I love the
X-Files. I watch the series every week, have taped most of the shows, seen the movie, won the soundtrack for the movie, bought the 'Key of X' CD, and met Gillian Anderson at E3 '98. However, while I am completely biased when it comes to the subject of
The X-Files, I am never biased about a game. This having been said, I must, unfortunately, report that
The X-Files is not the most fun game out there. More to the point, it could have been more fun than it actually turned out.
One of the draws of an 'interactive movie' game is the ability to have photo-realistic images. In the case of The X-Files, this is achieved, but unfortunately the subjects (environments) of this video are not the old (perhaps not so) familiar ones. It really would have been much more exciting to have been able to explore details of Scully or Mulder's apartments, their offices, or even Mulder's mother's house. Even though the video and photographic shots are nice and make the game work, it does little to tell you any more about the characters we've all come to know and love. That would have given it more value, if only with fans.
The real downfall of the gameplay, however, is the amount of variation from the plotline that the game actually allows. In most encounters, you are given a set of questions to ask and you have to ask them all to continue. At times, you feel more like a 'director,' deciding what order the lines should be read in. There are few times you actually put yourself in peril, other than by making really dumb choices (such as shooting or handcuffing innocent people or co-workers). When you actually do face real danger, for instance, an armed baddie or a bomb, etc... you might find that the controls are not very well suited for the task. That's not too horrible, though, if you turn on the 'Action Scene Auto Rewind' feature. This feature allows you to restart just before a life threatening area, if things didn't go just like you planned them. This allows the game to be a little forgiving - which is a good thing when you find you aren't the quickest gunslinger when aiming with an analog stick. All in all, if you don't get yourself killed, you pretty much follow the plotline. It is, however, a plot conceived by Chris Carter. That means that it is both really good, and true to The X-Files license. So, as long as you know it's more like a movie you can influence, than your average game, then you could enjoy The X-Files a lot. But the gameplay is not really there. One thing to note is that at the end of the game, when Mr. X appears to get his device that he loaned to you, he says to keep it - you will be needing it again very soon. I can only hope that this might mean a sequel. Now that Willmore is familiar with Mulder and Scully, perhaps a sequel could involve more familiar locales. (Please note- the ending is very ubiquitous, and Mr. X's warning could just as well mean that Ms. Astradorian is, in fact, a newly infected 'hostess.' Chris Carter has always been good at leaving things 'open' at the end of a story...
