Man, this game is really unlike any other FPS. I remember I used to play this game a lot as a kid because I was so obsessed with the idea of shooting up Area 51 and the aliens with it AND using mutant powers. It was like a power fetish come true. Almost two decades later and this game still satisfied that itch with the impeccable game design and world building.
Area 51 was probably one of the last few FPS games where they still kept that old school FPS vibe but with more modern shooter mechanics like unleashing your mutant side as a special ability and interacting with environments with your scanning device which amazingly does a good job at revealing some in-game lore. It felt like a Half-Life clone in the best way possible essentially.
The levels you progress through are so well fleshed out and cleverly designed. You'll have your shoot outs with mutants and alien soldiers and then you'll have some breather moments after battle just taking in some lore or do some small but quick battles before a more strenuous one comes. The game does a good job ramping up the difficulty as you progress through the game. It rarely feels like its plateauing.
Of course despite it feeling like a perfect game, it is in no way a perfect game as there are some flaws that distract me a little too much at times. The biggest suspect is the aiming/shooting of this game. Whilst I love the combat and the arsenal you have at your disposal, the aiming feels slippery even when you lower the sensitivity and when you get shot at the screen shakes too much that it becomes disorienting making it a bit of an eyesore to aim at enemies. Thankfully it wasn't game breaking for me, but it's definitely a sign of poorly aged game design. Besides, this was when console FPS games were still trying to advance the Halo formula, so I'm willing to forgive.
Another annoying flaw about this game is the voice acting, more specifically Marilyn Manson's voice acting. If you weren't aware, Area 51 has a star studded cast like David Duchovny and Powers Booth... and unfortunately Marilyn Manson. I think Midway casted Marilyn Manson just because he was hip, cool, and freaky at the time because his voice acting gave me second hand embarrassment. I know you could play the VA director for that, but honestly Manson doesn't really have an intimidatingly unique voice that others at the time thought he would have. He just sounds wimpy and pathetic in the game. David and Powers on the other hand did a very good job for some of their first time doing VA in a video game, especially David. His voice has a bit of existential dread and misery that even with campy writing still comes out great. Both David and Powers pretty much made up for Mansons slack thankfully.
I'll be real though, the story in this game is... not that great. It's not bad, but it starts to fall flat pretty quick. I'm not really sure who was the enemy or was the ally in the grand scheme of things. Like sure I'm killing aliens but I also got helped by one of the aliens??? The premise I think just got a little too much attention compared to the entirety of the game.
Even nearly 20 years later I'm VERY pleasantly surprised by how well the design for this game has aged, but then again I also acknowledge that modern FPS design has been very lethargic and simplified minus a few games here and there compared to the stuff that came out pretty much before the seventh gen of gaming. Still, with that being said I genuinely believe that if a game with the same design as Area 51 came out it would either do very well in sales or at the very minimum be a cult classic like Area 51 is. I still cannot get over the scanning device. Its such a clever innovative and immersive way to get some in-game lore without it being force fed to you. I highly encourage the viewers to scan everything you can in sight, even yourself. You'll never know what you'll discover.
I very VERY much recommend this game to the following:
-FPS fans. Trust me when I saw you will be charmed and seduced by the mechanics this game has. Let yourself adjust to the controls and eventually you'll have yourself a grand time.
-Doom and Half-Life fans. I know I just mentioned FPS fans, but playing this game as if it's like Doom where you're constantly moving around (assuming there are no snipers in the area) makes it really effective during intense combat. Half-Life because you will be forced to do some light puzzle solving and platforming which will require you to be creative with how you examine the map. Basically, you need to think in this FPS more than usual.
-Sci-Fi fans. Obviously Area 51 is a sci-fi game, but there's a lot of fun references to both grounded conspiracy theories as well as fantastical conspiracy theories mixed with the alien warfare and mutants you face.
Area 51 was probably one of the last few FPS games where they still kept that old school FPS vibe but with more modern shooter mechanics like unleashing your mutant side as a special ability and interacting with environments with your scanning device which amazingly does a good job at revealing some in-game lore. It felt like a Half-Life clone in the best way possible essentially.
The levels you progress through are so well fleshed out and cleverly designed. You'll have your shoot outs with mutants and alien soldiers and then you'll have some breather moments after battle just taking in some lore or do some small but quick battles before a more strenuous one comes. The game does a good job ramping up the difficulty as you progress through the game. It rarely feels like its plateauing.
Of course despite it feeling like a perfect game, it is in no way a perfect game as there are some flaws that distract me a little too much at times. The biggest suspect is the aiming/shooting of this game. Whilst I love the combat and the arsenal you have at your disposal, the aiming feels slippery even when you lower the sensitivity and when you get shot at the screen shakes too much that it becomes disorienting making it a bit of an eyesore to aim at enemies. Thankfully it wasn't game breaking for me, but it's definitely a sign of poorly aged game design. Besides, this was when console FPS games were still trying to advance the Halo formula, so I'm willing to forgive.
Another annoying flaw about this game is the voice acting, more specifically Marilyn Manson's voice acting. If you weren't aware, Area 51 has a star studded cast like David Duchovny and Powers Booth... and unfortunately Marilyn Manson. I think Midway casted Marilyn Manson just because he was hip, cool, and freaky at the time because his voice acting gave me second hand embarrassment. I know you could play the VA director for that, but honestly Manson doesn't really have an intimidatingly unique voice that others at the time thought he would have. He just sounds wimpy and pathetic in the game. David and Powers on the other hand did a very good job for some of their first time doing VA in a video game, especially David. His voice has a bit of existential dread and misery that even with campy writing still comes out great. Both David and Powers pretty much made up for Mansons slack thankfully.
I'll be real though, the story in this game is... not that great. It's not bad, but it starts to fall flat pretty quick. I'm not really sure who was the enemy or was the ally in the grand scheme of things. Like sure I'm killing aliens but I also got helped by one of the aliens??? The premise I think just got a little too much attention compared to the entirety of the game.
Even nearly 20 years later I'm VERY pleasantly surprised by how well the design for this game has aged, but then again I also acknowledge that modern FPS design has been very lethargic and simplified minus a few games here and there compared to the stuff that came out pretty much before the seventh gen of gaming. Still, with that being said I genuinely believe that if a game with the same design as Area 51 came out it would either do very well in sales or at the very minimum be a cult classic like Area 51 is. I still cannot get over the scanning device. Its such a clever innovative and immersive way to get some in-game lore without it being force fed to you. I highly encourage the viewers to scan everything you can in sight, even yourself. You'll never know what you'll discover.
I very VERY much recommend this game to the following:
-FPS fans. Trust me when I saw you will be charmed and seduced by the mechanics this game has. Let yourself adjust to the controls and eventually you'll have yourself a grand time.
-Doom and Half-Life fans. I know I just mentioned FPS fans, but playing this game as if it's like Doom where you're constantly moving around (assuming there are no snipers in the area) makes it really effective during intense combat. Half-Life because you will be forced to do some light puzzle solving and platforming which will require you to be creative with how you examine the map. Basically, you need to think in this FPS more than usual.
-Sci-Fi fans. Obviously Area 51 is a sci-fi game, but there's a lot of fun references to both grounded conspiracy theories as well as fantastical conspiracy theories mixed with the alien warfare and mutants you face.