| Area 51 Posted: "Area 51," the FPS redux of the arcade blast fest of the same name, is fun and addictive - two qualities that are certainly necessary in any good FPS. However, it is also, in a word, anticlimactic.
In "Area 51," you take on the guise of Ethan Cole (straight from the Generic Hero Name Generator), a soldier voiced by the "X-Files"' David Duchovny, as he and his team are sent into the legendary military facility known as Area 51 to investigate some strange occurrences there. Suffice it to say that Ethan and company get more than they bargained for, and have to shoot hordes of aliens and genetically enhanced baddies to ultimately win the day.
"Area 51" owes the usual debt to "Half-Life." The setup is similar, it goes without saying, but the infamous underground base and namesake of the game do provide some unique thrills - even if they're not fully capitalized upon. The level designs too often involve lots and lots of flip switching and button pressing, but otherwise do their job admirably. Still, although the top-secret setting provides ample opportunity to theorize in a fantastical way about what kinds of things that are truly taking place there, the game makes it feel quite familiar, like pretty much any other generic sci-fi corridor crawl, complete with bloodthirsty mutants and evil extraterrestrials. There are too few moments of sheer inspiration here - which makes one sequence, a sardonic discovery that the first American moon landing was faked, all the more memorable when it occurs.
Enemies suffer from this same sense of "been there, done that, shot that a million times before in a million other shooters." That said, there's more than a little something to be said regarding the gameplay, which is fast, furious, and ultimately compelling. Weapons, while mostly boilerplate (not surprisingly), pack a real wallop that is too often missing in the genre of late, and taken in effect with some very good rag doll physics make for action that is truly tasty. Given that this is an action game through and through, that's certainly high praise, and makes the game recommendable on that point alone.
Halfway through the game, the player character develops mutant super powers that further inject some sense of variety, allowing him to slow time, hurl vampyric parasites that can restore his health, and ultimately turn his enemies against each other. Whether or not this mutant element of the game is essential from a design perspective, it nonetheless adds flavor, and at times these abilities (particularly the parasites) are extremely helpful in dire combat situations.
Production values are another high point in "Area 51." As previously stated, the graphics are easy on the eye, and don't come with a high price attached. Despite the onscreen action there's never any discernable slowdown, and load times between missions are exceptionally brief. Also worthy of mention is the professional voice work, done by the aforementioned Duchovny (whose recognizable brogue makes it easy to settle into the conspiratorial setting despite the character's blandness), Powers Boothe (underused here as Major Bridges), and Marilyn Manson (whose alien, "Edgar," is the stand-out). Unfortunately the sound effects wrapped around these things can be a bit tinny at times, and, on a few occasions, quite annoying. Weapons discharges have a good sound to them, though, which helps make up for this.
It's unfortunate that the storyline running behind the scenes here is so unremarkable -- except perhaps for its remarkable ability to confound and confuse. It's a convoluted mess chock full of loose ends never properly tied. Perhaps the biggest flaw in "Area 51," however, is the anticlimactic finale, which comes and goes without much ado - so much so, in fact, that I had no idea I had reached the conclusion until I got dumped back onto the menu screen. Given that the single player campaign is fairly brief, this is a real disappointment.
All in all, though, "Area 51" provides an enjoyable FPS experience while it lasts, which unfortunately isn't long enough. Even so, the quality of the action at hand nullifies many of the game's faults. Well worth checking out, when it's all been said and done. |
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