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''The X-Files Game'' is a 1998 interactive film developed by HyperBole Studios and published by Fox Interactive for
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,
Mac OS Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. in a succession of two major series. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the classic Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system ...
and
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
. The game takes place somewhere within the timeline of the third season of the American television series ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
'', following a young
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
-based
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent named Craig Willmore who is assigned by
Walter Skinner FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on ''The X-Files'' and its short-lived spin-off '' The Lone Gunmen'', both broadcast on Fox. In the science fiction-supernatural s ...
to investigate the disappearance of agents
Fox Mulder Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterr ...
and
Dana Scully Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spe ...
.


Plot summary

The game takes place somewhere within the timeline of the third season of the American television series ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
''. The story follows a young
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
-based
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent named Craig Willmore (played by Jordan Lee Williams) who is assigned by Assistant Director
Walter Skinner FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on ''The X-Files'' and its short-lived spin-off '' The Lone Gunmen'', both broadcast on Fox. In the science fiction-supernatural s ...
to investigate the disappearance of agents
Fox Mulder Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterr ...
and
Dana Scully Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spe ...
, who were last seen in the
Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...
area. In order to follow their trail, Agent Willmore must use a variety of tools along the way, including night vision goggles, a digital camera, PDA (an
Apple Newton The Newton is a specified standard and series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc. from 1993 to 1998. An early device in the PDA categorythe term itself originating with the Newtonit w ...
), and lock picks, as well as law enforcement gear such as an evidence kit, standard-issue handgun, handcuffs, and even his badge. During his assignment he is partnered with a
Seattle Police Department The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is the principal police force, law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is responsible for the entire city except for the campus of the University of Washington (which is und ...
detective named Mary Astadourian (played by Paige Witte), and a minor romantic subplot involves a relationship developing between the two. Several of the actors from the TV series reprise their roles in the game, including
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
(Mulder),
Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
(Scully),
Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (; born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland i ...
(Skinner), Steven Williams ( X), Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund ( The Lone Gunmen) and—very briefly and depending upon the outcome of the game— William B. Davis ( The Smoking Man). The game is set and was filmed in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. The TV series actors filmed their relatively brief appearances in the game just before entering production on the
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
. The game's plotline involves aliens taking over the bodies of humans and contains many references to the show's extraterrestrial mythology. During the course of the game the "present day" date of April 1996 is displayed alongside certain locations, placing this "episode" after the season three episode "
Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
" and before " Wetwired", which take place March 7 and April 27 respectively. This time is also after the first incident with the alien black oil in the episode " Piper Maru" of the third season. The screenplay for ''The X-Files Game'' was written by Richard Dowdy, Greg Roach and
Frank Spotnitz Frank Charles Spotnitz (born 1960) is an American television writer and film producer, producer. He is best known for his work on the series ''The X-Files'' (1995-2002) and its spin-off The Lone Gunmen (TV series), ''The Lone Gunmen'' (2001), an ...
, from a story by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz.


Gameplay

The game uses a
point-and-click Point and click are one of the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse or other pointing device (''click''). An example of point and click is in hypermedi ...
interface, uses
full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than Sprite (computer graphics), sprites, vector graphics, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games featur ...
technology called Virtual Cinema, and includes a large number of
cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s. Included in the gameplay are numerous occasions in which the player can alter other character's attitudes and reactions depending upon responses and actions (or inactions). Dubbed "UberVariables", certain decisions made by the player can set them along one of three tracks: Paranoia (Willmore will start seeing things like twitching corpses and shadowy figures), Loss (messages from his ex-wife are kinder), and "The X-Track" (more details are revealed about mytharc-related conspiracies). The player can also affect Willmore's relationship with Astadourian positively and negatively based upon how he responds to her suggestions and ideas.


Production

The game's developer, HyperBole Studios, had initially rejected the project when Fox approached them. They later became interested when they started to watch the show for themselves.An Interview with Greg Roach, Prima's Official Strategy Guide, The X Files Game The title's design document was over 1000 pages, while the shooting script was 748+ pages, written using FileMaker Pro due to the number of options available to the player. In total, around 6 hours of footage was filmed for the game. The game's development cost $6 million and lasted four years. The video portions of the game were filmed between seasons of ''The X-Files'' and just before the feature film. Some footage in the game, such as the hotel rooms and excerpts from '' Keystone Cops'', is the same as seen in the episode " Syzygy". Anderson and Duchovny were very busy, thus requiring the disappearance of Mulder and Scully and the introduction of the Willmore character. A former U.S. naval base, at Sand Point, was used as the setting for the NSA facility at the end of the game, and the boat used as the ''Tarakan'' is a training ocean-going tug, which had previously been used in a drug smuggling plot. The 'melted blast effects' on the Tarakan were made using water-soluble paint, which caused havoc when it began to rain during filming. "Tarakan" is Russian for cockroach. The game was filmed on
Digital Betacam Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, ''Betacam'' singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. ...
tape with
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
cameras and captured using
Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc as the core of the Mac (computer), Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006. Described by ''Mac ...
es running
Adobe Premiere Adobe Premiere Pro is a video editing software, video editing Application software, application developed by Adobe Inc. and is distributed as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It is primarily used for producing high-quality videos across ...
and Media 100. ''The X-Files Game'' was displayed at the 1996
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
(E3) in June.


Reception


Sales

''The X-Files Game'' was a commercial success. In the United States, it placed fifth on PC Data's computer game sales chart for the week ending June 20, and held the position the following week. It remained in the weekly top 10 through the June 28-July 11 period, but was absent from the charts by its fifth week. ''The X-Files Game'' was the ninth-best-selling computer title in the United States during June 1998, with an average retail price of $42. It remained in PC Data's monthly top 20 for another month before exiting in August. By July, the computer version of ''The X-Files Game'' had sold 64,680 copies and earned $2,769,311 in the United States alone. In the United Kingdom, the computer version debuted at #1 in Chart-Track's rankings during its first two weeks, and held in the top 10 after nine weeks. According to HyperBole's Jason VandenBerghe, ''The X-Files Game'' made it into "the top-10-bestseller lists in most territories it shipped to." Breaking down its popularity by region, he wrote, "Our strongest markets were Europe and Japan, where ''The X-Files'' is an even larger phenomenon than it is here in the States". Total sales of ''The X-Files Game'' reached roughly one million copies.


Computer versions

''Macworld'' wrote that ''The X-Files Game''s "excellent use of QuickTime video is offset by tediously slow sections." During the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
' 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, ''The X-Files Game'' was a finalist for "Computer Entertainment Title of the Year", " PC Adventure Game of the Year" and " Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development", although it lost these prizes to ''
Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...
'', '' Grim Fandango'' and ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue'', respectively.


PlayStation version

Jeff Lundrigan reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for '' Next Generation'', rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Although well produced and faithful to its source, ''X-Files'' just demonstrates that even the best FMV adventure games still aren't great games."


Reviews

*'' Backstab'' #12


References


External links

* *
Postmortem: The X-Files
on ''Gamasutra'' {{DEFAULTSORT:X-Files Game, The 1998 video games Fox Interactive games Full motion video based games Interactive movie video games Classic Mac OS games PlayStation (console) games Point-and-click adventure games Sony Interactive Entertainment games
Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
Video games about police officers Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Seattle Windows games Single-player video games