BLACKSITE: AREA 51

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Midway Studios Austin

Publisher : Midway

Engine : Modified Unreal Engine 3

Genre : Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter

Release Date : November 12 , 2007

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor / AMD Athlon 3200+

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7600 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 15 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The name "Area 51" immediately evokes a number of things relating to the US government, ranging from secret aircraft test programs to more colorful conspiracies, such as aliens and space ships. In the world of gaming, Midway has used Area 51 in a series of pretty hokey alien-filled games, ranging from light gun shooters that started in arcades to cheesy first-person shooters filled with all kinds of weird conspiracy theories. BlackSite: Area 51 continues the lineage in a more serious manner, but it doesn't necessarily make for a better game overall. The game puts you in the role of Aeran Pierce, leader of Echo Squad. You'll roll with the same set of squadmates throughout, and the backstory is filled in with their chatter between firefights. The game opens in the recent past, with Pierce and his team deep in Iraq, looking for weapons of mass destruction. Instead, you find some not-quite-human enemies that are quickly explained away as humans with extreme cases of encephalitis. Then, you encounter swarms of creatures that explode like land mines when you shoot them. After a brief Iraq portion that sets the stage for what's to come, the rest of the game takes place in Nevada where you're told that a militia has risen up and seized control of Rachael. This is the town near Groom Lake and Area 51 itself, as well as its surrounding areas. While it's painted as Americans who have risen up in protest of the government, that's only half the truth. As you get deeper into the invasion, you'll uncover what's really going on, though the game fumbles when it comes to explanations and never really tells you from where the alien creatures originally came. The level titles and a few references to modern-day sticking points, such as Abu Ghraib, attempt to give the game a bit of an edge, but the content doesn't back up that edge very much, making level titles like "Mission Accomplished" feel forced. You'll control a squad, but your control only uses one button. If you hit the squad button, you can order your team to move to specific positions. You can focus fire on enemies by hitting the button while pointing at an enemy. You can also use it to order squadmates to utilize mounted gun positions, but you'll mainly use it to get your squadmates to open doors. Apparently Pierce is too good to open doors by himself.

You'll get your hands on a few prototype weapons, such as a scattergun that fires rounds that can bounce off walls or a beam cannon that delivers large bolts of energy. But most of the time, you'll be using a standard-issue assault rifle. Most of the enemies you face are humanoids, though you'll also face off against a handful of more creative creatures, such as the fire brute, which is a huge four-legged boss creature with a bright, glowing weak spot on its back that you have to take down with homing antitank weaponry. Most of the issues involve the squad artificial intelligence. Your guys occasionally lose focus and run all over the place or say the wrong things at the wrong times. In one case, they'll claim to be heading your way only to start running in the opposite direction. While no one issue is bad enough to bring the whole game down, they all add up to a game that would have probably done a bit better after another month or two in development. The campaign would have been more exciting with a cooperative option, but it's of average length and feels passable. It's also joined by a multiplayer mode that feels half-finished. It only allows 10 players to get together and play in a few basic game modes, but you'll need luck actually finding a 10-player game. BlackSite also has decent music and sound effects, with properly impactful explosions and weapons fire. For the most part, BlackSite is a boilerplate first-person shooter that has a handful of good moments. As it stands, the game suffers from some annoying issues that make it difficult to recommend. If you're a huge fan of first-person shooting, you're probably better of with a rental because the lack of multiplayer competition means that the whole experience doesn't last especially long. BlackSite: Area 51 is an ordinary first-person shooter that's held back by a collection of bugs and other issues.

GAME REVIEW :-

6.5/10

BlackSite: Area 51 Trailer :-