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Licensed games are all the rage in the industry these days, may it be for better or worse. A very select number of titles have managed to come out as decent titles, some even great, but the fact is that the bulk of licensed titles fall victim to one or many problems that eventually render the game boring and useless among a crowd of AAA titles. Where exactly does Alias fit into this analogy? Read on.

Alias the game plays something like an unseen episode of the ABC television show. For people unfamiliar with the show, the game may be a little hard to get into, while fans of the series will love finally being able to control everyone’s favorite Jennifer Garner. Fans of the TV show will be happy to know that the writer for the series penciled the storyline for the game, and it feels authentic because of. Most of the cast from the show reprise their roles as their digital counterparts, which fans of the show will appreciate, while non-fans really won’t care too much. Not only does everyone resemble their likenesses, they also lend their voice talents to the game, and very well at that, making for some impressive (surprisingly) voice acting during the game.

Alias plays half like a stealth game, half like an arcade brawler; an interesting combination, and one that would have worked well if it had have been implemented properly. As it stands, neither portion of the gameplay is very well done: the stealth aspects in the game seem thrown together, and they really only serve as a boring secondary option, since charging in with fists of fury is always an option. The stealth basically consists of putting your back against a wall or crouching behind objects and sneaking up on people to perform ‘stealth kills’, most of which look pretty impressive and stylish. A lot of the times, when you hide behind crates, shelves etc. enemies will still somehow spot you, while in comparison you can run up behind most enemies and they won’t hear you. Sydney does have a pair of heat/night vision goggles, but neither one of them look very impressive at all, and neither are very useful.

The brawling portion of the gameplay is a largely mixed bag: while Sydney has a multitude of moves and attacks at her disposal, most of which are pretty cool to watch, the fighting system is so frustrating that you won’t really care what moves are being performed so long as you can get them performed on the person you’re trying to attack. During fights involving 2 or more enemies, Sydney seems to have a hard time focusing on whichever enemy you are trying to attack, leaving you (at times) mindlessly swinging at an enemy for 4 or 5 seconds after you’ve already killed them before Sydney finally realizes he’s dead and turns around. The fights are played with 2 buttons, quick attack and special attack. Pressing these buttons in random succession will get you any of dozens of combos at Sydney’s disposal. The combos are completely random, meaning you can never guarantee that you get to perform the one you’re looking for.

Another aspect of the game is the gadgetry Sydney has access to. A lot of the time, Sydney will have to use small tools to unlock doors, decrypt computer passwords, etc. The computer hacking portion is sort of fun, you have 4 buttons, each one corresponding to a button on the controller, and then you have 3 spaces. Press a button to fill each space. Once you’re finished, the game will tell you how many you have right, but it won’t tell you which ones. You then have to use trial and error to figure out which ones are right, and add in the remainders. This can get very nerve racking during the later parts of the game where you need to get it done in 30 seconds. It’s a fun little mini-game that offers a nice distraction from the mess that is the rest of the game.

Visually, Alias isn’t anything that hasn’t been seen before. The main characters in the game are all meant to resemble their television counterparts, though they lack any real expression (Sydney looks constipated through the whole game, seriously). Sydney moves like a robot, lacking any serious life-like motions, and somewhat hindering your experience. The environments are nothing to oogle over, and the lighting is basic. The game never really gets into anything impressive that makes you go ‘ooh’, but there isn’t a lot that makes you think ‘eew’ either, so the game just sits in the middle.

As far as audio goes, the voice acting is awesome (thanks to the reprisal of the whole cast). The sound effects seem like an after thought (your typical wack noises), and the soundtrack is boring. If you opt to turn the music off, the game sounds like an empty hallway, so you’re really stuck with 2 not so favorable options. Did I mention that the voice work is nicely done? Oh… I did... never mind then.

Alias could have been a lot better than it was, though I expected from the get-go that it wouldn’t be. In the long run, Alias is just another television licensee game to be thrown in the pile of ‘could haves’. Frustrating gameplay, uncontrollable combo execution, and a lack of any life-like movement from our heroine outnumbers the games nicer aspects, like the multitude of moves, and the great voice overs. I advise all but the biggest Alias fan to skip this one.