March 24, 2005 - Area 51 is developer and publisher Midway's attention-grabbing first-person shooter aimed at release next month. As you might well guess from the title, it is inspired by and takes place within the American government's top-secret facility dedicated to research on the possible presence of aliens on Earth. Your role is that of Specialist Ethan Cole. Specially trained in the handling of hazardous materials, you head up a small Special Forces unit that is sent in to investigate after a viral outbreak triggers automated quarantine procedures, locking all personnel inside. While delving into the matter, you'll learn of a dire threat, a mutagenic side effect that controls the minds of anyone infected. You'll also uncover a mysterious extraterrestrial outpost buried below, and with the help of various weapons, both human and not, you'll race to save all life from irrevocable mutation.

In addition to the above, we know some other key facts about the title, which is slated to appear in a version for the PC as well as the initially announced PS2 and Xbox. For instance, it will involve us in determining the truth behind seeming government conspiracies like the alien autopsy and faked lunar landing. We will also see the protagonist gaining abilities beyond normal human limits. However, these mutations come with a very heavy cost, the gradual transformation into an alien. These and further pieces of information were more than enough to pique our interest. As a result, we set out to uncover as much information as we could from the team. To conclude our investigation, the first segment of which appeared last week, we interrogated Creative Director Jim Stiefelmaier, who sought help from Art Director Marc Schaefgen.

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Jonric: With combat obviously a crucial element in Area 51, what were your primary goals for the type of experience you set out to create?

Jim Stiefelmaier: The original goal was setting a new standard for console FPS action - nothing less. We wanted to design the combat to be visceral, fast and exciting. The PC version carries this forward to bring this console feel to the PC. Too many PC FPS games feel cookie cutter. The accessibility of our console gameplay, paired with the excellent hardware of the PC makes a great combination.

The squad combat was designed to mimic the Military Operations in Urban Terrain instruction our soldiers undergo in advanced infantry training courses.

As an example, there have been a lot of horror games that use mood, pacing and subliminal imagery to scare the player; in Area 51, the fast pace of the action is amplified by how scared you are of the monsters you're fighting. So, not only are you getting the level of shooter action you'd expect from Halo or a Half-Life 2, you're also getting the extra adrenaline rush of fighting horrifying beasts in dark, dynamic environments.

As for other goals, we want to provide a good amount of tactical gameplay. This involves things like weapon differentiation, using cover, fighting different enemies with different tactics, and having combat revolve around mission objectives.

Jonric: What kind of balance will there be between simply shooting everything that moves and more tactical or even stealthy play? And are there other major features that differentiate your combat system?

Jim Stiefelmaier: While Area 51 is not aimed at providing a robust stealth experience, the combat is still more than just mindless shooting. Quite often you'll be given interesting objectives like defending an area against an onslaught of aliens, or protecting specific characters. In one notable segment, you have allies controlling huge moving turrets against the aliens as you complete related objectives; later in the mission, you man the turrets yourself. In other words, we've taken our unique combat experience and inserted a ton of twists so that it always feels fresh and gives the player a goal and a purpose.

Finally, there is of course the entire human / mutant dichotomy. One of the most unique things about Area 51 is that once you've been infected with the mutagen, you're able to mutate yourself at will and become a creature with all new abilities. You run faster, enemies stand out on the screen in your unique vision mode, and you have new attacks like Contagion and Parasites. So, not only do we provide a compelling militaristic shooter component, we allow you to adapt to the situation and deal with situations creatively by switching to a new, unique combat mode unlike anything you've played before. Our combat is anything but standard.

Jonric: Since you mentioned an example of the player character working with allies, what can we expect from the AI that controls them?

Jim Stiefelmaier: The AI in the game is actually divided into three main categories: squad, mutant / alien and civilian / other.

The squad combat was designed to mimic the Military Operations in Urban Terrain instruction our soldiers undergo in advanced infantry training courses. They provide mutual covering fire, take cover to reload and throw grenades - or provide covering fire while another teammates throws one. They will try to attack an enemy that is actively shooting at and hitting a teammate over an enemy that is simply maneuvering. It was easy to conceive of this type of AI; it is seen on the nightly news or a good action movie. Of course, it was difficult to code, but I think we succeeded.