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B--O-R-I-N-G

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

How this game is getting 5 star reviews is beyond me. This has got to be one of the most boring games I've played in recent years. There is very little variety in combat situations and in who you are fighting. It is just the same old, same old level after level. This game is as boring as David Duchovny's acting and monotone voice. Potentially good story line but falls short in my opinion.

Decent but not great

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Title basically said it all. This is a game that's worth buying if you can find it for $20 - $30 or better yet cheaper but it's not worth $50. My main flaw with this is that it was too easy.

Overrated and a little cheap, but well done

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: May 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you go in for the first-person shooter thing, this game will certainly liven up your typical experience: it's smooth, it's jumpy, and it's relentless.

At the same time, it's a little cheap and overrated. It's not a genre-defining game or anything, and you get killed after a couple of swipes from an alien...which drops you back into the action pretty far back as a reset if you're not careful. It's cheap that way.

The graphics are pretty swell, but in the end it isn't Doom 3 or anything.

Only worth it if you can go online

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Overall this is not a bad game but if your not playing online do not buy area 51. The single player is really short and the last part of the game sucks. the online does kick ass

More fun than the Arcade version

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I remember playing the arcade version of area 51 when i was a kid and i loved it. Now that the game is out i was excited to get it and play it. Everything in the game is superb. the controls are easily used and the graphics are amazing. The storyline is interesting, and pieced together as you go through the game finding different secret documents that you can read later. However, this is not mandatory, so some people can essentially go through the game without knowing the story.

Terribly underrated FPS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Those who enjoyed venturing into arcades in the past decade will no doubt remember Midway's light gun shooter Area 51; a cumbersome and buggy game where you took on hordes of aliens and mutated beasts at the famously secretive government research facility. Fast forward to today, and Midway has totally restructured Area 51 from the inside out, this time around as a straight forward FPS. The storyline relatively stays the same, you play as Ethan Cole (voiced by David Duchovny), the lone survivor of a Haz-Mat team sent to investigate strange goings on at the research facility. As you venture through the game's levels, you learn of vast government and alien conspiracies, and when you get far enough, you find yourself turning into one of them. This element adds a fun dimension to the gameplay, allowing you to melee your enemies to death and fire off parasites to infect them. In addition to this feature, the standard FPS rules apply as you pick up a bevy of weapons and grenades to take out the hideous beings roaming in the underground of Area 51. The game's storyline packs in as much conspiracy-laden material as it can, ranging from alien abductions to the Roswell incident where it all started, and as you progress you can locate hidden documents which allow you to unlock the many secrets of the game. Powers Boothe and Marilyn Manson also lend their voices in addition to Duchovny, who sadly at many spots throughout the game sounds bored as he speaks. The online multiplayer feature is what really makes Area 51 a winner, which for a PS2 game manages to provide lag-free online play, and that itself is a welcome surprise. The graphics are unbelievably sharp for a PS2 game, with some nice lighting effects as well. The biggest drawback of Area 51 is the difficulty as you progress to the lower levels of the game. The farther you get, the toughter the enemies get, and the more and more sparse health and ammo get as well. So be warned, this isn't that easy an FPS to breeze through, but the multiplayer options and the nicely designed extras and secrets make this a game worth coming back to. All on all, Area 51 is a surprisingly great and terribly underrated FPS that stands as one of the top shooters on the PS2, and if you're an FPS fan, this is worth picking up.

Great concept, good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have long anticipated this titles release, and i wasnt dissapointed that i paid about 50 dollars for it before i even rented it. For the playstation version, which i have, it has great graphics, especially in the campaign mode. There are a few problems, some of which can be easily fixed. You are started with an inverted view, meaning you move up when you press to go down, which is easily changed in options. Next, it takes the longest time to get online because you have to go through multiple downloads and sign-ons. When you get online, there is relatively no lag, but there is an odd points system that makes little or no sense at all. There are some really interesting game modes, my favorite being the last human mode where you try not to be mutated by the "chosen one" and his victims.

The campaign however, is the best part. It isn't short by any means because i can normally beat them in most games in a few weeks. Even at easy, it is fairly challenging. It has a well thought out plot line, very well thought out. It has very well placed check points and easy combat interface. The campaign will stretch your mind and poke at your problem solving abilities as there are many places that need further examination to pass on.

There are a good diverse group of enemies, each type being harder and appearing at specific levels in the game.

My ratings

Combat interface
9/10

Storyline
10/10

Multiplayer (up to 8 players)
6/10

Music and graphics
9/10

overall
8/10

A incredible mixture of action and theory combined

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game has a type of Doom 3 style to it with aliens often jumping from around corners and lots of guns. The only reason I say that is because Doom 3 and Area 51 are without a doubt, the two best alien-based games created so far.
Both games are so close to each other the only differences are that Area 51 has: online play, multiplayer, and a story with a lot more depth, and although Area 51's graphics are very masterful, Doom 3's graphics are perfected.
But of course, this is about Area 51. The game drives off of two complete different styles from the beginning to the end. In the beginning, you are sent to Area 51 with all your comrades to protect the area and uncover some unanswered questions. Then, towards the end, you become a human that can transform into an alien and you start to realize that the government absolutely sucks.
The game's setting is set in the research facility of Area 51, that in this game, holds aliens.(It was a theory that Area 51 was holding aliens during the time of the Roswell Incident in the 50's.) You need to do whatever means necessary.
With maybe about 6 guns in the entire game and a few different grenades, the gameplay does very rarely get boring,
but it turns from a tactical mission into a huge slaughter during the gameplay from when you get your alien powers.
You do get to do cool abilities and go interesting places such as:launching parasites or clawing at alien guards, going inside a UFO, or using the alien's technology and weapons.
As you progress, the more terrible lies you will uncover about the government and what's really happening.
The voice overs in the game are usually very good(especially during the big battles and they're screaming and swearing), but a complaint is that the voice of Ethan Cole during the cut-scenes shows absolutely no emotion as to what's happening and it honestly sounds like he doesn't care.
However, this is one of the best 1st person shooters ever and I would buy it even for the most skeptical gamer. It deserves at least a 4 out of 5.

THIS GAME IS AWESOME IN ITS OWN SPECIAL WAY

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

it starts out pretty confusing until the first level but then its justyou and you'r squad hiding behind a box trying not to get killed as thousands of aliens swarm you. it was better than halo in mostt ways like graphics and stuff but had no vehicles. the only bad thing about this game is that i was really hoping for a co-op mode, and there are only like 5 weapons to choose from but it was kind of scary at some parts and there are tons of plot twists so it kind of makes up for it

Worthy Sequel

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Area 51 was first released as an light-gun arcade machine in the 90's. It followed the theory that Area 51 in Nevada was actually holding aliens. You played a marine trying to reclaim the base while learning deadly secrets. The story in this installment remains the same with more depth. You play as Ethan Cole, a marine sent in to find out what happened to Hazmat team Delta who disappeared while investigating the base. When you first arrive, you'll notice that things are totally messed up as you kill a comrade who's seem to have gone mad.

This game has a storyline that has many twists and turns. While the game has been changed from a light gun game to a FPS it still retains that of an arcade shooter. Enemies will pour into a room and you and your team mates must get rid of them to go on. However, they have added mission objectives to this game. You also get a couple of familiar actors like X-File's David Duchovny as Specialist Cole and creepy Marilyn Manson as Edgar the bizarre alien who contacts you throughout the game.

Overall, this game feels a lot like Halo in a good way. But there's a lot more here than in Halo. First, you get the choice (later in the game) to be a human player or alien. As a human you use various weapons like hand guns, automatic weapons, and the occasional alien arsenal. But it's fun to play as an alien too because you have the option to shoot parasites at various enemies which will refill your health. There's a catch though, you have to keep the Mutagen bar up to shoot parasites and it can be refilled by hitting enemies with your claws.

The game is pretty linear and can be easily completed but Midway added a few things to make it a little longer. First, we've got a scanner in this game that we use to scan special databank items. These items are amusing to read as they make you question whether this really happened or not. They can unlock special videos that fill in holes that plague you in the campaign mode. One of my favorites is Dr. Cray's video diary where he says that they faked the moon landing (which you can actually see in the base) to cover up what they found there. That has been a big controversy ever since it happened in the 60's.

The only disappointment I had in this game is that it can be completed easily and the fact that you can't unlock the original game (but you can find the actual arcade box located in some of the levels if you look carefully). You should pick this one up for some laughs with the documents or if you liked the original or any FPS games. Don't pick this up if you don't like arcade shooters though.

Pros
- Interesting Storyline
- Funny Documents that show how the government could've hidden things from the public
- The ability to play as either human or alien in campaign mode
- The multiplayer modes are interestingly put together
- We get good voice actors like David Duchovny
- We get to infiltrate one of the coolest, secret places on earth
- The inclusion of the original Area 51 arcade machine in the base

Cons
- No original game is unlockable
- The game is rather short if you decide not to pick up database items

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