In Blacksite, players assume the role of Aeran Pierce, a cliched special forces officer. At the start of the game, Aeran and his small team are dispatched to Iraq to investigate and destroy what they are told is a chemical weapons bunker. Players soon realise that something more alien is going on – literally. After Aeran's team happens upon an out-of-this-galaxy artifact, they are attacked by a flood of ghastly creatures and are only just able to escape with their lives. Two years later, Aeran and his gang are sent to Rachel, Nevada, to contain a militia uprising. However, it quickly becomes apparent that there is something untoward about the rebel force – it is comprised of genetically altered soldiers and creatures spawned from a government project gone wrong.
The first level of the first-person shooter keeps players on their toes – unravelling the initial mystery is rather thrilling and the later escape is as equally heart-pounding. Unfortunately though, the remainder of Blacksite does not live up to the same standard, with the game assuming a standard military-venture gone wrong storyline.
The aliens of Nevada come in all shapes and sizes.
Blacksite is touted as a squad-based shooter, but besides directing team-mates to perform basic actions, the game does not have the same level of tactical gameplay as other titles in the same genre. Players can direct their squad where to go using the left bumper, to shoot at specific targets and perform actions such as opening doors and flipping switches. Indeed, some actions can only be performed by the team AI. This is annoying, as you usually have to wait a few seconds for the squad to get into position, which also has the effect of breaking the pace of the game. The player also has to stand right next to a door or switch, for example, to direct the team to perform the action, which is also irritating. Directing the squad to certain positions and to shoot at particular targets is virtually useless as they follow you around and take out enemies competently, regardless. To Midway's credit, the squad are intelligent enough and will take cover (most of the time) when necessary, meaning that you will not have to baby-sit them. If a squad-member does take too much damage, they will simply faint until all enemies in the immediate area have been neutralised.
Another hyped feature of Blacksite is the 'squad morale' function. Basically, this means that the better you perform, in avoiding enemy fire and performing headshots for example, the better your team-mates will function. During moments when the squad morale is high, players may notice that the team AI is a little more effective then usual. However, if morale is low, you will not really be able to detect any significant change. Indeed, the feature doesn't even seem necessary as the majority of skirmishes can be resolved without the aid of the squad. Nonetheless, had the 'squad morale' feature been developed more it could have been a very interesting and promising aspect of the game.
Blacksite only grants players a very limited selection of weapons, and for the most part, they are all that is necessary. Indeed, the game is probably the first we have encountered for some time that has not included the iconic shotgun. The development team has nonetheless added some variety to the easy-to-control run-and-gun gameplay by including levels that have to be completed in jeeps and helicopters. The cars are very easy to control, and the driving stages are rather fun. However, whenever you drive over the bug-like creatures that explode if you run into them on foot, the vehicle takes damage. This seems somewhat stupid, especially seeing as you can drive into the humanoid enemies without suffering damage. The level that puts players in control of a helicopter machine-gun is also enjoyable and thankfully more challenging, but is far too short. Further, you cannot help but feel that the idea to include helicopter combat was inspired by Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.
Get to know the assault rifle – it’ll be the weapon you use the most!
The visuals are one of Blacksite's strongest elements. All of the outdoor environments look great, but some of the enclosed areas seem bland in comparison. Nonetheless, the final level inside the research facility looks very good. The lightening and character models are well above average and the level that takes place in the rain is also rendered very expertly. There are a few problems with the frame rate and textures because of load times, but thankfully, these graphical hiccups are not significant enough to detract from gameplay. Some of the environments in Blacksite are destructible, and indeed, cover damaged as a result of fire-fights looks impressive. However, the destructibility of environment over the course of the game is very inconsistent.
The soundtrack to the game only comprises a few tracks, all of which are very uninspiring and often annoying. The sound-effects in Blacksite are adequate enough, and the voice-overs somewhat better. The witticisms that come from team-mates between moments of fighting are very amusing and provide for some of the better moments in the game.
The biggest problem with Blacksite is the amount of time that it will take players to finish the game. The six episodes can each be completed within an hour or so, mostly because levels are very linear and bosses seldom challenging. Even the final battle will be over after only a few tries. Heightening the difficulty level will only extend time taken to finish each stage slightly. The generous checkpoints, though useful, only hasten playtime. The load times in the game are the only thing that seem to go on for long time. Indeed, it is quite unforgivable that the Blacksite takes the same amount of time to load, whether it is because of player death or a level being completed.
Turns out that the army has relaxed its policy on tattooing.
In terms of Xbox LIVE, Blacksite supports the customary deathmatch, capture the flag and versus matches for up to ten players. The one innovative multiplayer mode is the 'abduction' gametype. In abduction, a player starts off as a human-alien hybrid tasked with converting other players to their side by taking them out. Once all humans have been transformed into aliens, point objectives met or time has expired, the game restarts. Though this last man standing approach is hardly revolutionary, abduction provides for some very tension-filled matches.
Blacksite: Area 51 is a decent first-person shooter with flashy visuals, but nothing more. The unremarkable story and sound is lifted by the fun vehicle-based levels and solid multiplayer support, but the game's lack of tactical depth, load times and extremely short-single player campaign make it nothing more than average. With the multitude of other fantastic first-person shooters currently on the market, Blacksite: Area 51 will probably only appease die-hard fans of the shooter genre, at least until it comes down in price.
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