Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"One of the better game/TV-show tie-in games I've played, even if based on a series that 'jumped the shark' over one full season ago."

---from the review

-----------------

Sidebar :

-----------------

No Sidebar Comments for this review. Yet...

-----------------

Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

------------------

Alias

Click picture to order this game (PC/windows version)

A Techtite Review

The hardest part of making a video game based on a current TV show is how quickly the tides turn on a show's popularity...or even the show's very format! Games by their very nature take around two years to complete (a kind estimate); a factor that is driven home when said series is Alias, where a lot has changed in two years! In most respects, this game is structured not unlike the series' format, nearly two seasons ago. Then again, that means the game is based on a time and place, before the series began to suck. For all the fans of this spy series the way it once was; this game is for you.

Not that people looking for an engrossing story will be too satisfied. This is strictly a gamers' game, where Sydney is sent on an assignment and must complete an action-packed game map, to proceed to the next assignment. The format is strictly by-gamers-for-gamers, with little in the way of a storyline; a major disappointment for those who'd like an interactive episode of the series per se. Then again; as a gamers' game, it's a very intriguing one. Each missions' level maps look almost completely different from those seen before, enhancing the idea that Sydney is traveling abroad, and helping the fun factor of the game. Sydney will be exploring everything from a terrorist-style camp in the desert to an exotic European museum. There's a lot of cool eye candy to enjoy ...and we're not just talking Sydney Bristow here.

Before we do get to said lead heroine, however, let's discuss the game a little bit, shall we? The overall playing style is sort of like a "Tomb Raider" clone, with Sydney crawling, sneaking, and jumping past various laser beam security systems and sentry guards, to obtain various secret documents and what-not from the nefarious underground group, The Covenant. You'll be given gadgets prior to each mission, and use them for various tasks. Such tasks that need completion can include anything from hacking into a security computer, to trailing Sark while disguised, to see where a trapped scientist is. The mission parameters can get redundant at times, when most are "find location X to hack into computer Y with gadget Z." It's still a fun game though.

Fans of the series, however, want to see a few hand-to-hand fights that Sydney Bristow is best known for. The game's fighting interface is actually pretty good, though not with too many maneuvers. To some this means that this could be just another Tomb Raider romp from the late 1990's; find enemy, defeat, repeat. Then again, I am no fan of games where "to swing enemy over shoulders press A, X, B, D, A, A, A." I just want a game interface that is easily playable.

True, some people don't find a game with limited action moves very cool. Here's what is cool; alternate solutions. It's one thing to have alternate moves to learn; it's another thing entirely, to offer either a "stealth" or "guns blazing" or "martial arts" solution, to any one puzzle. Sydney, for one thing, always goes to a mission with one of her clever disguises. You can opt to use this outfit, and <poof> most people won't fight you, unless you provoke them. This is an easy way to keep from fighting long enough to gauge your surroundings and plan a wiser strategy. One other solution is to sneak up on opponents and knock them out. Then there's the guns-blazing approach, which of course requires the obligatory gun, with the right amount of ammo (more on that later). Then there's Sydney's trademark martial arts to fight with. Don't be too quick to use this approach, though; there are a lot of fights to be had, and very little health packs to go around (as I said: more on that later). The choices here are many.

Now for the bad news. This game's physics are woven from the same cloth as Splinter Cell. Mind you; I really liked Splinter Cell, but I could've done without the realism, where as little as three gun shots could kill you. Sydney isn't that bad, but she's no video game heroine with two .45's in her shorts. Although it is potentially possible, for players who love a challenge, to actually fight throughout the game, most gamers will prefer the sneak approach, or else you'll see Sydney die many times. This is all the more frustrating when Sydney does not have any major stealth maneuvers like Splinter Cell, nor the under-appreciated Thief series. She can tip-toe behind an enemy that doesn't see her, and that's it. Yes, there is the occasional gun to even the score, meaning that if an enemy is shot three times, they die too (so there, bad guy!). Yet ammo is very scarce; another reality that wasn't truly necessary.

Of course, fans of the series are fans of Sydney Bristow, as played by Jennifer Garner. That said; fans of this game will be so because they get to play a Tomb Raider Clone of sorts, with a third-person view of Sydney, at all times...coooool. This perk of the game is made all the more cooler with the obligatory "disguise" each mission, which was designed to (ahem) please the gamer. While the standard uniform for Sydney is a trademark "spy outfit" that is best for her to wear on the most part, it's interesting to click on the disguise button and see her pretend to be, among other things, a night club waitress, a museum curator, and a punk rocker. The attention to detail in this game is driven home by all the actual cast members portraying their characters from the series, including Jennifer Garner herself. At times, it's almost eerie how realistic their representation of Sydney Bristow's character truly is.

Not that all traits of the game are successes. Yes, much like the series, Sydney has gadgetry given to her at the start of each mission, be it a way to bend the light of a nearby laser detection grid, or better still, a way to hack into nearby computers. However, I found these gadgets to be little more than fodder for the mission parameters I described before: find location X, get near computer there, and use item on it to proceed. I don't know what was better; half a dozen of missions like this, or one truly annoying "trail Sark" level, where he looked over his shoulder every three yards or so. The idea is to walk fast enough to hide behind nearby furniture, though not so fast that he hears you. This was one of the lesser moments of the game to me.

Such gripes, however, do not detract from the game elsewhere, which is actually quite fun. This is clearly a game made by fans, for fans, right down to the equally eerie, exact-representation of Jennifer Garner in the computer rendered video cutscenes, in between each new mission location. For fans of the series, this is a really cool game.

Should you get this game, if you're not a fan? Probably not. In fact, if you're not a fan of the series, the overall structure of the game may escape you completely. This is a game where it not only helps to be a fan, but it's pretty much required. However, for people who are already fans of the series, this is one of the better TV-series tie-in games I've ever played. Since such games are a dime a dozen these days, that's saying an awful lot.

---Techtite