"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.

Talk about a brilliant implementation of time technology, plus stellar graphics and motion animation. This is a showcase for the great achievements gaming has made.
Other time-involve games either jumped years forward or back in time, or used cheezy VCR symbols to handle your time changes. In Sands of Time, it's extremely easy to use and VERY handy. You fall off a ledge? Just slide back in time a bit and try again!
The graphics are just amazing. The character moves fluidly, and the combat sequences look like a well animated movie. The character can run along walls, do back flips, climb poles, leap chasms, and much more. When he runs along a wall and passes a banner, the banner ripples in the wind. The attention to detail - from shadows to textures to torches flickering and water rippling - is just amazing.
Part of the game is slaying your enemies in new and interesting ways. But part is negotiating the terrain and figuring out how to get to the next area. Some of the puzzles are straightforward - run along the wall, jump up the ledges. But others are far more devious and require a lot of thought to get through.
There are many great releases out right now that we are enjoying greatly, but Sands of Time is the one that always draws the most fascinated reactions from friends. They comment constantly on the graphics, animation and gameplay while we move from scene to scene. It's like poetry in motion. And it's fun.
Highly recommended for someone who is looking to really enjoy the game as a visual feast while reaching their goals.

This is one of the best shooters on the xbox. It has a very high replay value. I got this game 2 and a half years back, and I still play it. The story mode is good, but it isn't a goldeneye. The arcade league, challange, mapmaker and multiplayer modes are what keeps you playing it. There are 126 characters (I unlocked them all, there's no cheats for this game though). all the characters come from different time periods. You have sci-fi, military, western themes, etc.
The multiplayer has a lot of modes (deathmatch, capture the bag, zones, etc). There are plenty of maps, circus is my favorite. You can have up to ten ai bots, so you can play by yourself. They acually give you a challange. You can also make your own maps, it's really easy too. The graphics are cartoonish, but the textures are smooth.
TRUST ME, getting all the characters isn't even close to easy. I got really frustrated with this game. I praticed the challanges a lot though. Just so you know I'm only 12, and someone else please write a review if you unlocked all the characters.
This is Perfect Dark or Goldeneye, just on the three newest consoles. This is my favorite game (check out for Timeslitters: Future Perfect). And that my fellow gamers, is the name of the game.