got into anyone that gets into your way. Bullets hitting cabinets will open up drawers, windows will shatter and even hanging sheets tear up in the intensive firefights. Up close the background textures proudly show their hi-definition quality as do any of the gruesome alien hybrids if they manage to get close enough to you. It goes without saying that Area 51 is a visual delight, and it certainly doesn’t sound that shabby either, well as long as David Duchovny keeps quiet that is.

Yes, the voice acting does feature the talents of David Duchovny of the X-Files fame, but he only ever manages to circumvent any fear present in the game. It doesn’t matter what happens to our lead character, from witnessing his friends getting torn apart in front of his very eyes to even being infected with a deadly virus, nothing affects Duchovny’s voice and it shows. Me? I’d be shit scared but not our David, he plods on with his trademark monotonous voice without a care in the world and it just doesn’t work in a game so reliant on atmosphere and fear. Up next is Marilyn Manson playing an erratic blob, something he is actually well versed in mimicking and so unsurprisingly puts in a faultless performance. The sound effects though steal the thunder. Weapon sounds are satisfyingly loud and when blended in amongst the groans of infected ‘people’ things begin to sound pretty intense.

After the single player story has been completed and the mystery of Area 51 revealed, you still have some rudimental multiplayer to extend the shelf life somewhat. Up to 16 players can participate in standard deathmatches and capture the flag type affairs with only the infection (tag) mode breaking any real moulds. There’s certainly nothing groundbreaking about the multiplayer and it looks like its inclusion was nothing more than an afterthought to shift a few more copies to satisfy the online brigade.

"one of the most intense first person shooters to be released this year."

All in all Area 51 has around 15 hours of gameplay life squeezed into the DVD if you rush, but if you intend on learning the secrets that the collection of hangers hold you’ll probably need to double that amount. The storyline does take a while to heat up but once the plot grabs you only a few wouldn’t want to see out the story to its climax. With a little more polish Area 51 could have achieved so much more, but still, as it stands, it’s still an enjoyable experience for anyone with the slightest interest in the theme, and naturally of course, an itchy trigger finger.

DETAILED GAME INFORMATION

Area 51 Version Reviewed: PS2 Promo
Platform: PS2
Price: £34.99
Age: 15+
Area 51 Game Trailer - DOWNLOAD
Area 51 Alternative Trailer - DOWNLOAD
Area 51 Screenshots (.zip) - DOWNLOAD

UK Release date - OUT NOW
USA Release date - OUT NOW

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