They're creepy and they're kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They're altogether ooky. They're Mulder and Scully. Or at least that's how Fox Interactive, the Fox subsidiary that responisble for the sub-par William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" CD-ROM, wants you to look at the two fearless fibbies with the endlessly encyclopedic "X-Files: Unrestricted Access." Too bad it doesn't quite measure up.
"X-Files Unrestricted Access" is a good concept that is put together well, but just doesnt cut it. The package is attractive - every piece of X-Files trivia known to man is at your fingertips.
The interface is sophisticated yet clunky, and, while the program is most attractive to hardcore X-philes, the hardcore X-philes already know everything that the program has to offer.
Divided into two sections, "Unrestricted Access" tries to satisfy every X-Files fan's needs. The larger of the two sections is the browser, which uses Internet Explorer 4.0 as its engine. Because of this, in order to use the software you must install Internet Explorer on your computer - a process both painful and lengthy.
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| Courtesy of FOX If only "X-Files Unrestricted Access" was as entertaining as the television series. |
When you finally finish installing the Internet Explorer, the results are good overall. The software successfully links different media to create the unified whole of the browser, providing case files on every episode through the end of the fourth season.
The case files themselves contain links to dossiers on characters, from the main agents to Cigarette-Smoking Man to the most minor players and monsters of the week.
Still images from the show are scattered throughout, as well as at least one video clip per episode and the occasional sound clip. (The video clips looked excellent even on my technologically challenged home monitor.)
There is a fully integrated updater included in the software that automatically fetches updates from the X-Files website.
No updates are available as of yet. The case files, dossiers and multimedia samples from the fifth season of the show will probably be available sometime this summer.
The Desktop Designer section of Unrestricted Access is a far cry from what it could be if as much time was spent making it as interensting and informative as the browser segment.
The Designer offers several screensavers that repeatedly loop 20 second scenes, but none are very interesting.
The Designer also allows users to customize the computer desktop with X-Files wallpaper and sounds.
The wallpaper appears more to be inspired by the show and characters rather than actual pictures, and the sounds are typical ambient sounds that only vaguely resemble the magic of show composer Mark Snow.
X-Files Unrestricted Access has too many negative components to make it worthwhile for anybody but die-hard X-philes and newbies looking for a crash-course in XF lore and legend.
"Access" resembles one of those terrible monster of the week episodes; a little intriguing, potentially interesting, but the actual execution makes you want to change the channel or kill the writers. Better luck next time, Fox.
05-05-98
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