Area 51 - Xbox Original

Area 51 for Xbox Original

Area 51 for Xbox Original is a first-person shooter about an outbreak inside a sealed military base. You play Ethan Cole, a HAZMAT specialist investigating a distress signal. What initially seems like a dangerous cleanup operation leads to alien installations beneath the laboratories and secrets reaching far beyond an accident. As you descend, scientific facilities give way to increasingly strange surroundings and enemies.

You use human firearms, grenades and alien weapons, alongside a scanner for investigating clues. Some guns can be wielded in both hands at once. Cole himself becomes infected and gains a temporary mutated form with different attacks. This alternates aimed gunfire with fighting that brings you closer to enemies. The scanner provides a reason to stop, inspect your surroundings and collect background information about the investigation.

The campaign is single-player; the soldiers helping you along the way are controlled by the game. This Xbox edition also includes separate local matches for up to four players on a split screen. Each participant needs an Xbox controller. These are competitive battles, not a cooperative campaign. The original Xbox Live service ended on 15 April 2010; online options appearing on the disc do not mean that official service still operates.

Region and language

Our Xbox Original games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.

Manual

Area 51 for Xbox Original includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.

The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.

The history of Area 51

Midway released Area 51 in 2005 for platforms including the original Xbox. Its developer began as Inevitable Entertainment in Austin. On 11 October 2004 Midway announced its acquisition, after which the studio became Midway Studios Austin. The project was already in development. This change explains why both studio names appear in information about the same game, without indicating two different game editions.

Midway cast familiar voices for the story. David Duchovny voiced Ethan Cole, Powers Boothe played Major Bridges and Marilyn Manson supplied the alien Edgar's voice. This matched the emphasis on conspiracies, government secrets and an investigation spiralling out of control. Dialogue is not the only way the plot unfolds: laboratories, sealed corridors and discovered information gradually reveal what is happening beneath the base.

The design combines a military shooter's pace with the unease of bodily transformation. Initially the infection is an outside threat; later it affects Cole's own body and abilities. The scanner and mutation consequently provide two different approaches to the same base: gathering information or taking direct action. This description concerns the 2005 Xbox game. BlackSite: Area 51 is a later, separate game; its title and features are not part of this disc.

Similar games for Xbox Original

Breakdown and Area 51 both begin in research facilities where human and alien interests intertwine. Breakdown gives the protagonist's body much greater weight: punches, kicks and the camera moving with Derrick define combat. Area 51 combines firearms, the scanner and Cole's temporary mutation. One adventure consequently focuses more on direct physical contact, while the other centres on shooting and investigating clues.

Halo: Combat Evolved shares alien opponents and the combination of human and unfamiliar weapons. Halo more often takes you across open terrain and into vehicles; Area 51 leads through a sealed research base. Cole's scanner and mutation also differ in emphasis from Master Chief's shield and weapon choices. The similarities lie chiefly in first-person shooting, while the surroundings and equipment produce a different combat rhythm.

Doom 3 and Area 51 both use scientific installations where disaster has destroyed everyday order. Doom 3 builds its threat around darkness and demons on Mars; Area 51 chooses an Earth-based military facility, infection and alien conspiracies. Both encourage a cautious look into a new room before gunfire begins. The scanner and Cole's changing body give Area 51 its own way of investigating and fighting the disaster.

Half-Life 2 also tells a science-fiction story in first person on Xbox, but gives objects' physical properties a major role. Area 51 uses its scanner to gather information about the base and lets Cole mutate temporarily. This creates different actions from using objects during an ongoing escape through changing areas. Both games introduce their worlds as you travel through them, without requiring a separate strategic overview first.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay combines a first-person adventure with stealth and close combat. Riddick tries to escape a prison and uses shadow to approach guards. Ethan Cole instead investigates why his military base has been sealed, fighting with increasingly strange equipment. Enclosed environments connect the games, but a prisoner's escape calls for a different approach from an armed HAZMAT specialist's mission.