Anyone who is interested with the importance about Area 51 and can handle it's arduous faults should check this one out.
User Rating: 7.5 | Area 51 XBOX
Face it - almost everyone knows about the existence of Area 51 and how it is such a popular discussion amongst many Americans. Yet, even to this day, the United States Government has officially denied any type of existence of Area 51. Mostly from evidence, Americans have been speculating from the occurrences and eccentric events that happened around the late 1940's, mainly because of the usage of the Atomic Bomb during World War II, as some people have stated. Many people believe that aliens had actually landed on Earth to discover and find out how humans created this 'masterpiece' known as the Atomic Bomb, and what power humans actually possessed. Even at that, both the U.S. and Soviet Union had their own H-Bombs in later years, and also the start of the Space Race for both countries might also cause some speculation onto why the Aliens had landed in Roswell. Still, to this day, people believe that the Lunar Landing was staged, thanks to the top-secret classified area, which is simply called Area 51. People also believe that this area called Area 51 is where the United States is keeping all their nuclear weapons, and this was also where they kept their nuclear weapons during the Cold War, where it was almost possibly going to be used thanks to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Yet, once again, even to this day, people state that nuclear weapons are being held in Area 51, which is possibly true, thanks to some of the evidence provided along the years. Of course, we may never know because it's simple - if you want to explore Area 51, the government would have to kill you at the end, simply because they want to keep it all classified...probably forever. Anyways, I can go on and babble about the events and speculations of Area 51, but there are much more important things to take care of. For those who don't know, Area 51 originally was an arcade-type action game that put players in the world of Area 51 to battle out aliens and eventually find out what the government has been up to all this time. Well, that was really back in the 'old-school' days, and now, Midway has decided to put Area 51 back on the board again, this time for the consoles. Does Midway do a fine job of providing a fun experience and telling of Area 51, or does it fall flat in some areas? Area 51 puts you in the role of Ethan Cole, a member of HAZMAT (which basically means Hazardous Material Safety). After arriving at the secret facility of Area 51, things start to get really hectic. It seems there is a virus within the facility that is basically turning everyone that is around the area into mutated monsters. After the virus outbreak, Ethan Cole will soon find out much more about Area 51 - more than he ever thought of. He's basically going to find out what the government has been keeping behind their backs ever since the aliens had landed, or crashed, back in the 1940's. Once you actually are a part of the action, you'll quickly notice that this game is more of a arcadeyish type action game, and isn't heavily burrowed or labeled as a strategy game, like Rainbow Six 3 or Brothers in Arms. Obviously, for some, this might prove to be a drag, since it's nothing you haven't seen before, but Area 51 does a good job at throwing you enemies from left to right to shoot and kill, so there's quite a lot of action to be involved here. Not only that, but Area 51 also includes ragdoll physics, which is a big plus for those who like to have lots of fun with ragdoll physics. Area 51 has plenty of weapons to offer for your arsenal, but really, most of them are quite useless and just aren't a lot of fun. You do have your normal arsenal of weapons, like machine guns and sniper rifles, and you also have some mediocre weapons that tend to be unique, but they become a bit more of a chore to use. It's easier sticking to the usual arsenal of weapons, because Area 51 doesn't have much to offer in terms of it's weaponry and fun, yet you could possibly get a kick or two out of the more unique weapons, but don't expect to be using them from there on. As I stated before, enemies will be thrown at you from left to right, offering you some intense fights, which is a good thing that's going in the favor of Area 51. You'll be using your weapons more often than not, so hopefully you have your supply of ammo to fight out the hordes of monsters that will be awaiting your presence. Speaking of the enemies, their A.I. is good, but it's not superb or excellent in any way. They do use the usual duck and cover techniques, but any real FPS gamer can mow them down at a very quick pace. Not much strategy is really involved, because you can actually take down a large group in the wide open if you just go ahead and spray all over the place. The A.I. does make some dumb moves, sometimes standing still for an easy kill, or just moving about at a 'lost pace', figuring out what to do next. Either way, the A.I. is challenging at times when they use the duck and cover technique a lot. Your teammates A.I. is rather good themselves, but they are also around the same level as the enemy A.I. Area 51's visuals are superb at times, and mediocre the rest of the way. I must admit, the cut-scenes that are within Area 51 is actually great, and they seem as crisp as can be. Although, when in actual gameplay, the graphics seem to be watered-down and less impressive than they are during the cut-scenes. Models of the monsters, aliens, and whatnot are average at best, because they really don't look too impressive. The weapon models are alright as well, but I always have this feeling that they could of been improved. The environment is great to look at, but you'll be too much into the action and battles that you really won't have time to notice. Area 51's biggest weak point has to obviously be it's sound and audio department. First off, the voice-acting is flat out poor, especially the voice-acting of David Duchovny, who voice acts the main character, Ethan Cole. Everyone else's voice acting isn't too shabby, but it definitely could of used some tweaks and improving, too. There is also quite a lot of foul language here as well, but I feel like it was used way too much, much to the point of the game Shellshock: 'Nam 67. The S word, B word, and even the usual F word is used, so hopefully your prepared for that as well. The ambience and music in Area 51 is really the only good things that's holding the sound and audio department above average. The single player mode in Area 15 should take you around 10-13 hours to complete, but FPS fanatics might finish it in an even quicker time. With that said, Area 51 support the all too familiar multi player features as well. The modes available for multi player is the usual Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Capture and Hold, and an all new mode called Infection, which is both unique and tedious at the same time, which is actually easier to believe than it sounds. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, CTF, and CAH are all self-explanatory, but Infection is the real difference here. The goal is simple - a player starts out infected with a virus. This person must go around the arena and infect all the other players before the game ends. It seems simple and something that switches the pace of the regular modes, but ultimately, it's really not as exciting as it could have been. Area 51 support XBOX Live, and you can play all these modes online with up to 15 other players (16 is the max). The maps are fun at first, but in the end, you'll find them tedious and you will feel like you want something new into the mix. It's not that the online multi-player portion of Area 51 is bad, it's actually good at times, but most of the times it becomes really tedious because of the maps that are available to play on. It seems to me that the multi-player portion of Area 51 was rushed so that it could have that golden little label saying "XBOX Live Enabled", like all other FPS's do. Well, to straighten it out, the multi-player left a sour taste in my mouth. There are still things to enjoy that Area 51 offers. The storyline itself is rewarding from beginning to end, and figuring out the facts of Area 51 is a nice treat that you will find very interesting. But what really holds this game back is it's huge problems. The sound is the real weak point, and some of the voice-acting is shoddy, at best. The A.I. isn't as good as it seems, so the challenge might be taken out on some occasions. The multi-player will possibly become tiring after you play for a while, and once that has taken effect, that's pretty much it. Area 51 still has it's strong points, like the visuals during cut-scenes, it's interesting storyline, and the intense battles that Area 51 has in store for you. I know many people are wondering about Area 51 and why it's such a secret classified area, and I know many people will be dragged in with the storyline offered. So then again, anyone who is interested with the importance about Area 51 and can handle it's arduous faults should check this one out. 
