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Did you<br />
know...?<br />
The mad scientist<br />
running Area 51<br />
in the movie<br />
Independence Day is<br />
Data from Star Trek:<br />
The Next Generation.<br />
In all its two-fisted<br />
glory, you have the<br />
ability to wield two<br />
guns at once.<br />
AREA 51<br />
Some things are best kept secret<br />
WHILE THE INVOLVEMENT OF ONETIME<br />
Doom designer Tom Hall and Hollywood<br />
special-effects virtuoso Stan Winston infuses<br />
the arcadey Area 51 with panache and<br />
production values previously lacking in the<br />
series, it doesn’t save the shooter from<br />
being an ultimately derivative pastiche of<br />
elements found in superior games such as<br />
Half-Life 2 and Doom 3.<br />
IMITATION, MEET FLATTERY<br />
A way-too-predictable walkthrough introduces<br />
Area 51’s control scheme, heads-up display,<br />
and other conventions (“This way, sir! You’ll<br />
want to pick up some ammo!”). A way-toopredictable<br />
series of events starts its story:<br />
mutants and monsters and E.T.s invade; you<br />
and a squad of surviving troops try to evict<br />
’em. What follows is a superlinear slog<br />
through a series of faintly familiar hallways in<br />
which an interminable number of bogeymen<br />
pop out at metronomic intervals. In fact, if you<br />
aren’t asking yourself, “Haven’t I played this<br />
game before?” it’s only because you’re staring<br />
in amazement as your rigid A.I. peers insist on<br />
sticking to their script, regardless of what’s<br />
going on around them.<br />
In the similarly linear Call of Duty, you actually<br />
worry about the welfare of your allies. Not<br />
so in Area 51. As you wander around the facility,<br />
trying to find the card key that opens the<br />
next area, your compadres maintain their<br />
positions in precisely the manner they were<br />
programmed to—little direction and less<br />
interaction is offered here. In addition, grunts<br />
unflinchingly take whatever damage you care<br />
to dish out. (OK, so some politely protest<br />
when you pistol-whip ’em—“Pardon me, but<br />
that’s my head you’re hitting.”) Perhaps it’s all<br />
in the interest of keeping things user friendly,<br />
but it kind of kills the tension, keeping Area 51<br />
true to its light-gun-game-in-the back-of-thetavern<br />
roots.<br />
Truly innovative ideas are few and far<br />
between. When good guy Ethan Cole’s<br />
(spoiler alert!) alien infection spreads, the hero<br />
gains access to a few additional abilities that,<br />
to be honest, aren’t different enough to make<br />
the game the gripping experience developer<br />
Midway Austin undoubtedly intended it to be.<br />
Visually, this Area 51 is slightly sharper than<br />
the Xbox version, but even with graphics settings<br />
cranked, the game still can’t hold a candle<br />
to today’s standard-setting competitors. Stellar<br />
sound effects compensate somewhat, matching<br />
the ferocity of the macho weapon selection.<br />
Still, the voice acting of David Duchovny and<br />
Marilyn Manson does little to enhance the vibe,<br />
with the always-wooden former X-Files star<br />
practically sleepwalking through his role.<br />
REVIEWS<br />
PUBLISHER: Midway DEVELOPER: Midway Studios Austin GENRE: Shooter ESRB RATING: M REQUIRED: Pentium III 1.4GHz, 256MB RAM, DirectX 9.0b–compatible soundcard<br />
(DirectX 9.0b supplied on CD) RECOMMENDED: 512MB RAM MULTIPLAYER: Internet (2-16 players)<br />
> If<br />
�<br />
Find the old Area 51 light-gun arcade game.<br />
The only thing missing: fat, sweaty nerds.<br />
“Oh...wait...you’re not Gordon Freeman. My<br />
mistake. Sorry to bother you.”<br />
you aren’t asking, “Haven’t I played<br />
this before?” it’s only because you’re<br />
staring in amazement at the rigid A.I.<br />
�<br />
SAVING GRACE<br />
While the single-player game is the same old<br />
same old, multiplayer is a genuinely good time.<br />
Deathmatch maps don’t offer the most compelling<br />
layouts but do a good job scaling level<br />
size in proportion to the number of participants,<br />
unlocking doors and expanding areas as<br />
more players log on. Multiple modes (DM,<br />
TDM, CTF, and infected, in which one contaminated<br />
mutant tries to spread his cooties), the<br />
game’s Earth vs. E.T.s selection of guns and<br />
grenades, and perfectly placed power-ups offer<br />
variety and make fragging fun. Perhaps the<br />
biggest problem is finding enough people<br />
online to put together a populated match.<br />
Lacking ideas, Area 51 plays up its license<br />
(and lessons learned from finer shooters) for a<br />
solid but unsurprising foray into the FPS field.<br />
Pity that it isn’t more. / James Mielke<br />
Forget the “me-too” single-player<br />
experience, just go online—if at all.<br />
VERDICT<br />
CGW.1UP.COM < 71
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