Graphics? The graphics in The X-Files are actual video clips, shown in a sort of 'letterbox' format. This enhances the movie-like feel of the game, as well as conserving some memory and allowing room for your inventory and other game status info. The sets are richly detailed, with artwork and knick knacks that give you glimpses into the personality and likes and dislikes of the owners. This could have been much cooler if they had been the homes and/or offices of major characters from the series. As it is, you have to be satisfied with a really in-depth look into the life and times of Craig Willmore (you), an FBI agent from the Seattle office trying to find Mulder and Scully. However, it is easy to see that a lot of work went into capturing the area so that you can romp about in it. The camera work is pretty good, and the acting's pretty good, too. The full intro (from the series) is here - in the beginning of the game, as well as a short intro clip which sets up the 'episode' (just like in the television show). The main ingredient of The X-Files game is it's FMV sequences, which are very nicely done.

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...

Most of the difficulty of The X-Files is involved with getting used to the control. Basically, you roll your pointer around on top of the screen, and the pointer icon will change to show different actions you can take. This seems simple enough, but sometimes you have to move forward and then turn to go through a door, and sometimes you can point to the door and click to go through it. Also, there are certain events which enable other actions, even though they really shouldn't require a specific chronological order to work. To gamers who are familiar with this type of game, this might be a minor inconvenience. But to those unfamiliar with these puzzle solving types, this could be completely confusing. There are, however, a couple of useful features which help to lessen the difficulty. One is the 'Action Scene Auto Rewind' feature. Enabling this allows you to play the dangerous parts over until you get it right (Warning: save before the very last scene when you're doing Scully's plan, because the Auto Rewind feature won't let you do the very last part over. Bummer). The other feature that helps out is the 'Artificial Intuition.' This will give you visual clues, input from other agents, and Action Icons that allow you to go directly to the next necessary action. This can help a lot if you get stuck. Also, you can usually stop by the Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office and he will look over your case and give you his insight. Personally, there was really only one time that I had no idea where to go. I tried all of the various locations and couldn't figure out where to go. As it turned out, I had to go to the conference room in the Seattle Office, where I found Cook. So, if you get stuck and it looks like no one's in the Seattle office, try the conference room.

The X-Files is a very interesting game. It's pretty long, having four discs, and contains oodles of FMVs and photos shot on location specifically for the game. It's the first game I can think of that actually has a sort of 'A.I.' available for the gamer, which helps, since the navigation and action controls can be awkward at times. There are modes that allow you to 'jump' between different navigation and action options, but it's still hard sometimes to know exactly where a navigation direction will take you. Also, the 'Rewind' feature is very nice. Unfortunately, it won't work on the very last action of the last scene - possibly one of the least obvious actions. The part that bothers me about this is the inconsistency. This is the first time that the 'rewind' feature won't let you try again. The one thing that would have been nice but is not there (unless it is a code that I have yet to hear about), is the ability to simply play all of the (best) FMVs all the way through to the end. I had thought that movies or videos on the PlayStation would be a good idea since I first saw PlayStation Underground...