Chicago-based interactive entertainment developer and publisher, Midway Amusement Games, LLC announced today that its sci-fi first-person shooter is now scheduled to ship the first half of 2005. Committed to publishing games of the highest calibre, Midway decided to give AREA 51 the extra development time needed in order to achieve the triple-A game quality that is expected of the title. In addition to honing graphics and fine tuning gameplay, the development team has confirmed that they will be adding new features to the game including a new alien enemy, as well as a new alien weapon. The new launch date will also give Midway time to effectively market AREA 51 to its highest potential.

In AREA 51 players will experience a chilling government cover-up in the only 1st person shooter that explores America's most top secret military facility revealing the conspiracies are real and far worse than anyone ever imagined. Gamers will be able to explore and investigate the mystery, the conspiracies and the enigma that is Area 51 while battling through five massive levels where fantastic, futuristic and horrific human and alien weaponry, enemies and powers await. Players will be able to compete against friends via 4-player split screen on Xbox and 2-player split screen on the PlayStation 2, or fight it out with their mutation abilities online with 16 players on their PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system or via Xbox Live with online modes such as death match, team death match and capture the flag.