Ah, Fallout, that tidy little RPG that came out eight years ago that had me all wound up, playing until 4 a.m. and darn near causing me a divorce. Oh, Diablo, the rock em', sock em' action fest that darn near had an entire generation of gamers playing till 4 a.m. and almost causing divorce on a megawatt level. Ah, Restricted Area, the game that probably should have come out in 1999 as it clearly borrows from these two more successful and engaging games. Look, I wanted to love this game cause it really did bring me back to a time when I could actually stay up til 4 a.m. As it is, work, kids, bills and age don't afford me that leisure. But still, Restricted Area is an action RPG that would have been a sure hit if they had only completed it last millennium.

Restricted Area features a futuristic, apocalyptic world where mankind has yet again destroyed itself, only to find that humans are no longer top of the food chain. Now mutants, monsters and all sorts of other death-dealing "things" are everywhere and that's where you, the player comes in. Starting out as one of four pre-made characters; the Japanese sword slinger, the ex-military gun-toting mercenary, the hot computer hacker (with robot sidekick), and the psychic woman (sorceress type) who, for one reason or another, show up at the game's central merchant area. There you can buy and sell items and walk around looking for someone to tell you to go out and do something. It's here, where your character can go find some of the game's more important and crucial missions or any one of the secondary side quests. Whichever you choose will allow you to gain experience, items, new abilities and such, since the game isn't really deep in the character development of the main players, gamers will have to find solace in the fact that you can really start to upgrade your character in unusual ways that might surprise you. Each character has a distinct advantage starting off, and from there you can either build on those innate abilities or spin off with entirely new skills. Conceivably you could play the game several times not only playing as one of the four characters, but taking a character into a strange skill-filled, augment-heavy direction and then playing. Missions that might have been difficult as a melee weapon guy may be easier as the hacker, OR a weapon guy with hacker-like abilities ... ah the possibilities, none of which become visual as your character mold never changes suit, even if you swap out your head for a blender or other modern cooking innovation.

But at it's most basic premise, Restricted Area really lays it on thick with the action. Fairly regularly you will find your character mowing down bad guys or blowing up robots or melting mutants or any other number of ways in which to eviscerate your current problem. But that's where I think we lose a lot of the game's appeal. Not very far into the game you realize that hey, these missions that I'm doing all seem to involve me eradicating large groups of protagonists ... Which isn't so bad if there is a clearer point to it all; while the game has all this action, it fails to really compel you to keep going through it's entire 14-hour completion. I would have liked to seen more story on the characters and more details surrounding a beefier plot.

Add to this the fact that you can acquire upgrades that actually augment your character's physical presence, and change them up during the middle of a fight. As if changing out a limb is as easy as swapping guns, there is that little bit of "hey, that doesn't seem right" going on, but once you just accept that the game isn't trying to make much sense and play it for what it is, you'll sleep better at night.

Now at first I was pretty jazzed about the graphics. I'm a post-apocalypse kind of a guy and enjoy Mad Max movies as well as the Fallout games. And Restricted Area certainly lays it on thick with all the burnt-out, destroyed buildings, the wreckage everywhere and those dark sinister hues that stretch across the screen. But I realized after about an hour that the game isn't really giving me anything I haven't seen before, or pushing the envelope in anyway whatsoever. In fact, the graphics literally, are dated in 1999 graphic technology. The game is basically 2D with that hard 3/4 angle that gives you a sense of depth. If I could say that there was one cool graphic, it would be the combat itself. Bullet casings drop to the floor and the blood comes a' flowing in this game, it seemed to me that it was an actual nod to the sloppy deaths in the Fallout titles and that was what caused me my biggest smile. As for the rest of the graphics, they work for the game, but only just. The audio too, was surprisingly spotty. The gunfire and explosions, all done well, but the voice acting was below the belt as far as I was concerned. Groaning, actual groaning is featured in this game.
 

Gameplay: 7.0
I'm feeling generous with a 7 here kids, you can actual maneuver so your enemies get caught in the game's environments, then you can shoot them with ease. The A.I. is about as remedial as my two-year-old's leap-frog toy. As a matter of fact I'm changing it to a 6, because the game just doesn't get it right. Gameplay: Now a 6.0

Graphics: 6.2
I like a plasma rifle melting a mutant as much as the next person, but the environments eventually all look the same, as do the baddies you face. What's different about this fat monster on level 15 as opposed to level 9? Absolutely nothing, case closed.

Sound: 6.7
Boom, turn up your speakers when the action starts up. But turn them down when a character talks. 

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Anybody who has played a more modern action RPG will blow through this title without much difficulty. Anybody who hasn't played a modern action RPG will only have a moderately difficult time. 

Concept: 5.0
Borrowed heavily from several better games and tons of movies, the whole bleak future overrun with monsters and robots gone batty has been done to death. As I understand this game was made by two German guys in their basement, and my hat's off to them for actually making a game that will run on your average system, but I must say this is a $19.99 game if ever there was one.

Multiplayer: 5.8
You can hook up with another person and play the game cooperatively. But the real question here is ... will you?

Overall: 6.1
I like the way it started off, but things went downhill rather quickly. If you really feel you need to play a game in the irradiated future then find a copy of Fallout 1 or 2 on eBay and you'll be golden. But if you must play this title, which pays homage to so much before it, then wait til the price drops.