A solid shooter . Nothing exrtraordinary. Legally free to download.
AREA 51. Straight away this conjures up a number of images in one's mind. Roswell,aliens,US military,X-Files and conspiracies. Well this is exactly what this game is all about.
Background:
1947. An alien spaceship has crash landed in Roswell. The US government has been working in conjunction with the "little green men" or in this case the little grey men affectionately referred to as "The Grays". For new technology the aliens receive humans to experiment on.
In AREA 51 you are Ethan Cole. A US special ops type soldier and part of HAZMAT an elite marine team. Along with other team members Crispy, Mc Cann you are sent in to the top secret military base of AREA 51 to assess a viral outbreak which is rampaging through the facility. After an initial meeting with some commanding officers you and your team are sent off to begin your odyssey.
Gameplay:
This is a standard first person shooter. Nothing new or extraordinary in this game which sets it apart from others in this genre. While playing this game it seems to borrow heavily from DOOM 3.This in itself is not a bad thing but if you already own Doom 3 they would you be tempted to play this game. In my opinion yes.
The controls are quickly learned and as you progress through the game you access bigger and better weapons, pistol,smg's,shotgun,sniper rifle,BBG Meson,Meson canon,Frag grenades etc.
The BBG Meson is great the use and it has a laser sighting on it which is a great asset to have.
As a fan of sniper rifles I particular liked the one employed in this game.
One thing which I don't like in these games is the ability to yield 2 shotguns or assault riles together. If you have ever held or used a shotgun or assault rifle then you know how difficult this can be .For aiming and
running with as well as the weight it is very difficult but that is just my opinion.
At the start it seems as though this will be a squad based game. You and your team mates fight your way through the opening levels against hordes of enemy mutants and infected creatures. As you progress into the base other members get killed most notably your mates as mentioned Crispy and Mc Cann. Pretty soon you are on your own getting guidance from a deranged scientist DR Cray and also Dr White.
From time to time certain keycards/security cards need to located in order to unlock doors. Other times a little lateral thinking is reguired in order to gain acces to an area i.e. finding a ladder, crawing into a vent or underneath a walkway.
Graphics:
This is where the game excels for me. Midway the game's developer makes great use of lighting just like in Doom.
Some of the cutscenes in the game are fantastic visually and can be very rewarding once you complete a difficult section.
Some of the levels can be generic looking-The Hotzone,The Search,and the last few in and around the spaceship, The Grays, The descent,The Ascent , The last Exit.
A sense of tension is created well in the game especially when you fight the black ops soldiers.
My favourite part of the game was "One small step for man". This is basically about the Apollo moon landing which is set in a TV studio!!
One criticism I have is that when you use the assault rifle it can be difficult to aim and it makes the screen seem jumpy, although this is probably meant to mimic actual assault combat.
The ending cutscene is surprisingly disappointing, well it is short and sweet I suppose and it leaves the game open for a sequel which was made by the way Blacksite Area 51.
This game boosts the voice acting talents of Marilyn Manson (thankfully only used a few times) and David Duchovny.
Duchovny is Ethan Cole. For me he does not have the voice of a Special Forces marine soldier.His monotone voice can nearly put one asleep. He does do a good job of narrating the game though in cutscenes and stuff. His voice adds to the x-files feel of this game and adds a familiar voice.
As this is a first person shooter this is what you will be doing –shooting.
Can get repetitive but this is the basic gameplay for all FPS'S. Midway get around this by adding a new element to the character of Ethan Cole.You have the ability to mutant into a well a mutant. The virus has a certain hold on you but can be controlled. The ability to switch into your alter –ego form can come quite useful at times especially against hordes of Black ops soldiers who attack you.
Just like in Doom instead of using a PDA you can scan certain objects which provide you with further details about the complex of AREA 51 and adds some interesting data to the story and game.
The multiplayer element of the game is quite fast paced and sports the usual array-deathmatch, team deathmatch etc.The maps aren't particular groundbreaking but just a variant of some base levels.
Overall:
If you like games like Quake, Halo, and Doom I'm sure you will enjoy AREA 51.The game overall is fairly easy. It shouldn't take more than three weeks of casual gameplay to finish it. Some of the bosses can be taxing to beat especially "The Grays" but switching between mutant and human form will defeat them after a few attempts.
This game is FREE. And by that I mean legally free to download as it was released by MIDWAY.
A good shooter with some interesting twists. Nothing exceptional however but for fans of military theme shooters or something different to play you might like to check this title out. Remember it is LEGALLY FREE to download.