Area 51 (2005 Video Game) User Reviews

One of my favourite games on the PS2

[m_chubbs · 8/10 · 12 July 2008]

I have just played Blacksite: Area 51 and it got in the swing of alien blasting games. After an hour of scrabbling through my room, i found it, Area 51. I started from the beginning, and after that, I could not stop.

The plot I thought was very deep, and the secrets that you uncover are something that should be kept hidden from the public.

The plot revolves around a Hassmat team sent in to clean up after an alien virus is set loose in the base. It may not be much, but the story contains every conspiracy theory in the book, the moon landing, aliens, government corruption. It does this well and makes you think if this could all be true, it is very well played out.

The game play is good, the controls are easy and the weapons, even though are fairly standard, are put to good use in this game. The alien weapons are very good, and are extremely useful against the aliens The graphics are a very good standard considering this was brought out a while ago, the blood and goo go flying every where and some of the stuff you see is very unnerving.

The sound is very well used, the mutants screech and the voice acting is very good, Marilyn Manson is beautifully cast as the big grey and adds that extra creepiness to the game.

The inside of Area 51 is very well created and is like the game names it a 'Dreamland' A very good game that I love replaying and gives the idea of a good old fashion FPS with loads of goo and guts.

The reason I gave it an 8 is because it still feels like your typical FPS that you've played a hundred times, it's the way that it is presented and unfolds that makes it fun and interesting and gives it more of and edge in the FPS market.

A fast-paced, action-packed, surprise-filled shooter that's a blast to play.

[Spartan_234 · 10/10 · 24 March 2006]

As you have guessed, Area-51 takes place at the military base out in the Nevada desert that was rumored to have aliens, mutants, and secret weapon experiments. In Area-51, you're going to find out that all three of the above are true. In fact, the front of the game's case simply shows an alien on it. And that's not all: There are a whole bunch of other surprises in the game that I really don't want to spoil. You just have to play the game to see it all for yourself.

Evident by the fact that Midway developed and published the game, Area-51 is a remake of the classic arcade game. This isn't just the arcade game with a facelift -- it's infinitely much more, and it's definitely better than a lot of arcade remakes in the past (Frogger, Glover, etc., etc.) In fact, it's probably the best arcade remake ever. This remake isn't nearly as linear as the arcade game, requiring you to look for keycards and the such. Better yet, you can even CONTROL your character! (Speaking of controls, Area-51's controls are easily the best on the Xbox and PS2.) But the best -- and most innovative -- aspect of the game is likely your scanner. While designed to display statistics of an air sample, it will also scan secret documents that you can view when you exit your game session. Since many of these documents are hidden, this means that Area-51 has lots of replay value.

Even the storyline is better (and more interesting) than the arcade game. You play as Ethan Cole, a member of the Army's HAZMAT Team Bravo, voiced by David Duchovny. Contrary to what many reviews have said, David Duchovny is the perfect actor for Ethan Cole. I couldn't really notice anything bad about his voice acting; he sounded really normal. Back to the storyline, HAZMAT's Team Delta went missing when they responded to a distress call coming from Area-51. So, what's going on over there? A virus has broken out at the base, mutating or killing the employees, and everyone has been locked inside. Your team (HAZMAT Team Bravo) is sent into the base to find HAZMAT Team Delta, while shooting the living crap out of every mutant that gets in the way.

Surprisingly good AI, satisfying gamepad vibration effects, an awesome weapons loadout, fast-paced action that never slows down, and a whole bunch of secrets and surprises mean that you will play Area-51 to the very end. Like every game released since Halo 2, it's not a Halo 2-killer, but it's an absolute must-have for people interested in the subject matter, or for PS2 users in desperate need of a fun shooter to play (Both Halo games were never released for the PS2). A definite 10 / 10 to this one!

Excellent

[grayfox892000 · 14 December 2005]

Area 51 is an all around, action packed game. From the very beginning cinamatic you are hooked. The story line is just amazing. The graphics is spectacular.

This game is not meant for younger generations however. The game contains a lot of profanity and gore. The rating on this game is Mature for obvious reasons.

The only other thing that i would have to say was wrong with this game was the length. It was too short but then again most of the video games are becoming short.

Overall though the game is grande. It will make you addicted with the many different weapons and storyline. It will make you think "If the government is hiding something, could it be a good thing?"

No coverups here

[oxymoron_02 · 4/10 · 16 July 2007]

Area 51 takes an intriguing subject and mutates it more than the pathogen that mutates the protagonist's body.

Area 51, for some reason, struck me as a brilliant game when I first heard about it. I can't remember if I saw some positive reviews or if the trailers simply appealed to me, but oh how very wrong I was. The story is explained more in the manual than it is in-game, and this is the first of many, many crucial downfalls.

You play the role of Ethan Cole, poorly voiced by David Duchovny, whose talent in portraying Ethan's voice seems to wither as the player moves on in the game. I get the feeling that Duchovny didn't bother reading the script until he had to read the lines, thus slowly realising how utterly poor said story was. Cole is sent in as part of a specialist team of Military Hazardous Materials field agents when Area 51 is stricken by a deadly infection. As you play the game, you unravel the story of what has happened even though the game's intro cutscene tells you anyway.

As I said, the story is the first of many downfalls. While it starts off fairly promisingly, it later becomes stagnant and begins to regurgitate the themes of almost every other FPS ever made in the history of civilisations. Alien ones too. Midway have introduced far too many conspiracy and paranormal elements to the story's background, creating a "too much of a good thing" (the TMOAGT I reference in disadvantages) effect which seriously detracts from the player's enjoyment of the game.

As far as gameplay goes, it's sub-average. Before your team is killed off (and then the utterly pointless deaths of the second team you hook up with) the so-called team-based aspect of the game is laughable. Your AI-controlled teammates are invulnerable to damage, and in theory you could leave them to their own devices killing everything in a given area, then go and reap the rewards. Assuming you don't do the above, then all you are met with is seemingly endless hordes of spawned monsters which, amusingly, stop when there is a bit of dialogue or a mission objective is met (such as defending, against the clock, a teammate who is trying to open a door. The timer reaches 0, and the monsters stop spawning). Gameplay is almost linear, but there were a few times at which I could take one of two doors out of a section; one leading onwards, and one leading to just one or two other rooms in which I can have fun. Aside from this, it's just moving forward and shooting everything that gets in your way. Ammo and health pickups are constant, providing NO challenge whatsoever. The health pickup is also funny, since it is described as a liquid which promotes coagulation of the blood and acts as a 'filler' for lost blood. But in any given level there are so many of these things that it's a wonder your veins aren't running yellow-green.

The weapons in the game are your bogstandard shooters; - Pistol (start the game with this) - Submachine Pistol (first pickup, in the first level) - Grenade: Frag (comes shortly after the SMP) - Grenade: Alien (this little cutie is actually quite powerful, but in low supply) - Shotgun (Comes a little later) - Sniper Rifle (Coming around halfway through the game, there is barely much point to this) - Alien rifle (3-shot burst, can bounce off walls) - Meson Cannon (The usual "big gun", this comes only within the last few levels, and ammo is relatively sparse)

The game offers the worst dual-wielding logic I have ever seen in a game; the SMP and shotgun are both dual-wield, which is pathetically unrealistic. Of all the weapons, I found myself using the SMP in nine out of ten engagements. The other weapons are irrelevant.

[[ Spoiler in this paragraph: Last line. ]] Area 51's graphics are one of its saving graces. Although ported straight from the console version of the game, they receive a little bit of tweaking to take advantage of the PC's superiority over consoles. You'll find the same old textures being used over and over, but this is reasonably plausible since the game takes place in just one place (two if you count the alien base in the later levels).

The sound is adequate for a game like this. Ambient sounds are the game's strong point, although it has an annoying tendency to play sounds of events that are taking place nowhere near the player. The music is... Well, I turned it off since I preferred my own. As I already said, the voice acting is weak. Duchovny is by far the worst voice actor in Area 51; Powers Booth speaks too little for me to judge, though I noticed no overt problems. Marilyn Manson, although I hate the guy, does fairly well as Edgar and I begrudgingly admit that I have no problems with his talents within the game.

In conclusion, Area 51 is a game that could have been so much more if only it had done so much -less-. By all means rent it, or borrow from a friend, but don't feel you're missing out on anything if you don't buy it.

Entertaining shooting and a dark sense of humour make for quality stuff

[tryzon · 28 April 2010]

Ah, aliens: the prototypical video game bad guys. Along with Nazis, zombies and goblins, more extra-terrestrials have appeared as enemies in games than sewer levels and annoying sidekicks, and games like today's subject use this cliché to their advantage to serve up some enjoyably cheesy FPS blasting. Pull on your HEV suit and dive in with me. And don't touch anything sticky and glowing.

The famous base with untold mysteries is portrayed as what every conspiracy nutter claims it to be in real life: chock-full of intergalactic guinea pigs, reverse-engineered technology and enough mad scientists to host a convention of the gits with. The least stable of the lab jockeys decides to unleash the various captive nasties one day and as a result the entire complex is overrun, as folk either get eviscerated or turned into mutants by a super-contagion. Intrigued by all the screaming, some HAZMAT blokes are sent in and soon wish they hadn't been. You're the sod who has to go in and get 'em out. This wonderfully two-dimensional plot setup is what I'd want and expect from a common or garden shooter, and Area 51 gets it just right. A convoluted plot can be more of a detriment than a positive addition in games like these, and keeping the focus on exaggerated action is the best option. After all, TimeSplitters has basically no story, and look how that turned out. My only problem with the plot for Area 51 is that it's hard to take seriously, since historical documents prove that the crew from Futurama were the cause of Roswell's famous enigmas, so this junk about human-alien pacts and the like seems far-fetched. Bender was the UFO, obviously. Basic stuff.

The weapons themselves are mostly disappointing, consisting of your bog-standard shotgun, rifle and pistol, but though predictable they're also sufficiently boomy. Much like Republic Commando, just because the equipment selection is forgettable doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Plus you do eventually get an alien gun that fires bouncy, sticky explosives, and another that just destroys a whole room, so at least it's not completely boring. It's definitely no Ratchet and Clank, though. One saving grace is that the rifle and shotgun can be dual-wielded, and the extra firepower is much appreciated in small corridors. In short, there are a good few brown trouser moments.

I mentioned the mindless "leapers" before, but you also get mutants with guns, headcrab impersonators, the occasional hulking titan, some shadowy military types and eventually a few Greys. Of these opponents, the only truly memorable ones in my mind were the Greys, which is ironic considering they're the only creature designed to mimic a popular established image. For whatever reason, they stuck with me and little else did. Perhaps the main Grey's voice actor had something to do with it, having given such a chilling performance. Who might it be, you ask? Only that lord of all weirdness, Marilyn Manson. I smeg you not. Both the alien and his actor are a bit wrong in the head, so you can't fault the casting choice. The extra features show Marilyn identifying with his character (known as Edgar), and saying that they "share a general contempt for mankind".

Perhaps most easily remembered about Area 51 is its lovely sense of humour. It's nothing of Armed and Dangerous levels, but worthy of the odd snigger. Most of the comedy comes from documents that can be scanned to reveal either backstory or description of some ludicrous government project. Bigfoot, cropcircles, cow mutilation and more are explained. It seems that every urban legend from the 40s onwards was related to the secret base, and the most amusing thing I discovered revealed the true nature to a certain famous mission in 1969. Just watch and try not to chuckle. Destroy All Humans! is more funny overall, since the B-movie styling and alien perspective are hard to beat, not to mention the fact that Invader Zim plays a starring role. Even so, Area 51 has regular bursts of comedy and sometimes a flash of brilliance.

It's immeasurably awesome that the troubled grunt you play as should be voiced by Mulder from The X-Files. He sounds exactly the same, with that monotone mumbling which just embodies him as an actor. He works not only in terms of performance, but also because, you know, Area 51? X-Files? It's just too perfect, and quite the privilege to have The Man himself lending his voice to you. Just keep the tank topped up and be gentle with her.

A great inclusion is the level select, which goes a step further by letting you continue from any checkpoint. Many, many games before and since should have incorporated the same idea but didn't. It allows for replayability, as you can avoid the less good bits and focus on reliving the best sections, mainly the middle third.

The music is some very stylish synthesised goodness that's most similar to the Return to Planet X theme from TimeSplitters 2. It's appropriate in terms of frantic mood and alien-ness, and you've gotta love it.

Cover-ups, conspiracies, traitors, Illuminati, genetic manipulation...it's all here and all brilliant silliness. Combine that with passable shooting and a handful of cunning sections and you've got a well-made game that's more than competent and the gaming equivalent of popcorn cinema: utterly derivative, but one Hell of an expedition. A respectful nod towards such gaming traditions as invaders from space and escaping before the facility blows up in classic Metroid fashion lends character to proceedings, and elevates the package above being "just another FPS". It's not outstanding, but it's nearly there, and ideal throwaway entertainment.