As the title suggests, the game is set in the government-secured ‘Area 51’, which we’re lead to believe is the home to various alien creatures, experiments and much more bizarre things that would be best kept from being revealed to the rest of the world. The game begins with an elite special operations unit sent in to infiltrate the infamous research facility and investigate the disappearance of the Army’s HAZMAT team, identify the biohazard, clean it, and get out before hell breaks loose. Well, unfortunately everything does break loose, which leaves our main player Ethan Cole, and his team, stranded to fight off hordes and hordes of mysterious alien creatures and deadly viruses before they are consumed by this overrunning evil too. Before things even begin, Ethan Cole is sent off to look for some ammunition when he soon discovers that the deadly virus, venting its way through the facility, has made its way into his own body and has taken ahold of his ability to control himself and his sanity.
In between the lines of human and alien, Ethan Cole now has the ability to transform into an alien form to perform an array of vicious alien attacks.
‘Double the weaponry, double the fun’
Area 51 has everything you’d expect in a FPS title; an array of deadly weapons, a compelling story, dual-weapon handling, mutation abilities; the ability to peek around corners, use flashlights, jump, crouch, and use melee attacks. In addition to all this, the game also includes a scanning feature, similar to the feature found in Nintendo’s own Metroid Prime series, that assists gamers in identifying objects along the way.
On the multiplayer side, Midway’s Area 51 will feature a stunning multiplayer experience that features online play. 2-16 players will be allowed to compete in typical deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag contests. In addition, there’ll be multiplayer modes of capture and hold, as well as the frantic ‘infection’ mode, where gamers must stay clear of the infected player at all costs to survive, whilst the infected player tries to infect as many other players as possible before time runs out.
In addition, the game’s presentation seems to be on par with what is to be expected from current generation titles – and then some. The game’s visuals are extremely sharp, lighting is varied enough to create an immersing experience, while the game’s animation looks to run very smoothly. The only downfall we’ve witnessed so far is that some of the modelling of various aliens throughout the game tends to look a tad uninspiring – we’re hoping that’s only because of the early version showcasing.
‘The Truth Is Out There!’
The audio also seems to be doing a fine job, as it sets the perfect scene for action quite nicely. The voice-acting seems well-played and weapon effects sound satisfying. The game’s soundtrack sounds incredibly immersing and spooky in all the right areas, thanks to Nine Inch Nails' very own Chris Vrenna providing the score.
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