Nobody who's spent any appreciable time in an arcade can have failed to see the original Area 51 gun-shooter title, or its sequel "Site 4". Area 51 was almost the penultimate shooter title, a conspiracy buff's version of an old-style Hogan's Alley complete with zombified humans, weird aliens, and a reloading method that consisted of shooting the gun anywhere but the screen.

After releasing Site 4 and then releasing a home PC version of the Area 51 shooter, Midway let the title sit for a good long while. In many ways, the series had run its course; Midway had no more additions to make to the series, and it had been supplanted in arcades by machines like Time Crisis and the House of the Dead series. The revival of the franchise has made its way to the PC (as well as PS2 and Xbox) in the form of a first-person shooter with a whole new storyline and backstory added on. In many ways it's far superior to the original shooters, but sadly it is dwarfed by being a "look-alike" clone of other first-person shooters in all respects. Add to this relatively good graphics but a pretty weak voice acting performance by major characters, and it's definitely a "try before you buy" title.