https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obpjkdjliRA
Midway Austin fan Andrew Sampson has spent the last few months restoring their abandoned 2005 game for the PlayStation 2, Area 51.
The game was given away as freeware but following the closure of both Midway and GameSpy, the title was laregly unplayable. Area 51 suffered from unworkable multiplayer, security vulnerabilities, and was incompatible with modern PCs.
You can now play through the entire campaign at modern aspect ratios, enjoy seamless audio, and experience the voice acting of David Duchovny and Marilyn Manson. Multiplayer has also been restored with King of the Hill, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Infection, Capture the Flag, and more.
Mod tools have also been developed along with a work-in-progress mad editor.
Andrew has created a plug-and-play method of restoring multiplayer for older GameSpy titles which he’ll release for free so people can continue to enjoy their favourite games from the axed service.
He’d like to release the game on the likes of Steam and GOG, something which would require the permission of the copyright holder. With Midway no longer around, it’s unclear who currently owns the IP. Hopefully, the situation will be cleared up and Area 51 can launch on those services.
Try out the game for yourself here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBGs1lgG02s