Men in Black
      (ADVENTURE)


   Its true, the movie-to-game market has never done particularly well.
   Perhaps it stems from its origins on early console systems, where they
   were usually tedious hop n bob side-scrolling adventures, with a movie
   license smacked on top. Even though some recent cinema translations
   to the PC have gone a long way to break down the old stereotypes, 
   most games are still drab, uninspired titles which try to make up for
   lack of substance by using a popular name.

   A title developed by Gigawatt Studios, MiB is an action/adventure
   game based loosely on last summers hit movie. Controlling Agent J
   (Will Smith), Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), or Agent L (Linda Fiorentino)
   you must solve four different missions set in a variety of locations
   by combining puzzle-solving and hand-to-hand/weapon combat.
                                      
   The above-mentioned puzzle-solving/action combination plays like an
   Alone in the Dark clone, and a poor one at that. The  puzzles in MiB
   range from painfully simplistic (clicking on a bomb wire to deactivate it)
   to slightly illogical (hacking a piece of frozen meat out of a carcass,
   then dropping it next to a bowl later on so a dog will walk over to it,
   revealing items--but dont shoot that dog, or youll have to restart
   your game).
                                      
   And the fighting ??? Forget it. While the enemies are made a bit more
   powerful than you, (they can roll around, slide faster than you) your
   role seems to be reduced to a mere punch bag until you can shoot them
   up. The other frustrating thing is that there are a lot of enemies for
   you to fight !

   Most inexcusable is the overall lack of creative inspiration that
   degrades this game even further. You'd think that creativity wouldn't be
   a problem here, given the movie's ample amount of characters, weapons,
   vehicles and alien enemies for the developers to play around with.
   Unfortunately, there isnt a lot to draw you in. Yes, the graphics look
   pretty good, but the aliens lack the films sparkle, weapons emit
   pitiful discharges and the settings seem rehashed. Further detracting
   from the experience of playing are the horrible between-mission cut
   scenes, which attempt to acknowledge the original MiB comic, but come
   off as being cheap and corny.

   The audio for the game wasn't any outstanding piece of music. Just good
   enough to keep you there rather than throwing the game in the bin.
   Character dialogues occur often and though the voices of the agents are
   immitated, they are good.
                                      
   On the other hand, likenesses of Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Linda
   Fiorentino were obtained and look quite realistic, even up close. This
   seems like a wasted effort when compared to the humorous character
   animations, which suggest that all three of these actors should
   definitely be eating more bran. Overall, the graphics look quite good,
   even though they are creatively lacking.
                                      
   There are four different missions in MiB. In the first, you play as
   James Edwards (Smith) in pursuit of a burglar in and around an
   apartment building, reminiscent of the beginning of the movie. The
   other three levels have varied themes, although your overall mission
   is to defeat Skip Frales, a mysterious billionaire. There was a
   noticeable amount of X-Files in this game, with the Arctic and Cara
   del Diablo levels reminding me of old episodes.
                                      
   If you are ever stuck on a puzzle, its probably a case of over-analysis.
   Door stuck? Reached a dead-end? Try kicking things.
   Cant get past security lasers? Shoot them. When fighting humans with guns,
   try to run in quickly and fight hand-to-hand, since these enemies are
   usually weak.
                                      
   MiB has my vote for Worst Cut Scenes in a Video Game. Using ugly
   primary colours on black backgrounds, these uninspired cimematics
   attempt to pay homage to the franchise's comic roots, look more like a
   cost-cutting method. No one in their right mind would ever have made a
   Men in Black movie if the original comic book had been this butt-ugly.
                                      
   To finish this review, something I got sick of writing, I would say that
   this game doesn't really deserve a review. Well, but thats the way it is
   if we need you guys to comeback, you need reviews and it is little poor us
   who are stuck with playing them.