Metacritic Games

Alias (Xbox)

Alias is a third-person action adventure containing a unique blend of action and stealth that puts you under fire and under pressure. Whether you're up against the clock or being hunted by the enemy, fighting against the odds or fleeing for your life, the action is relentless. Utilize your incredible spyware and array of disguises to complete the most dangerous covert missions across the globe. Experience all the heart-stopping action and tension of the award winning TV series. [Acclaim]

Acclaim
Third-Person Action, Adventure
Players: 1
T (Teen)
Developer: Acclaim Studios Cheltenham
Released April 5, 2004

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

64 / 100

Critic Reviews

80 Times Online
The third-person game is faithfully realised, enhanced by a coherent adventure penned by the show’s own scriptwriters and solid voice performances by the series’ cast members.
80 Australian GamePro
Seasoned gamers will rarely have to attempt anything in Alias twice, yet the game still has quite a satisfying length to it.
80 GamePro
Once you learn the controls, they respond sharply. The fully user-controlled camera can still leave you in a lurch, but locking onto one target in a group makes the frequent two-or three-enemy smackdowns winnable. [May 2004, p.70]
80 Total Video Games
The variety with the games objects, as well in locations, aint half bad and that alongside some really plush graphics gives this almost instant appeal, which proves a point that some TV programs do transform into half decent games.
79 GameZone
It's got many of the elements that made "Metal Gear Solid" a success, like voice-overs that are performed by real actors. That alone is going to have the hardcore crowd buzzing.
78 Game Chronicles
While Sydney is certainly more enjoyable to look at than Sam Fisher or Solid Snake, the simplistic gameplay, lack of stealth, and TV-targeted visual style is likely to appeal only to fans of the show.
78 Console Gameworld
At 8 to 10 hours of game play, it won’t be the toughest challenge on the market, but it’s one of the best television/movie to video game adaptations you will find on the market.
76 BonusStage
More experienced gamers who’re used to intensely challenging stealth action games will probably give it the old stinkeye, but the game is worth a solid rental just because you’ll probably find yourself like me, with a grin on your face as you’re playing through some of the missions.
75 Next Level Gaming
Cool things like split-screen graphics and a true story give way to a somewhat dull fighting system and graphics that don't quite cut the mustard.
75 Game Informer
Alias, in essence, boils down to an age-old sentence in the gaming review business: Fans will mostly dig it and newbies won't be terribly disappointed. [Apr 2004, p.94]
73 IGN
Don't go in expecting great stealth or action of the quality found in EA's Bond games, but fans of the series will enjoy this one. It's pretty short, though, and can be finished in 10 hours without many difficulties.
69 Team Xbox
Other than the split-screen camera, there are no aspects of Alias that haven’t been done before and better. The simple combat system can turn out some pretty cool fights, but there is no flow to the game with the constant interruptions from HQ and the multitude of save points.
67 Play Magazine
A gorgeous game, painstakingly detailed and lit, and the deeper you go, the better it gets. [May 2004, p.52]
65 Xbox World Australia
Fans of the third person/action genre have seen everything that Alias has to offer before in the form of "Buffy" and "Indiana Jones" and except for the CIA/hi-tech storyline the game doesn’t really present gamers with anything new.
65 Game Power Australia
Disappointingly, preprogrammed machines is a fitting description for the thugs that supposedly threaten Sydney's life in Alias.
65 Official Xbox Magazine
Level designs lack the magic of "Splinter Cell," the fighting and stealth can't compete with "Everything or Nothing," and the story follows its plot progression by the numbers. [June 2004, p.76]
65 WHAM! Gaming
Better than Dark Angel but not nearly as good as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV-to-video-game treatment of Alias amounts to a fairly basic stealth-action title that's likely to appeal mainly to fans of the show and/or Jennifer Garner's digitized bum.
64 Gamezilla!
Gaming fans will absolutely hate Alias, seeing through its nearly transparent plot and shoddy gameplay in an instant, but fans of the show will likely enjoy the chance to take on the roll of their favorite character even if it’s in a bad game.
63 GameSpot
The core concepts found within the game are of a proven ilk, but the devil's in the details, as they say, and the sloppy execution of said concepts can't keep the game enjoyable for very long.
63 Playboy
Although this game adaptation's take-down-the-arch-criminal plot is trite, the heroine looks so much like Garner - skintight guises and all - that we're ready to back her on recon missions and vicious fire-fights from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong. [Feb 2004, p.32]
60 G4 TV
Alias is not a great game, but it's a solid stealth action title for fans of the TV show who have never played "Metal Gear Solid" or "Splinter Cell" and don't know any better.
60 Frictionless Insight
The problem is that Alias should be a stealth/action game, and it ends up using action as a crutch to prop up a merely adequate stealth aspect.
60 Yahoo! Games
A one-button action/adventure dress-up simulator.
60 GameSpy
Unless you're predisposed to buying anything that is related to the show, just ogle a few gameplay videos, fancy a screenshot or two, and call it a day without wasting fifty bucks.
60 Worth Playing
A mediocre game, through and through.
58 Game Over Online
It's way too easy, its puzzles are so shallow as to be nonexistent (the "hacking" puzzle is almost embarrassing), it's got some pretty serious camera issues that could've been solved by anyone who's ever played a third-person action game before, and its stealth component simply isn't worth bothering with.
55 Gamers' Temple
Alias is a game best suited for those who really, really want to play as Sydney Bristow.
55 DailyGame
Unless you are a big fan of the show, in fact, a good portion of the story will be lost on you.
50 eToychest
As a game it is well below the current bar that has been set by other titles in the stealth action genre, and even casual gamers will most likely be bored to tears with Sydney Bristow's exploits.
50 Xbox Nation Magazine
If anything, this game sounds precisely like "Alias." Looking and sounding like the show isn't really enough, though. Alias also needs to offer thrilling gameplay...and, well, it doesn't.
50 Electronic Gaming Monthly
Missions degrade into mindless, clunky combat, in which imprecise fisticuffs and useless, fragile weapons abound. Don't bother. [June 2004, p.92]
50 GMR Magazine
Stealth, ostensibly, should carry the game. It does not, simply because players are given little incentive to be stealthy. [June 2004, p.78]
50 GamerFeed
Alias the game almost grabbed my attention as well, but it just kept falling behind with too many gameplay flaws and not nearly enough innovation to stand in a league all its own.
48 Armchair Empire
Obsessive fans of the show can at least play through for the storyline without tearing out too much hair. And with the extremely simplified gameplay, it seems to be made squarely for fans who don't play much video games. Everyone else can simply leave this on the shelf, with the quiet satisfaction that they haven't paid yet another game company for making yet another crappy game.
40 Gamer.tv
It's just not very good...Missions are hamstrung by some sloppy ideas and a noticeable lack of playtesting.
40 MS Xbox World
Lacklustre combat and awful graphics.
39 TotalGames.net
Development time for this title has clearly been organized as follows: 10% on gameplay, 10% on graphics and sounds, 40% on Sydney's arse and another 40% on her breasts - 0% on enemy AI.