Official Webpage
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Action / Survival Horror
Number of Players: 1
With any successful franchise in the
entertainment industry, there's always the need to market it to the
world of video games. Movies of course have usually been the big draw,
and over the past two decades we've seen games for anything imaginable
from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, even Friday the 13th and
Stargate to name a few. Television on the other hand tends to be
ignored for the most part unless it's something that can be marketed
towards children. Video games though were once seen as something that
only kids played, and the adults were forgotten, but the time finally
came where things were seen a little differently.
The X-Files may be one of the more recent success stories in
terms of television science fiction. Some things, such as an already
well-known franchise like Star Trek is a given when a new series comes
out, but with The X-Files, this was a long shot: a series that
dealt with FBI agents investigating paranormal phenomenon. Despite the
long shot however, the series gained a huge following as well all know
and even went as far as getting its own theatrical film. Over the course
of the series' nine-year run, a few video games were released, but
nothing that really captured the interest of fans. One of the last
attempts was a horrid point and click adventure that didn't even
directly involve Mulder and Scully, and instead was simply an attempt to
cash in on the X-Files name itself. Times have changed, and so
has game play. Now, The X-Files gets another attempt to shine in
the spotlight with a new game, Resist or Serve, and it goes beyond the
last miserable attempt.
Set before Agent Mulder abduction at the end of season 7, Resist or
Serve follows agents Mulder and Scully as they once again delve into the
world of the paranormal. A series of murders has brought them to
Colorado and due to the evidence that Mulder has obtained, he believes
that two sisters are the primary suspects, especially as they are
practitioners of witchcraft and crime scene photos seem to point in that
direction. However, upon arriving in Red Falls, the events begin to get
stranger, the dead walk the streets, and Mulder and Scully begin to
unravel a mystery which is much greater than they expected.
The good news for any fan of the series is that there have been quite a
few names brought in for the game. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
both reprise their roles as Mulder and Scully, something that is a
little surprising in my opinion. Gillian I could see coming in to work
on the game but Duchovny has commented many times in the past about
being tired of playing the character, but I suppose if the paycheck is
enough, he's more than willing to do it. But, those associated with
The X-Files continues. Mitch Pileggi is back as Skinner, William B.
Davis reprises his role as CBG Spender, better known as the Cigarette
Smoking Man, Nicolas Lea is here as the much-despised Alex Krycek and
even the Lone Gunmean (Bruce Hardwood, Dean Harwood, and Tom Braidwood)
show up in the game as well. So, if you were worried about cheap
imitators taking on the role of your favorite characters, you can rest
easy. Even Mark Snow does the music for the game.
This is about where the good news ends though. Resist of Serve plays
much like a Resident Evil clone, and a bad one at that. We can thank
Capcom I suppose for coming up with the Survival Horror moniker, but
everyone thinks that they can jump on the bandwagon and give it a shot,
and very few of these games have managed to live up to their own hype.
For the most part however, most survival horror titles have played
exactly the same save for a few minor differences in game play, and
The X-Files is about as blatant of a clone as you can find.
The game is divided up into three different acts and at first, it
doesn't seem as though the game is going to be that bad. We are treated
to a cut scene that gives a bit of the details on how the case began
followed by a very familiar opening. So, it plays itself just like one
of the television episodes would. Mulder and Scully then head in to get
to the heart of the situation, and this includes the usual banter and
sarcasm that we are all familiar with. In fact, the characters give us
what we expect throughout the game, Mulder with his cutting wit, Scully
with her insistence that there is a more logical explanation for things.
This is thanks to bringing in some of the writers from the series, and
they out of anyone should be familiar with how the characters should
interact with one another.
The game play again is just like Resident Evil. In each area, you will
find items that you can pick up, clues to uncover, simple puzzles to
solve, and foes to battle. You also will choose which agent you wish to
play, so if you play straight through as Mulder and complete the game
and then switch to Scully, while it may be the same story, you see
things from the other side.The gun use has the same annoyance that RE
does, and by that I mean the simple fact that you can't run and shoot.
Once you've aimed at your target, your stuck in position, but you do
have to worry about ammo, and that adds a bit of a challenge. It's far
too simple much of the time to locate objects, clues, or things that you
can interact with as an "X" will appear in the bottom corner of the
screen, although that does tend to be true for doors that you can't open
and such.
All the game calks up to being however is a very rudimentary run-n-gun
game with puzzles, and that's really about all there is too it.
Occasionally you'll be thrown a bone with some sort of cut scene and
dialog that is meant to deepen the mystery, but the games plot isn't
much better than what the ninth season of the series was, the only
saving grace here being that neither Doggitt or Reyes are anywhere to be
found in the game.
Even with the actual actors lending their voices, the problem is that
the characters don't always look like they should. Scully for example
looks like she may have started using steroids and is far too beefy. The
movements are simply horrible and far too stiff for my liking. Both
Mulder and Scully move more like some animatronic creation in Disneyland
instead of moving like an actually person might. The undead are very
unimaginative as are the minor characters that are thrown in from time
to time. While the game tries to create an atmosphere, often times its
either too dark to figure out what's going on, or even where you're
supposed to be heading, or it just doesn't lend well to the particular
scene.
It might be a step in the right direction, and it certainly is better
than the point and click fiasco, Resist or Serve is more an attempt to
cash in on The X-Files name than create a good title based on it.
Having talked with quite a few fans of the series that have played the
game, none of them have had anything good to say about it, and are more
disappointed than anything else. Resist the temptation, no matter how
much you love the series, Resist or Serve is going to leave a much worse
taste in your mouth than any episode from the last two seasons of the
show ever did.
-mike-
