Area 51

"A nice change of pace for those who want it."

Upon first laying eyes on Area 51, I thought what most other people would have. ‘Yet another mindless shooter offering nothing but a few hours of fun'. In a way, I was right.

Story:
What is usually an unimportant piece in today's games, Area 51's story is actually quite an interesting and compelling part of the game. You play as Ethan Cole, part of Hazmat Team Bravo, sent on a rescue mission into Area 51, the infamous base located in the Nevada desert, to locate the missing Hazmat Team Delta. There's been a viral outbreak within the base, mutants running about killing folk, blah blah blah. Standard FPS stuff, really. Eventually, Cole is separated from his team, and forced to make his own way through the base. From here, the game gets about 10x better. Not just story-wise, but gameplay-wise too. More on this later.
8/10

Sound:
Not too bad, but could have been better. Some of the groans and wails of your enemies are fine, as are the meaty explosions. However, when letting rip from a shotgun, you won't find yourself hearing the satisfying ‘pound' as it hits your enemy's chest. The voice acting, on the whole, is good enough. It's not the best, but it'll do in a game where it's one of the last things you'll be concentrating on. One word of warning, though, is that other characters love to drop a few F-bombs along the way. If you're easily offended, watch out here.
5/10

Graphics:
The graphics in Area 51 are lovely. There are lighting effects, which really add to the atmosphere of the game. There are particle effects, great looking guns, your view will shake when an explosion takes place, and the detail on the characters and enemies are pretty impressive. On the PC version, instead of all the standard ‘Anti-Aliasing' and ‘Texture Resolution' settings we've all run into at some point, a single option lies in its place. ‘High Detailed Textures'. While this might not seem like much, it makes the game look damn good.
9/10

Gameplay:
So, the gameplay. Overall, it's very generic. Get your guns, take out some mutants with the help of your friends, turn on a power supply, find more ammo, take out more mutants, etc. Eventually, this can feel tedious and unimaginative, especially when the shootout sections can feel a bit too restrictive at times, and more like ‘Time-Crisis' than anything else. It has its good points, though, as you can often feel in the middle of a battle, scrambling for ammo before you get slaughtered. However, as I said previously, this doesn't last long. Soon enough you'll become mutated yourself and be able to transform into a mutant at will. From here, it's more ‘Second Sight' than ‘Time-Crisis'. The enemies get tougher, the guns get bigger, and the game gets harder. Aside from all this, there are some cool extras to unlock. From the beginning, you're given a type of scanner, which you're then instructed to use on a body. Throughout the rest of the game, more dead bodies, burned files, mechanisms, key cards etc. can be seen within the scenery. Using the scanner on these will unlock them in the database accessible in the main menu, where more information on them is uncovered and, in some cases, adds a bit more to the story of the game. Its nice touches like these that make an average game a great one.
8/10

Final Verdict:
‘Yet another mindless shooter offering nothing but a few hours of fun'. Yes, I was right. Area 51 offers a few hours of fun until it heads of into a completely different direction to what you might think,where it's more than just fun. This may not appeal to some people, but it certainly did to me. I found myself lucky enough to pick up this little gem for a measly £5. Bargain of the Century? Possibly.

Overall:
8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/06, Updated 07/28/06