he X-Files Game tells the story of Seattle FBI Agent Craig Willmore (Williams) and his encounter with the paranormal. Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder have gone missing from the Seattle area, and Willmore is assigned to find them, with the help of Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). The investigation begins at the motel where the two missing agents were last seen, and it progresses (through seven CD-ROMs) deeper and deeper into strangeness, paranoia and danger.
The game uses a combination of movies and first-person point of view. The movies show transitions from one place to another, as well as important action or plot-advancing scenes. Most of the time, though, players see still images of the world from Agent Willmore's point of view. He can navigate and interact with the environment through a context-sensitive pointer that changes, for instance, to an eye when it contacts something he can examine more closely, or to a mouth when there's someone to speak with. He also has at his disposal an arsenal of tools and equipment, including binoculars, a lockpick device, a gun, and a PDA. The PDA is a handy item that sends and receives e-mail, has a map for getting around town, and automatically takes notes as Willmore conducts his investigation.
Overall the game follows a linear plot, with no branching. The most important decisions to be made are not where to go, but whom to trust. Whom should Willmore share his information with in the hope of gaining some insights? Whom should he lie to?
Trust the game designers
A game that uses still pictures might seem a little old-fashioned these days, but most of the titles with this kind of interface use computer-generated images. The X-Files Game uses photographs, which may sound boring but which are actually quite engaging. This is because the designers picked marvelously complex and engrossing locations, like old warehouses full of tattered plastic sheets and heaps of junk--where every single floorboard is different, giving the place an amazing reality that makes computer-generated stuff look stark and barren by comparison.
At each site he visits, Willmore is free to move around, collecting evidence in any order. Usually he can pop around town following leads, but until he learns everything there is to learn at a certain site, the plot won't advance. In addition to field work, he must conduct research on his computer, e-mail updates to his superiors (if he trusts them), and follow up with the crime lab and coroner. The result is an experience that feels, well, like work. But really interesting, important work.
The only parts of the game that break this fascinating reality are the rare action scenes: slow-motion arcade sequences in which Willmore must mow down faceless bad guys. These actions don't feel true to his character, or to The X-Files, where any killing is usually serious business.
It's also a little disappointing that Scully and Mulder play such minor roles in this adventure, not even showing up until disc five. Even so, the game definitely feels like the true X-Files--the concept comes from Chris Carter, and it fits right into the show's central story arc. It also gives players the opportunity to be FBI agents, investigate the paranormal, and trade witty quips with familiar X-Files cast members.
