Men in Black: The Game

Overview

Men in Black: The Game is an official licensed game based on the 1997 science fiction comedy action film of the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Aside from the characters and weapons, the game has very little to do with its source material. The plot involves FBI agent James Darrel Edwards (Will Smith from the movie) being send off to a building in New York to defuse a bomb and to pursue the bomber himself. After discovering that the terrorist leader is an alien, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones from the movie) approaches to the confused agent and neutralized him. After a brief cutscene, James Edwards (now known as Agent J) becomes an official member of the secret organization known as Men in Black.

Gameplay

Men in Black in a nutshell is very similar to Resident Evil with its fixed camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, tank-like movements, spooky atmosphere and puzzle elements. There are three characters to choose from (Agent J, Agent K and Agent L) and aside from the first level, players have the option to play as any of the MIB agents in the other levels. Though the agents have no differences in them in terms of strength and special abilities, the conversations between them and other game characters are different each time.

The MIB Headquarters is the main area in the game and it is where you select which MIB agent to play as, the weapons for that particular level and a shooting range to test your shooting skills. Cutscenes are plentiful and they are represented as animated comic strips. There are no quick save options in the game but players can save anytime they want by using the save option in the menu screen. There are assortment of weapons to choose from and for the most part, they are only useful at certain times only. Bullets are limited and it is important to use them wisely. The MIB agents can also use their fists and kicks to perform melee attacks.

The puzzle elements are mostly through trial-and-error, knowing which item to use to unlock a door, finding the secret passage and defusing bombs.

Levels

Level 1 - New York

FBI agent James Darrel Edwards investigates a bomb threat in a building and after defusing it, he pursues the bomber at a rooftop.

From this point on, the player has the choice to control Agent J, K or L.

Level 2 - Arctic

MIB HQ has lost contact with the MIB division located at the arctic and they send you to investigate the problem.

Level 3 - Underground

The underground stage is a continuation of the Arctic stage. You uncover a secret alien lab and you must find a way to destroy it.

Level 4 - Amazon

There's been a report of bizarre occurrences at the amazon where mine workers claim of being attacked by non-humanoid beings. Several workers have lost their sanity due to the shock. Find an informer to learn more.

Level 5 - Mines

A follow up to the Amazon stage, the MIB discovers that an alien bug is the source of the catastrophe. Silence it!

Level 6 - Frales Island

At the last stage, you are send to a remote island to rescue your fellow MIB agent and eliminate the mogul named Skip Frales.

Reception

Men In Black: The Game received mediocre to negative reviews upon release for its bland character graphics, stiff controls, and short length. Majority of gamers and critics found the fighting and shooting mechanics to be unpolished, making the game too challenging for the wrong reasons. GameSpot gave it a 3.9/10 rating, saying that, "all in all, it's quite obvious the time and energy went into set design and mediocre character animations, not into actually making the game work." GameSpot later added, "MiB lands on its face in the latter category, giving, at its best, some nice-looking environments to gaze at while cultivating a bothersome case of carpal tunnel syndrome, leaving you begging for a "neuralizer" to forget you've ever played this game in the first place."

PC Specifications

• Operating System: MS Windows 95: MS Windows NT 4.0 (with SP3 included)
• CPU: Pentium Processor Required Pentium 100
• Memory Required: 16 MB
• Graphic Card: Must support Direct V5 or later. 2 MB VRAM
• CDROM: 4x or faster
• Hard Disk Drive: Required (Min Install 9 MB). Recommended (Max Install 300 MB)
• Options: Audio support - All direct sound compatible sound cards
• Input Device: Mouse, Keyboard