the X-files : the game
a few months ago, i purchased a video game on vinted. i knew next to nothing about it, but thought the box looked awesome enough to be worth the €20 i'd spend to get it. i then proceeded to display it on my shelves for months, until i'd be ready to play it. i think it's time!
some history:
the x-files game was released for PC on may 31st, 1998 in the US, and september 29th, 1998 in europe. that was three years before i was born! sheesh! if i'm not mistaken, it's an FMV/point and click adventure game, like many others of the time. it used to be quite the popular genre, but i've never given it a try. it was also released for consoles a couple years later. it was published by fox interactive.
interestingly, the inside of the box includes a postcard you can send to fox interactive france. on the back of it is a survey you can fill out. it asks about the customer's preferences when it comes to video games, the consoles they own, the specs of the computer they use, if they even have internet access... it's quite the thing. it's also riddled with typos, if you can believe it. among the choices given for the "machines owned" section: the saturn, macintosh, nintendo 64, and windows 3.1/95. what an era that must have been. i thought about filling it out and sending it, as a joke, the address is right there after all. but after a bit of digging...
fox interactive france closed in 1999. (i guess the x-files game wasn't a hit.)
it's surprisingly hard to find information on the game, especially when you consider how x-files fans are. i'm unsure if this is a bad sign. there is the x-files fan wiki page for the game, which gives enough information to know what goes on in the game, but it still feels rather empty to me. according to the wikipedia page, the game got painfully average reviews on release, though they seem more caused by the nature of fmv games than the actual quality of the game itself. oh, and it was a commercial success! it seems the game sold great in most of europe and japan.
a look inside the box tells us there is no reason they made this box so stupidly big. the cd is in the center of it, surrounded by empty space (decorated by gillian anderson and david duchovny's pretty faces, sure, but still empty!). still, it's quite the striking sight. the cd case has a holographic shimmer to it, which looks wonderful when under some light.
inside is a little case which holds 7 cds! they each have their little sleeves, and they numbered them to look like, i guess, case evidence? it's really charming, i love it. i assume there's that many cds because it's fmv, and those are big, big games. i'm kind of excited about the cd changes. now, onto my favorite part:
the manual! oh, what a delight!!! i love it with my whole heart. i wish i could direct you to a translated version of the manual, but the only existing full-ish archive of the video game does not include the scanned manual! what?! it's essential! here, let me direct you to the prima strategy guide for the game instead, but says, on its third (!!) page: "Note, however, that it's no substitute for The X-Files game manual." the information given in this manual is vital to having proper context and knowledge of the setting of the game---
okay, maybe i was being a little dramatic. the manual is available on the video game manual website, and it makes me so very happy to know it's out there. (just like the truth?!)
so, the manual explains that the player will control agent craig willmore, who is a great FBI agent. it emphasizes that it's incredibly important to focus on getting all possible details and answers for the case he's about to face, for that is the purpose of a good FBI agent. it also, interestingly, mentions that distractions of a personal nature may hinder his ability to solve the case. it gives the outline of the FBI's code of conduct: protect all people of the USA, in respect of the law, without the use of violence if it can be helped and with discretion and humility. the last part of the code insists upon the fact agent willmore has a great reputation within the bureau and needs just one more good case to solidify that reputation.
so who is craig willmore? well, he's a 32 year old who was born in kenosha, wisconsin. he's also divorced. he's been in the fbi for four years, first as a part of their organized crime division. he's participated in the successful apprehension of a notable gang made of russian individuals, for which he and his team received commendations from the director. he then moved to the anti-terrorist division, and dismantled several militia groups, which earned him a commendation for exemplary service. finally, he transferred to the washington field office in 1993.
phew, that's a lot of information! i honestly love that they've included so much background for the main character in the manual. it makes it so much easier to start playing as him, since you know who he is and what he's done already. it makes the character feel grounded, like they haven't just popped up out of nowhere to be the hero that saves the day. i wish game manuals were still a thing...
alright, enough yapping! let's try and make this game work on windows11, if that's even possible!
oh, this installer looks sick! it would have scared me shitless as a child, though. no sound, nothing, just a really dark setup screen. but i'm a very brave 24 year old, so i press install and--
oookay, i suppose it couldn't have been this easy. so i go and download the 16-bit installer, and then i press install, and...
oh, this is glorious. it looks so vintage, just like the graphics that exist for the fanlistings i joined for the x-files. it's so awesome.
god. i shit you not, this installer just made a really loud, ominous noise when it opened up. why were installers so scary back then?! in any case, after kindly warning me that the game was copyright-protected, as well as protected by international treaties (?!), the setup gave me the option to either do a minimal download of the game (200mb), a standard download (300mb) or a full download using all of the seven cds in order to ensure a smooth playing experience. while i'm not sure what the differences between the minimal and standard installations could be, i really appreciate that they've given an option to bulk download everything. the full game seems to be around 4gb, which sounds like it must have been huge for the time, but feels so tiny now.
the game struggles to comprehend the specs of my 2025 gaming laptop, which is understandable, but it seems it's not a big deal: the only last and last hurdle to the game running on windows 11 is that it requires quicktime 3.0 installed on the device, and the latest version of quicktime allows the game to run just fine anyway. and so, it turns out it's really not that hard to run a 1998 video game on a windows 11 laptop (as long as you have an external cd device, or an image mounting software, i suppose).