Area 51 - PS2

The stuff that urban legends are made of, the story - if there really is one - of Area 51 is imprinted on the collective consciousness of our times. Roswell, grey aliens, UFOs, weather balloons, abductions, government conspiracy, nobody knows the truth, now so obscured by rumour, myth and conjecture. Science fiction from Independence Day to the X Files have used the cachet of the mysterious facility to give their storylines added impact, and now Midway bring us a game which bears the title of the nebulous base.

The game mixes and matches various conspiracy theories with joyful abandon. The background story is of the Gray Aliens, who have studied mankind for generations. The reason for this is a sinister one, they wished to conduct research on the backwater planet of Earth in the hope of developing a weapon that will help them to win a galactic war. Following the crash of one of their ships in Roswell, New Mexico, the aliens struck a deal with conspiracy theorists’ favourites the Illuminati group, who in return for a sneak peek at their outlandish technologies offered them unlimited human subjects to help develop their nefarious plans. Dr. Cray, who works at the Area 51 in close association with Edgar, the alien from the Roswell crash site, realises the fate of the planet itself could be at stake. Feeling that he cannot trust his Illuminati overlords, Cray instead releases an alien super virus he has developed at the facility. Answering a distress call, a Bio Hazard containment specialist team is sent in to investigate. They are never heard from again. A second team is sent to find out what happened. This is your team. You’ll have access to all manner of weapons and technology, alien and conventional, as you set off on a mission to uncover the terrors that are all too likely to lie in wait for you at Area 51. You’re against the clock, as the virus quickly infects you. Infection has its benefits: your powers seem to be increasing by the minute, but perhaps at the cost of your humanity!

Naturally this First Person Shooter features full online support so that you can enjoy your special weapons and abilities with others. Featuring a whole cast of Special Ops agents and spine-chilling aliens (designed by the monster experts at Stan Winston studios) the single player version of this lavish paranoia-fest will see you investigating, fighting and exploring ever downwards through the subterranean levels of the Area 51 facility in search of the truth. But even if you can, do you dare to uncover it? more