The X-Files' previous entries into gaming haven't been the greatest, although in the scope of licensed gaming they haven't been too bad considering the likes of Superman 64 and recent Batman games. Now VU Games and FOX Interactive bring us The X-Files: Resist or Serve which seems to bring the series to a head with classic X-Files atmosphere and characters but also includes the frustration viewers and gamers have come to expect when developers, and writers, seem to anxious to deliver a final product.

Resist or Serve plays out as three "lost" episodes from the series' seventh season with the classic monster-of-the-week feel to some of them and the conspiracy firing up in others. The game's opening intro showcases a mother, father and their infant baby walking through the woods in Europe. Something impacts the Earth in those woods sending a deadly shockwave that kills the parents but spares the infant, who is surrounded by the black oil. Cut to the opening credits in classic X-Files fashion.

The gameplay shows major influences from two of the biggest survival horror series, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. While, for the most part, these influences make the game familiar to more casual gamers you will soon find that some of the limiting factors of those games make their way into Resist or Serve. You start the game as either Fox Mulder or Dana Scully, who have been summoned to Red Falls, Colorado where the dead are apparently rising from their graves with the help of two presumed witches in the form of young girls. When Mulder and Scully arrive they find a body lying in the road in the falling rain. Gamers can choose to play as either Scully (solving more puzzles) or Mulder (focusing more on combat). During the game you will meet up with the other character and traverse through the level with the computer controlling your partner.

Controls, like most of the gameplay elements, are taken from the aforementioned survival horror games. You are able to move in the robotic fashion made famous by Resident Evil, hit one of the shoulder buttons to aim your weapon and fire. Through the level there will be certain context sensitive points where a spinning X will appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen, this is telling you to his the X button to interact. While moving through each level you will be able to access your map, which looks almost identical to Silent Hill's map screen, and your inventory, which, coincidentally, looks exactly like Resident Evil's including the "examine" feature which lets you open, rotate and zoom in on items.

The game looks about as good as it plays. If you can withstand the deja vu feeling you get while walking around the levels, seeing as how they could be mistaken for Silent Hill 2, you will find that the graphics are more than adequate in a game where atmosphere is everything. The sound does a great job of helping that atmosphere with the slithering, crunching sounds made infamous by the Silent Hill series.

Developer Black Ops deserves a hand for the many references that will keep fans of the series happy. Examples include Red Falls' streets which are named after episodes from the series, and when your character enters a book store and stumble into the pornography section a funny quip is delivered harking back to Mulder's obsession with watching porn. These little things make the game feel all the more authentic. Also aiding the authenticity is the voice acting by the actual show's actors. David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi and the rest of the show's cast including Alex Krycek and The Lone Gunmen are all here reprising their roles. As an added bonus, once you beat certain objectives and levels in the game you will open up features such as video shot during voice recordings and different movies.

There are some problems with the game that are hard to ignore. First, the controls are every bit as bad as you remember if you have ever played a game in the Resident Evil series. Second, the dynamic camera, although stylish, makes it almost impossible to see where enemies are coming from in certain situations. Expect yourself to die a few times because of the horrendous angles you are forced to play from. Last, the game has some odd graphics glitches. Your flashlight seems to travel through solid walls, illuminating the room on the other side. Plus, there are some serious clipping and aiming problems. Trying to fire your weapon with the touchy controls and bad camera angles only adds insult to injury.

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and while that may not be true, The X-Files: Resist or Serve does imitate other games in its genre but it does so in a way that good parts of these games are brought over, along with the bad. Resist or Serve is by no means the best game it could have been with the excellent source material Black Ops had to work with, but the game could have been much worse. Fans of the series will have to accept the fact that, rather than investigating these strange occurrences, the characters are more inclined to open fire and ask questions later. You won't find much new here, but what you will find is a certain treat for hardcore fans of the series and the survival horror genre as well.