PlayStation 2

Alias

Although the scriptwriters are straight from the show, Marshall and Vaughan's dialogue feels a little forced; otherwise, the large cast participation and television soundtrack give the game exactly the authentic audio flavor fans would want. Characters closely resemble their real-life counterparts, and the environments look lovely, but Syd's "nonreflective" spy suit quizzically shines. Still, Alias is a great-looking and easy-playing game that should make casual-gamer fans of the show very happy.

Fans der Serie kann ich 'Alias' nahezu uneingeschränkt empfehlen, andere Spieler mögen sich vielleicht an den kleinen Macken wie der Steuerung oder Kamera stören. Für Einsteiger und 'Splinter Cell'-Geplagte auf der anderen Seite ist der Titel aber durchaus den Kauf wert.

Alias is not a total loss. The game's obvious target audience should find something to enjoy in the game. However, anyone outside of this group may not. This also leaves fans of the show who may also be hardcore gamers out in the cold due to the lack of difficulty. For this displaced group Alias is best left as a rental.

Alias tuntuu joka käänteessä sunnuntaipelaajia varten vesitetyltä Splinter Celliltä. Jos Alias ja Jennifer Garner ovat elämän sisältö, Acclaimin seikkailun puutteita voi katsoa läpi sormien.

I'm a huge fan of the show, so I jumped at the chance to review Alias. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall package. Alias is not a game for the ages, it won't blow your socks off or have you playing through it numerous times, but it's a good game. Because the audience for Alias needs to grow, it would have been nice if the game were a bit more friendly to the uninitiated and acted more as an invitation to the show then as a lost episode that will appeal much more to the show's fans than a random stranger.

For fans of the TV show Alias is probably well worth a purchase, they will probably be able to put up with the simplicity of certain parts of the game and get a fair bit of replayablity from it, certainly for myself it will keep be going until September and the launch of season three on DVD. However, those with no knowledge of the series would probably be better off with renting it, - it's still a very playable and fun game.

Alias the game is based on Alias the TV series – a superior American high-tech spy drama involving labyrinthine plots, heaps of action, and a rather attractive female super-spy played by Jennifer Garner. The story revolves around this spy, Agent Sydney Bristow, who works with her father at the CIA. The story of the game is set towards the end of the second season (after the fall of the evil SD-6 organisation). Syd and chums are now up against the mega powerful terrorist body The Covenant who are, amongst other things, chasing around looking for the mysterious Rambaldi artefacts from which weapons can be crafted.

All too often, developers will simply abandon any sort of challenge or interesting gameplay mechanics in order to make these games more accessible to the casual audience, and usually, the end result is a product so dumbed down that it borders on unplayable. For Acclaim's licensing of ABC's hit TV series Alias, the developers have made somewhat of an effort to walk the line a bit closer to the middle, drawing upon tried-and-true stealth action conventions while still making the game easily playable to those unfamiliar with the genre. In the few instances where Alias is successful in this regard, it actually works quite well. Unfortunately, there are still too many unpolished areas and simply not enough challenge to make the game appealing to anyone outside of the most devout Alias audience.

Alias could have easily been a much more impressive game. However the lightweight stealth elements and the all too easy, unrefined, combat do a lot to damage the overall feel of the game. It's unfortunate that the cutscenes are not subtitled though. Despite these problems, the game is by no means a bad game but the main problem is that there are better choices out there. Fans of the TV show will probably be more forgiving than most and will appreciate what's here. If, like me, you don't watch the TV show then it might not be so appealing.

I find Alias to be a simplified version of an action/stealth game. It's certainly better than most TV-to-videogame titles but it's really aimed at fans of the show that aren't hardcore gamers.

Devoted followers of the show will enjoy the presence of the cast and their great performances. For those who consider the program just an excuse to show off Jennifer Garner, this won't transform foe into fan. Having gone through a handful of release delays, Alias should have been much more than a one-button action/adventure dress-up simulator. But it isn't, and you know, Barbie's Makeover doesn't sound so bad after all.

The popular TV show Alias has gathered a rather impressive cult following. With a mix of James Bond and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it casts Jennifer Garner in the lead role, putting her through all manner of spy-based peril to achieve whatever mission she has been given at the time. The game takes on a rather standard third person action stealth style that feels like a very natural way of portraying the show in a video game format.

The real problem I have with Alias is that it has all the ingredients to be a decent brawler, like the first Buffy game without the controller-chucking insane difficulty. What brings it down is, simply enough, that not enough work went into it. It's way too easy, its puzzles are so shallow as to be nonexistent (the "hacking" puzzle is almost embarrassing), it's got some pretty serious camera issues that could've been solved by anyone who's ever played a third-person action game before, and its stealth component simply isn't worth bothering with.

On espère toujours, on croise les doigts même en sachant qu'il est si rare qu'une grosse franchise donne quelque chose de sensationnel une fois adaptée sur consoles ou PC. Alias n'échappe pas à la règle et si l'ambiance de la série est préservée, le jeu dispose de multiples tares qui nuisent à l'épanouissement ludique du joueur, rageant quand on connaît la qualité du show éponyme. En définitive voici une adaptation qui tient plus d'un segment de Lea Parker que d'un épisode de la série de JJ Abrams, faut-il que je rajoute autre chose ? Et bien oui, que cette note ne s'adresse qu'aux fans purs et durs de la série, pour les autres, le jeu ne dépassera pas le 08/20, à éviter donc !

I really don’t want it to be this inept, I like ballsy heroines (erm, maybe I should re-phrase, don’t want people to think I’m looking for a trip to Bangkok.) What I’m saying is it has all the basic ingredients for a hit, and because of the tie-in no doubt it will be. It just seems that they’ve covered all the angles except the actual core gaming. It’s no longer or shorter, duller or quieter, than the numerous Bonds/Rainbow 6s/Splinter Cells et al, it just spies more like Eric Bristow than Sydney Bristow.

Despite the interesting ideas (implemented mostly by the good fortune of wanting to capture the feel of the television programme), we’re saddened to break the news to all those fans of Sydney Bristow that, taken purely on its gaming merits, Alias is stunningly average at best. At times it does manage to break above tedium with some interesting gadgets (though use of them never amounts to more than a click of button A and point B ), but equally often the game’s flaws are all too apparent. By all means if you’re a fan of the show then this title might be worth a rental to see if its juicy goodness is enough to satisfy your tastes; but for anyone else, steer well clear.

Overall Alias is distinctly average; the only thing to set your heart fluttering is Jennifer Garner’s presence on screen. The people that are going to be really interested in the title are fans of the show, who will be satisfied with its transition from television to video game. It retains all the key elements of the show and is easily accessible to gamers of all ages; although more experienced players will feel that Alias pales in comparison with similar titles. Even hardcore fans will have little reason to play through, it’s more of a been there, done that scenario than something you would play repeatedly to hone your skills. Sydney Bristow is no Sam Fisher but she’s just as good as Ethan Hawke.

But that's it really, this game is just mutton dressed as lamb. It's a seriously average stealth-em-up with a brand name attached. It'll appeal to fans of the show I'm sure, but for those of you that aren't there's not much point playing this when there already plenty of better stealth titles out there. I only wish Acclaim had spent more time tweaking the game engine and less time motion-capturing Jennifer Garner's pert buttocks, although I'll admit that in that aspect, they did do a really, really good job. Still, it's not enough to save this title, so I'm sending my review copy straight to my 10 year old nephew. And yes - his parents are the liberated kind.

With nothing stellar -- even the graphics lack any real magic, beyond some sequin shimmers on one of Syd's cocktail dresses -- Alias is far from anything that should be on your shelf. In fact, unless you're predisposed to buying anything that is related to the show, just ogle a few gameplay videos, fancy a screenshot or two, and call it a day without wasting fifty bucks. The game admittedly has some swift ideas, but that cash is still better spent on a Olsen Twins DVD three-pack, a carton of ice cream, and a down payment on your first session of therapy.