Area 51 (2005) Critic Reviews

The enemy AI on here smokes that which is found in Bungie's FPS masterpiece, since everything here is vicious, blood-thirsty, filled with hatred, and most of all crack shots with whatever weapons they hold.

For the most part Area 51 delivered a solid, fast, fun, and very challenging action-shooter, all set within a creative human-alien hybrid setting. Who wouldn't love the chance to get a peek inside Area 51?

A fun, exciting, and intense FPS that has varied and creative environments, well-designed weapons and creatures, fantastic graphics, and fabulous sound effects.

With guns firing at full tilt, and mindless carnage taking center stage, Midway has a surefire hit on its hands.

An interesting, atmospheric, engaging and most importantly fun to play shooter despite being a little mindless at times.

The gameplay is fantastic, it's a solid, fast paced shooter that will give you your fix for shooting the hell out of some aliens.

A fairly long game for its type and it should give even the most veteran FPS fans 12-15 hours of excitement. The cut-scenes alone are with the price of a theater's admission.

The levels are well designed and there's enough action here to do the genre justice.

Dialogue is fantastic. The script's professionally written. Foul language is common, yet used in the appropriate context. Weapons come off as carefully balanced, and won't disappoint.

As well as its gameplay is executed, and with first-class presentation, ultimately Area 51 cannot quite rise above the pack of other good first-person shooters on the Xbox.

A strong game, but it succeeds kind of in spite of itself. It would've been nice to see a lot more originality in the game, but Area 51 is a fun ride, regardless.

From its chaotic beginning to its clinically insane conclusion, Area 51 provides just enough classic FPS action and technical goodness to merit a great rating and honest recommendation.

Sucks all these sci-fi staples together into some kind of cliche black hole that also happens to look killer and deliver serious scares and thrills.

All the production quality that went in to this title would have been great, had it not been botched by David Duchovny and a story that wants to be so much, but ends up being so little.

The sound is exceptional and sets the atmosphere and pace of the game.

Combines some of the basic FPS elements with some of the more dramatic things that have evolved from the recent FPS titles, and has collected them into a semi-solid mass that thoroughly entertains.

A well rounded FPS which gives you just enough to keep the controller in your hand.

While there are problems--too cutscene-heavy, some lame objectives, and the fact that there are infinitely more zombies than little green men--Area 51 is more than enough to make a believer out of you.

A solid shooter with some fun twists.

If you enjoy first-person action games, Area 51 marks a solid entry that should keep you occupied if not wholly entertained for as long as it lasts.