Area 51

"Amazing Graphics, Great Action, But WHAT is going ON!?"

Opening Comments
When it comes to First Person Shooters on the Playstation 2, not one game immediately comes to mind that's a ‘must-have' title. Microsoft has its Halo and Nintendo have their Metroid, but us Sony users have sort of been left out in the cold, without any memorable titles. Sure there have been triple-A titles like Medal of Honor, but such titles arguably (and unfortunately) serve a much better purpose on the PC. Enter Area 51, the new alien first person shooter from Midway, a game company who under the radar have continually delivered stand out titles for all consoles (Unreal Championship 2 and the latest Mortal Kombat instantly come to mind). Naturally I assumed this would be like all other PS2 FPS's, especially those which are also available on XBOX and PC- instantly forgettable, just like all the rest, and far superior on the other consoles. But low and behold, have the players of the Playstation finally got themselves a must own First Person Shooter? Here's the lowdown…

Graphical Wizardry
When a title is released on XBOX, PC and Playstation 2 such as this one, it is naturally assumed that PS2 owners will get the short end of the stick graphics wise. Hell, with ANY FPS on the Playstation 2 we expect underwhelming graphics while jealousy for the XBOX owners overwhelms us. Finally it seems we have a game which kicks major arse in the graphics. Sure Killzone was impressive at times, but the major load of glitches let any impressiveness sink to the bottom of the pit faster than you can say ‘kill one of the bad guys!' This being said, Area 51 stands out as the greatest utilisers of the Playstation 2 hardware ever- the console is pushed to the limit but it doesn't feel a thing- the detail remains at a maximum level even at incredibly close ranges, ranges in which the walls would have disappeared in Killzone! The character animation is superb, the texture detail is stand alone, the colours are beautiful and quite plainly there is nothing bad to say about the graphics- they kick arse. Sure the graphics are probably just as good on the box or the PC, but it's this very fact that sets the PS2 version above the rest- because for a change, no jealousy is required and Playstation players can wet their pants looking at their own system for a change!

The effects and THAT narrator
In another heartwarming relief, the sound effects are so well materialised, from the gunfire bouncing off the walls to your footsteps and the muffled breathing from inside your suit, it's all an experience not to be missed. Unfortunately, the narrator of practically every cutscene ruins that enjoyment, with a voice that you just want to beat to a pulp. This narrator is Mr. David Duchovny, who seems so bored and sick of everyone's crap that he went ahead and ruined this game for me. He's probably thinking on how he can milk the alien franchise even more than he already has. The rest of the voice acting is fine, however, and Marilyn Manson plays the lead bad guy pretty damn well. Now if only Duchovny would shut up!

Shooting up the alien scum
Making up for Duchovny is some decent action gameplay, with minimal load times and a saving system that is comprised of spot on checkpointing. I found the controls a bit to get used to, but they are highly customisable and by the end of it the only challenges that remain in that are when you have to unload your clips, a process which is quite daunting to say the least. Once you do work out the combat system to its full ability, whether the odds are for or against you, whether you be human or mutant, you'll discover that such a system that has thrown in quite a decent amount of it's own well-conceived ideas, while at the same time utilising much of the genre's standard. As exciting as this all is, don't expect to get through the game easily, for once you pass the halfway point the margin for error becomes pretty damn slim, and trial and error comes into play. Will you transform into a mutant or won't you? Will you just beat them to death with your hands and forget about unloading your gun's clip all together? Such questions constantly come into play and it is this very challenge that keeps things interesting and makes you want to play on- for many of the battles are simply awesome.

The Narrative
And it is here where the problems lie, because you simply get bored. This being said, I get bored in most First Person Shooters, but that simply comes down to a lack of an attention span, so this time I have an actual reason for my boredom. The Reason? The story is so disjointed, so without focus that you have no idea what is going on, and more to the point- why on earth you are running around doing the missions you are and killing the people and aliens you are. Imagine Metal Gear without it's excellent narrative- the gameplay would still be great but you just wouldn't care! The only thing that keeps you going is knowing you are going to see some new visually outstanding areas and be engaged in some new battles, which are challenging enough to be interesting, and with a 15 hour-ish expected finish time it is possible to put up with it… and Duchovny. The thing that honestly kept me going was the hope of some big awesome twist that would put everything into focus, but such a twist never came and for that I blame Mr. Duchovny. Nevertheless, whatever it was that I was doing was fun and pretty damn cool.

The Aftermath
So you've survived Duchovny and beaten the single player mode, now what? Well you have no need to play through the game again, and thus the hope for replay value lies in the multiplayer. First, there is the 16 player online play, and I can't say I played enough of it to give it a worthy review, primarily because of time restraints and lack of people online, but the fact that they can support 16 players in a single match and it has Deathmatch, CTF and you're good old Mutants versus Humans mode, it's enough to keep players happy, and pretty impressive considering the under-servicing PS2 Online has received compared to the Live service. If there's no one online? Grab yourself a multi-tap and 3 friends and you've got yourself some four-player action in your bedroom! But there's still not enough there to keep that action going for long, online or off. But at least it's there- Medal of Honor and games like that needs to take a page for Midway's book and get some good online play!

My Final Remarks
All in all this is a stand out game: the graphics are incredible, which for a change doesn't leave you jealous of those playing the XBOX version… if anything the latter version would leave you underwhelmed. But Midway has pushed the Playstation 2 finally to its limits, delivering great graphics, amazing sound and a damn good combat system. Of course it's not without its problems- namely in the narrative and it's narrator David Duchovny, but this is a terrific game nevertheless. To call this a ‘must-own Playstation 2 title' may be a bit of a stretch considering the amazing games in the other genres, but if you're a PS2 owner who loves their FPS's, then this game deserves your love, because if there is a better looking and playing FPS on this system I have yet to play it. I just wish I could have understood why I was playing it.

Graphics- Some of the best this system has ever offered, and certainly the best in the FPS format 10
Sound- Awesome sound effects and decent atmospheric music are overwhelmed by the suckiness of David Duchovny 8
Gameplay-Pretty solid and original, but takes some getting used to and you never have any idea what the hell is going on! 7.5
Replay Value- At 15 hours, the game is a decent length, but once you've finished the single player mode, you're not going to come back to it. The mutiplayer mode is definitely a plus though, and will probably keep you playing the game for a short while after 7.5
Final Score- Great graphics, music and gameplay keep this game at the top of it's class, but it's the horrible narrator and storyline (if there even is one) that brings this game down and keeps it from an editor's choice award. If the bad points are improved upon then a sequel should be INCREDIBLE! 8.5

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/05