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Categories: Review
Tags: aliens, fps, politics, shooter, xbox 360
BlackSite: Area 51
Developer: Midway Studios Austin
Publisher: Midway
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: 11/13/2007
Wikipedia tells me that “a black site is a location at which a black project is conducted,” and a black project is, “a classified military/defense project, unacknowledged by the government, military personnel, and defense contractors.” It’s a fitting name for a game whose developer, Harvey Smith, said was “fucked up.” In his speech at the Montreal International Game Summit 2007, Smith described problems with the game’s development which led to a host of low ratings for the end product. Still, Smith wondered, how could a game which is “super fucking subversive,” not be seen as fun? “I would give it an 80,” he said.
Unfortunately BlackSite: Area 51 isn’t nearly as fun as it should be and while the game strives for political relevance, the gamer is bludgeoned with political commentary every step of the way. It might be subversive, but it’s also hamhanded — so much so that I felt like every reference to the Bush Administration or the ongoing war in Iraq cast a larger, grimmer shadow over the gameplay. I mean, BlackSite can be traced back to a classic lightgun arcade game. What’s next, a Mad Dog McCree game where the healthcare system is raked over the coals?
BlackSite: Area 51 begins in Iraq and then moves to Nevada where the player is in charge of restoring contact with a military base. You quickly learn that a division has gone rogue and they turn up alienified. Yes, government experiments have gone awry, which hardly ever happens in videogames, so thank you Midway for bravely tackling this issue. You might also guess that this game is desert-intensive and you’d be right. A few standout levels feature derelict bases, gas stations, trailer parks, and a drive-in, but for the most part the game can be described as sandy.
Most levels put you in charge of a three-man squad. Squad AI is decent, but squad commands are lacking. All squad commands are relegated to one button which either tells them to target a specific enemy, move to a location, or perform a context specific action: breaching a door, using a control panel, etc. Squad members who die in combat bounce back after a few minutes, so there’s never a real need to baby them. More important is maintaining morale. If you or squad members take damage, then morale lowers making your team less effective. However, if you score headshots and don’t take damage, morale is boosted resulting in quicker kills from a more responsive squad. Morale is the one aspect which prevents this game from being completely run of the mill.
Other than that, the game is a typical shooter. Enemies drop weapons which float until you pick them up. The health kits would probably act the same way, except this game uses the popular “get shot-run for cover-auto heal” scheme. Enemies range from grunts to big alien beasties, and there’s a fair share of boss battles where rocket launchers conveniently spawn for you. Actually, it occurs to me that I’m describing a typical shooter from a few years ago, which is BlackSite’s biggest problem.
Aside from the graphics (which are nice), BlackSite plays like a shooter which could have appeared on any platform back in 2000. It’s fine, but fine doesn’t cut it anymore. Not when you can pick up a stunning, mindblowing FPS at the same price point. Gameplay is linear guiding the player along with an egregious use of invisible walls, enemy models aren’t particularly interesting, and enemy behavior is unimpressive. It doesn’t matter if levels are ushered with edgy titles like “The Surge” and “Mission Accomplished,” if the levels themselves are forgettable. Strangely, the only parts that particularly interested me were the railshooter segments on an APC and in a helicopter. Maybe BlackSite should have stayed truer to its roots.