rea 51 is one heck of a weird place, in both real and video game life.  It’s a site shrouded in mystery, where seemingly anything and everything can happen.  Midway is hoping to bank in on the allure of the area with their upcoming FPS action title Area 51.  And for the most part, they manage to get it all right.  Whether it’s the intense action, science fiction heavy storyline, or the heavily cinematic feel that permeates nearly every single second of the game, fans of the genre and those folks who are always looking to the sky for little green men will find plenty to have fun with.

Area 51, which features the voice of David Duchovny, follows the adventure of David Cole, a Hazmat specialist sent into Area 51 to investigate a potentially volatile breach of security.  It seems that a strange virus has been unleashed in the area and any human who comes into contact with it is transformed into a mindless and incredibly violent mutant.  Cole, however, isn’t the first person to try and quell the conflict.  A previous Hazmat team had been sent in, only to disappear without a trace.  And while Cole initially enters Area 51 with three squad members, he soon finds himself alone in the expansive complex with little more than his guns and wits to keep him alive.

Dual wielding is still a great way to mow down foes 

While the game begins with a typical tutorial scenario that gets you attuned to the game’s controls, you’ll soon be thrust into the heart of the gameplay, all of which is tuned to be as action packed as possible.  Cole, being trained with firearms, can wield a number of different guns.  Handguns, machine guns, and shotguns, are just a few armaments that he’ll come across.  For double the damage, he can also dual wield certain weapons, although the system of dual wielding operates a bit differently than what you’re probably used to.  When dual wielding, you don’t actually have the control to fire either the gun in your left or right hand.  Instead, your fire button shoots off rounds from both guns simultaneously.  This is a great feature if you’re more concerned about dishing out death and destruction, but less intuitive if you favor having more control over your ammunition and how you expend it.  Cole can also pick up grenades and man certain gun turrets, although the gun turret experiences are pretty few and far between. 

Since Cole has been sent into Area 51 to not only “sanitize” the area as well as gather information, you’ll make heavy use of a special arm gizmo that allows him to gather information from certain objects you’ll find laying about.  If you point the gizmo at objects and press the fire button, the machine will analyze the object and return some information about its source and what it has to do with Area 51.  Needless to say, you’ll come across a wide array of weird objects to analyze, such as a map to the location of the lost city of Atlantis.  While they system is fun to mess around with, it’s main purpose is to unlock bonus content in the game, with new content being made available after you scan a certain number of items.

It's all about the glow

With all the crazy mutants running around, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Cole would eventually become a victim of the strange virus that has overtaken the area.  But, all is not lost when he becomes infected.  In fact, his body seems quite immune to it, and instead of becoming a mindless mutant, Cole becomes a kick ass fighting machine.  Once you’ve gained mutant powers, you’ll be able to utilize a number of key combat techniques.  The first power you acquire is an incredibly strong melee attack that also comes with the ability to slightly slow down time.  Later on, you’ll get even more bizarre powers, such as the ability to shoot out infected parasites from your fists.  All mutant power use is bound by your current stock of mutagen.  If you melee kill mutants during combat, you’ll gain a partial amount of mutagen that allows you to continue to use your mutant powers.  You can also fill your mutagen meter (which appears above your life bar) by extracting the substance from infected human bodies that you’ll find scattered about the game.  Certain bodies exude a strange brownish-yellow cloud of mutagen and running up to one and then pressing the action button will fill your mutagen stock.

Combat, outside of the oddly satisfying mutant powers, is pretty straight forward for an FPS.  Movement is naturally fluid and easy to utilize, adhering to the standard two analog stick system of moving and aiming.  Cole can both jump and crouch, which proves itself helpful, especially when you need to duck into an air duct to explore an area more thoroughly.  Cole can also utilize a wall lean maneuver, which is invaluable during later portions of the game where the action literally jumps to mind-boggling levels. 

Multiplayer is fast and furious fun

 While the crazy combat and unique mutant powers really makes Area 51 an enjoyable time, I was most impressed with the sheer scale of the action that oozes from the game.  Playing out more like a Hollywood movie than a video game, you’ll be tasked with staying alive and fighting off hordes of mutants and other creatures pretty much from the very moment the game starts.  This is where Area 51 really differentiates itself from other FPS titles.  While other games may have you take on five enemies at one time and then make you run around for five or ten minutes until the next encounter, Area 51 throws enemies at you like it’s going out of style.  Expect some particularly heated fights where swarms of 30 or so mutants will continuously pour towards your location.  While you’ll usually get some help in the form of NPCs in some of the stickier situations, the amount of action that you’ll be taking part in will undoubtedly impress you. 

To go along with the Hollywood-esque feel of the game, you’ll also be treated to a storyline that is filled with plenty of twists and turns.  Conspiracy theorists will more than likely jump for joy as they play through the game and learn the dark secrets behind the mutant outbreak, and while more rational folks may find it a bit too hard to swallow, I’d take an outrageous story over a boring one any day.  And thanks to the spot-on voice dialogue of Mr. Duchovny, every one-screen action and bizarre story twist is made that much more enjoyable.

Visually Area 51 is a feast for your eyes, mainly due to the level of detail found in the environments and character models.  While most of your time is spent running  around the confines of Area 51, Midway has done a good job of making sure that no one area every looks boring.  Animated machines and other set pieces are strewn about the game, and each one helps to give each are you travel through a more realistic feel.  Characters, however, are probably the most impressive visual feature in the game.  You’ll be taking on a macabre cast of mutants, monsters, and aliens, and each one is rendered and animated quite well. 

Aurally, Area 51 doesn’t fare quite as well compared to the graphics, but that’s not to say that the game doesn’t have some good sound.  Quite the contrary, you’ll be treated to a number of surprisingly mood music tracks, as well as some pretty good voice acting.  David Duchovny is obviously the focal point of the audio, but it’s nice to see that there’s been some attention to the other sound mechanics, too.

Overall Area 51 is one the most surprisingly good FPS games out there.  True, the actual FPS combat is pretty standard for the genre, but Midway has added just enough new content to make things very, very interesting.  The mutant powers are a blast to use (and actually play into the storyline quite heavily) and the conspiracy theorist themed storyline will have you shaking and scratching your head in wonder and disbelief.  If you’re an alien nut and spend your nights looking to the stars, you’re gonna love this game.  And, even if you don’t dig the little green men and just love to play FPS games, you’ll find plenty of action to keep your fingers busy.  I guess it goes to show you, not every alien can be as friendly as ET.