Post by Reflecto on Apr 14, 2004 23:15:14 GMT -5
Alias (PS2 version reviewed)
The tradition of popular TV shows, movies, and the like getting their own spinoff video games is one of the more longstanding ones. Sometimes the movies worked as video games (Spider-Man being the most recent result of a success story there), and sometimes the movies did not (any true video game fan still remembers E.T.'s monumental failure- so big it killed the industry, although other movies [Fifth Element and Wayne's World being the most notable] did their own personal damage as well). TV shows tended to fare poorly for the most part: Outside of The Simpsons, TV show-based video games tend to be poor (the Home Improvement video game is one of the few games to have the coder give it the Alan Smithee treatment after the fact.) With that in mind, it was surprising that the game based on the hit TV show Alias actually recieved some good press for it- the more press a game gets, the more spectacular its failure will be.
The game itself is pretty straightforward with what you'd expect from the TV show's game. By that, I mean that it's basically Metal Gear Solid with boobies. This can be a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing if, like me, you're not a big fan of the "stealth game" genre: Games that are just carbon copies of a game usually tend to be dumbed down. In the cases of stealth games, that equals out to a slightly easier play than the major games in the genre. However, these "pros" for less major fans of the genre is also a "con" for fans of it: The fact that it's dumbed down leaves you with a weaker play than most of them for more advanced fans of the genre, leading to a poorer experience.
Final tally: Alias is one of those games which has just enough of a potential audience to work. If you're a fan of the TV series...well, I don't watch that, you're on your own on whether it feels like an episode of the series. If you're not a fan of stealth games, it's worth a play to try and get a feel for the genre before going to Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, or Metal Gear Solid. If you're a fan of the genre, you'd be well advised to skip it and head to the newest Rainbow Six game.
Rating: **.5- decidedly not l33t, but the developers should not be forced to 53xx0rz t3h butt just yet.
The tradition of popular TV shows, movies, and the like getting their own spinoff video games is one of the more longstanding ones. Sometimes the movies worked as video games (Spider-Man being the most recent result of a success story there), and sometimes the movies did not (any true video game fan still remembers E.T.'s monumental failure- so big it killed the industry, although other movies [Fifth Element and Wayne's World being the most notable] did their own personal damage as well). TV shows tended to fare poorly for the most part: Outside of The Simpsons, TV show-based video games tend to be poor (the Home Improvement video game is one of the few games to have the coder give it the Alan Smithee treatment after the fact.) With that in mind, it was surprising that the game based on the hit TV show Alias actually recieved some good press for it- the more press a game gets, the more spectacular its failure will be.
The game itself is pretty straightforward with what you'd expect from the TV show's game. By that, I mean that it's basically Metal Gear Solid with boobies. This can be a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing if, like me, you're not a big fan of the "stealth game" genre: Games that are just carbon copies of a game usually tend to be dumbed down. In the cases of stealth games, that equals out to a slightly easier play than the major games in the genre. However, these "pros" for less major fans of the genre is also a "con" for fans of it: The fact that it's dumbed down leaves you with a weaker play than most of them for more advanced fans of the genre, leading to a poorer experience.
Final tally: Alias is one of those games which has just enough of a potential audience to work. If you're a fan of the TV series...well, I don't watch that, you're on your own on whether it feels like an episode of the series. If you're not a fan of stealth games, it's worth a play to try and get a feel for the genre before going to Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, or Metal Gear Solid. If you're a fan of the genre, you'd be well advised to skip it and head to the newest Rainbow Six game.
Rating: **.5- decidedly not l33t, but the developers should not be forced to 53xx0rz t3h butt just yet.