The X-Files: Resist or Serve review

Blimey, remember the mid-nineties? Back when The X-Files used to be popular? That hot television ticket that single-handedly managed to make conspiracy theories and redheads sexy again? Gawping at UFOs? Gillian Anderson as sexiest women of the year, pouting on the cover of FHM? What were we thinking? Whatever the case, maybe someone can unravel the conspiracy theory that turned the show from the cool syndicated concept it was into an obfuscating knot of killer bees, endless cover-ups and the T-1000. Nine series on and bad television scheduling and ever-twisting plotlines meant that the final episode wasn’t exactly on everybody’s lips with only past fondness for its pop cultural power keeping it from slipping into complete obscurity.

It’s important to note this because Resist or Serve is something of a fan’s game. Not only because it’s bumper-packed with incidental references in its names and background objects, but that it’s a sequel of sorts to the events of the fourth series’ Tunguska storyline. Not that it starts out that way. As all major investigations should it begins small-scale with the duo investigating a plague of the undead in small-town America. Yes, that’s right, zombies. Even if an X-Files game does get released after its ship has sailed, the least they could have done is take note of improvements in the survival horror genre. Instead, development seems to have been arrested in the late 90s; squint a little and you can almost certainly see an early Resident Evil clone in there.

Master of Unlocking

The diner, the petrol station, the video store, the bar, the post office. That little sequence marks the first part of Mulder’s own convoluted first level path to get through the town the agents are trapped in. That example of exploration should, if nothing else, indicate that the game certainly bears an uncanny resemblance to Capcom’s classic series, all locked doors and object hunting in mostly empty locations. It betrays its origins even more in that you can’t walk while firing, there’s no 360 degree turn button and even ammo and health indicators are buried away in the inventory screen. Indeed, if there was any more concessions to the game, there’d be teleporting chests scattered around, although Mulder and Scully’s pockets are mercifully deep enough to accommodate all they find in their travels.

The zombie situation may expand into greater conspiracies later on, but the monsters stay the same. Even down to the way they don’t die first time and rise up again before you can shoot them down for good. While it’s all explained in the plot, it isn’t one of its strong points. Mulder and Scully seem to be able to make great leaps of logic that aren’t fully explained on screen and again a good dose of X-Files legend is needed to swallow the conclusions that they reach. Still, it’s appreciative that they’ve managed to rope in the entire main cast to do the voice overs, though why they had to attribute them to such badly-rendered characters looking like deformed puppets who can’t look each other in the eye is another question entirely. (I thought they were all right! – ed.) The graphical problems also continue in that the camera often forces you to run into the screen, giving no clue as to what’s up ahead and that key items can also sometimes be missed because of their small area of activation that’s all to easy to walk past. While no means the mess it could have been, it does detract from the overall quality of the game.

Trust No One

Thankfully the choice of characters to play doesn’t boil down to a costume change. The two agents each take a notably different path through the game, overlapping at key points to fight together. Mulder is a little more action-orientated and Scully spends her time up to her arms in simple autopsy sub-games. It’s a nice idea that helps to give another perspective on events. The game itself is styled on the format of three episodes (complete with title sequences no less) which helps break the game into manageable chunks. Although it’s worth noting that the agents can’t be changed randomly after every episode, each one must complete their own previous sections first.

While foes are easy to overcome, the boss battles dotted through the game can be a little frustrating, especially with the controls in mind. In fact, Mulder’s own final battle is enough to make anyone weep: an overlong gunfight with the same boss over several slow-loading screens isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. Not to mention the fact that it’s definitely not in your favour if you haven’t been wise enough, again like Resident Evil, to conserve ammo for the final encounter. Not that that’s too much of a problem as enemies are often so few and far between as to make it easy enough to take them out at a leisurely pace, except for one part in Scully’s mission where they decide to change the rules and make them near invincible in order to force you through a lengthy puzzle. Though, for those other moments when multiple enemies do appear on screen, it should be said that changing target with the shoulder button isn’t always as slick as it should be.

Rectal Probe

Resist or Serve may appeal more to fans of the X-Files mythos, where others may find it too wilfully obscure and old-school to get stuck into. However, there’s still the problem that this suffers from elements that the survival horror genre really should have sorted out by now. Its playability may be assured simply because of its clone status to Resident Evil, but the overall package just isn’t that well put-together to warrant more than an average recommendation. Had it been released five years ago it might have received a better reception but things have moved on from then and Resist or Serve needs drastic improvements in order to cut it in today’s market.