Area 51

"Next candidate of the media "blame game"?"

Ever since games like Pole Position and Operation Wolf, companies have wanted to add new attachments to their games just to attract a larger crowd. In this time, we've seen many different forms of guns, steering wheels, foot pedals, even pads with buttons on them for those enticing dance games that I cannot play at all because I have the groove of a dead farm animal. Seeing these odd designs may attract people to the game, but does it necessarily equate more quarters to empty by the end of the week? Many games have proven to be a redundant trudge through the usual ''been-there-done-that'' gameplay (Mutant Night, Space Gun). As with any genre or gaming era, the only ones that survive and are forever known are those who innovate. Do you think Super Mario Bros. would be as well known if it was just like the original Mario Bros.? Probably not. Adding in the side scrolling aspect help bring a large innovation that platformers at that time desperately needed. Area 51 in a sense helped along the innovation that we see many arcade light gun games highlight today. It helped us get away from a side strictly side scrolling environment and helped contribute what games like Virtua Cop had establish.

Tell Me How Them Bullets Taste!
In Area 51, you are a marine whose job is to exterminate an infestation of aliens that has taken over the premises. Killing the aliens alone won't stop the problem. You've also got to destroy the source of which the interlopers have arrived. Sound like a tough job? Well, it is! What do we have here but another alien takeover situation... Oh well. This game really doesn't need an elaborate plot. More of your focus on the game is going to go into mindlessly blasting the hell out of anything that doesn't look human.

You see that gun looking thing in front of the screen? Yeah, that's your weapon. To kill your enemies, you just aim at them and fire. Be careful not to kill the other marines or get hit by any enemies; that'll bring your life down and bring you ever closer to game over. You also have a limited amount of bullets. Run out and you'll have to shoot off screen to reload. After reloading, you're good to go with just straight out killing again. You can also get power-ups that'll increase the strength of your bullets.

The game is broken down into several levels. Each level presents you a situation in which monsters are positioned or are popping out unexpectedly. What you must do is react properly in each situation, all based on what you're given. You may have to blast the enemies as quickly as possible. Sometimes, you'll have to work on intercepting items that are flying at you so you can stay alive. Other times, the game will ask you to keep a watchful eye for any special items or bonus points you can obtain.

The aspect mentioned above is what kept this game interesting. Most of the early light guns games didn't give you this kind of option. You basically just run through a level, kill everything in sight (except nurses, orphans, or refugees according to Operation Wolf) and try to stay alive. They did throw you a curve ball every now and then, but not the way Area 51 does. The only problem with the gameplay is that once you've finished the game and know how to get past every situation, there really isn't much of an incentive to play again except for ''old time's sake''. The integration of a second player works well. Not only are you taught to work as a team, but also to stay independently aggressive at the same time. A team can easily fly through the game, but if you rely too much on the other guy, he'll get the better score.

Graphics
I'm not a big fan of live-captured graphics, which is what this game used. At one time, live-capture was supposed to be ''the next big thing'', but it didn't seem to catch on as well as others had hoped. Honestly, many of the graphics aren't too bad. The monsters seem to move really well, but everyone else seems to be permanently stuck in slow motion. It seems almost like the developers wanted to make a game realistic looking. However, at the time they didn't have quite the graphical capabilities we have today, especially not for arcade. The graphics certainly weren't the best that could have been at the time, but considering that they used motion-capturing I'll be a bit lenient. On the plus side, they did do the motion capturing better than some games. Primal Rage... I'm looking in your direction...

Um... What?
The sounds filled a void, surely, but they still sounded horrible in a few aspects. While you have the well done sounds of the gunfire, you also have the unfortunate atrocity that is the monster roar. Killing them causes them to emit an annoying, ''EERRRRR-RRRR?'' There was very little noticeable music. What little there was, however, blended well with the intense gameplay. Outside of all that, you really don't have much audibly. Then again, if you've played this in some of the noisy arcades I have, you really don't tend to notice/care.

Final Word

Area 51 makes a very good contribution to the light gun genre of our arcades. Many could charge that it's way too graphic and realistic with pointing the gun. However, games like this may not adequately prepare you to actually take a human life. That is all decided upon in your mind through your upbringing (I hope no behaviorists read this... They'll probably scoff at the word ''mind''). Atari proves yet again through this game that just because they're done with console development doesn't mean they're completely out of the market. They did well to utilize the motion capturing (albeit the fact that most at that time looked like crap) and add to the gameplay what should rightfully be there. Gameplay that throws you a curve ball every now and then. The only improvements that could have realistically been made to the game would go into the sound department. Better monster roar would have to be the first thing to go in. Other than that, we have a fairly solid arcade classic.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Not the best 7/10
Sounds: Also not the best 6/10
Controls: Surprisingly work well 9/10
Plot/Storyline: Nothing real major, but then again, I don't expect anything real major out of it 8/10
Gameplay: Very fun when you first play. After finishing it, it loses its magic. 8/10
All Together: 8/10

Perks
*Fun to play
*Intense gameplay
*Gun attachment

Downers
*Monster's voices
*Lacking replay

Hilarity- Even though you shoot your own marines, they don't seem to be in any way disturbed by it. Despite the fact that you've probably splattered all their intestines/brains/propagate organs/any other organ for that matter on the ground, they are still able to run away, except they are given a rather stigmatizing red X on them. Shame on you!

Recommendations
Anyone looking to explore the light gun genre should play this. This can really help put the evolution of it into perspective. If you're the type of person that can't stand something that's more then five years old, then leave this alone. The fact that it is now fairly dated may turn off some newer casual gamers.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/01, Updated 11/29/02