The X-Files Game – I want to Believe

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of The X-Files Game, I must say, the name convention is not the most inspired. Even calling it The X-Files: Mulder-is-in-it would have been better than what they went with. Regardless, The X-Files Game is an adventure game in the style of Full Motion Video (FMV), which sure is a novelty nowadays. It also has the cast from the show, with both Mulder and Scully making an appearance. So, the question remains, is it worth playing beyond the novelty? Read and find out!

X-Files Mythology
The game’s story is related to the controversial mythology part of the show: the story that touches on, and continues, the alien/government conspiracy that essentially is the main blood artery for the whole series. Why is it controversial? Well, many fans of X-Files prefer the monster-of-the-week style, with episodes that contain a new weird creature, and usually ends after one episode. I enjoy the mythology aspect of the show, even if I admit it can get a little convoluted, considering how many moving parts are involved. So, right off the bat, this game is for me, while a certain portion of the audience can find it lacking.

One thing I find curious with the narrative, maybe to its detriment, is that you don’t play as either Mulder or Scully. You are a different agent, called Craig Willmore. As it is, you get handed a case of two missing FBI agents, and I think you can guess who those are. Now, the investigation start rather mundane, without much juicy conspiracy stuff involved, even if you know as a player what road it will lead down eventually. It’s slow-going, with plenty of looking for tiny clues to finally progress the case. When you finally do, things becomes more intriguing. You will be contacted by various legendary characters from the show, making you go, “I know that guy!”, warning you off from digging deeper.

About the “detriment” comment. You see, the protagonist is a new character in the X-Files universe, which means he knows nothing about the government cover-up stuff. He is acting as a stand-in for a new player. While this is fine, it comes with a few issues. For fans (like me) that know about most of the cloak and dagger schemings, it all becomes redundant. However, the story does still retain some charm in watching a man fall into the rabbit hole that is the world of X-Files conspiracies. Unfortunately, it’s not enough when this redundancy is also extended to the plot and lore, making it feel like a pointless curiosity in the end. It does not delve deeper into any kind of secret knowledge made exclusively for the game, and that really disappointed me. The X-Files Game comes off as an extra long TV episode, that in its finality doesn’t add anything, which is made worse by the tedious gameplay.

So, while the story suits my preference, encompassing the mythology facet of the show. It’s a story that is very slow, with very little payoff. It mostly felt like one endless fan-service, sadly, with a few cool bits in between.

Old-school adventure gaming
As mentioned, the game is slow, but unhurried games usually don’t bother me. It gives it time to build up tension for the grand finale, while letting you soak in the atmosphere. The X-Files Game got some of that, yet it’s made tedious in how it’s designed. For being a so-called FMV title, there is very little motion outside scenes of dialogue. Mostly, you will just walk through static images of locations, with pictures that sometimes don’t match the lighting/time of day from one photo to the next. It’s jarring, and this kind of movement can become boring fast, as you are always required to find all the clues before you can continue. It’s classic pixel hunting in the extreme. Running back and forth in a dingy warehouse looking for tiny clues, without any music to keep the dreariness away, is not exactly the epitome of gameplay. 

I know, I’m harsh, but it’s a mix of the static environments, pixel hunting, and doing so in absolute silence that gets me – but outside of evidence collectatrons, the gameplay works okay in a typical point and click way. The other issue that drags down the gameplay, is the obtuse puzzles, knowing what random object to use in a specific scene. And many of these items are only used once, so it’s not something that is learned naturally. Luckily, most problems can be solved through logic, so if your brain is still active after long evidence searches, you can probably figure the puzzles out.

The final straw for me, that pushed the game from casual enjoyment to tedium, is how many traps it sets out for you. One wrong turn or move, and you will end up dead, forcing a reload. Nine times out of ten, there is no way to know what’s to come. To be fair, some of these death scenes can be fun, but it slows the pacing down to a crawl at times, when every move leads to your death. The X-Files Game is not a long game, only lasting a few hours, but it’s this that surprised me: how a short game like this can feel so dull at times. Like I was stuck in a dreary office meeting with no way out, instead of playing an interesting videogame in a franchise I love.

The X-Files look
What the game excels at is creating an atmosphere that looks and feels like the show, particularly through its lighting. The show has a very special visual look, with a minimum of lights creating a mood fitting the material. Sometimes the only light-source is from the flashlights the FBI agents carry. It has a clinical, dark and thematic look, a style that I think is lost in modern filmmaking. The game copies this technique well, and makes it feel the part, except when they fumble the photography, of course. All in all, the filmed sequences feel like the show, seemingly having the same quality as the TV version. The characters also match their counterparts, with Assistant Director Skinner being the stand-out of them all.

The sound and music is not of the same quality. Where the game has music, it’s moody, fitting the scenes, but most of the time, you will be operating with very little audio. For some reason, the devs decided that the music should be extremely sparse. It’s counterproductive to both the atmosphere, and the show, which has a continuous soundtrack to accompany the visuals presented. It’s an oddity, I don’t understand.

Conclusion
The X-Files Game certainly comes with novelty, and it’s also a faithful representation of the show, in FMV format. Furthermore, it’s clear that the game was made for fans with knowledge of the show, even if it acts as the player is oblivious at times. Yet, outside of that, The X-Files Game is not that good, since it’s mostly a repeat of the lore, quickly turning the game to an exercise in fanservice. The gameplay also feels lacking, as it has some of the worst aspects of old-school adventure gaming: death from random events, and pixel hunting with a magnifying glass. So, in closure, I can only recommend the game to true fans of the shows. But even then, prepare to be let down, as it presents nothing new, with it ending up as a forgettable experience.

Thanks for reading.

/Thomas