BlackSite: Area 51

 Xbox 360
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 73
  3. Negative: 21 out of 73
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  1. KarlL
    Sep 12, 2008
    5
    Ugly, Buggy, Boring. Sometimes you just want to play a throw away fps. But not even that is a good enough reason to bother with Blacksite.
  2. samj
    Aug 3, 2008
    7
    this is a good game, and i genuinely enjoyed playing it through. red mode offeres and excellent challenge. driving parts are a blast! however there needs to be more weapons. loading times are too long.
  3. Jon
    Dec 4, 2007
    5
    The game had a okay story. But the driving controls were weird the weapons were limited to about 5. The AI not the best. could have been a lot better if more time was spent on it.
  4. TARGET1058
    Feb 10, 2008
    7
    Could have been a really good game but the developers didn't put enough work into it. Way too many glitches. Falls short of it's real potential. Even with the problems it is a fun game for FPS fans.
  5. AdamR.
    Nov 13, 2007
    7
    While the graphics are pretty and the design of the creatures and characters are decent, the game doesn't bring anything new to the table, nor does it show anything that other games have brought. It's your standard Run-n'-Gun games. The voice acting is alright, but can get a tad bit annoying, and the music (even at max) is hard to hear compared to everything else going on While the graphics are pretty and the design of the creatures and characters are decent, the game doesn't bring anything new to the table, nor does it show anything that other games have brought. It's your standard Run-n'-Gun games. The voice acting is alright, but can get a tad bit annoying, and the music (even at max) is hard to hear compared to everything else going on at the same time. Also, the facial expressions with morale is a tad bit scary, as their smiles nearly stretch from ear to ear. The storyline's progression is rushed and poorly explained, but if you do't care and just wanna blow the shit outa stuff, then it works out fine. The squad command is nice, but it's still a bit lame that you can't open a door yourself or do anything without your squad (or they could be a good distance away form you and you enter a vehicle, the auto-teleport into it). 7.2/10… Expand
  6. sinadoom
    Jan 19, 2013
    5
    Here are some questions to consider. Have you played Gears of War and thought it would work well if it was a military First Person Shooter instead? Do you like mediocrity? Can you settle for average? Can you cope with bad programming? Have you played every shooter you can think of and still want more, regardless of quality? Blacksite is the game you're looking for. Imagine Battlefield 3'sHere are some questions to consider. Have you played Gears of War and thought it would work well if it was a military First Person Shooter instead? Do you like mediocrity? Can you settle for average? Can you cope with bad programming? Have you played every shooter you can think of and still want more, regardless of quality? Blacksite is the game you're looking for. Imagine Battlefield 3's campaign on a (VERY) tight budget, much lower quality and generally worse in every way. Blacksite is not a bad game, but not one that you would buy unless you have no alternatives. Graphics are not horrible but the lighting is practically non-existent and in desperate need of about 32x anti-aliasing. It runs on Unreal Engine 3 and is one of the more dated games. You can tell it's old from the old-school levels (very simple, walk and shoot), dumb AI and an average cliche modern American war action story. Achievements aren't good either. The only thing that's really impressed me is the shooting mechanics. Finally, a game where you can play purely by hip-firing, but with an ADS option as well. It kinda reminds me of Prey, but instead of making obvious its old-school mechanics it tries to make itself look better than it is. Controls are OK but could be better; certainly much better than some games. What really lets it down is how it FEELS low budget due to the medieval programming. Not so much glitchy/buggy, but when you play it you feel like it's still in the development stage, and that the levels aren't properly finished. Some games try to cover up lazy design subtly. This game makes no such efforts. It feels scripted and coded by amateurs with little concern over user experience; whereas other games flow much more smoothly with fewer faults. If you get this game, you should expect nothing more than a budget shooter.… Expand
  7. RAWZ95
    Apr 11, 2012
    6
    We all know that there are FPS action games that take the trophy with every release in their series and anything which tries to copy is rarely recognised as being an ambitious and inspirational game. "Blacksite" is no exception. This game will allow you to take on the alias of "Pierce", the sergeant of a small squad of elite soldiers which you will become acquainted with for the durationWe all know that there are FPS action games that take the trophy with every release in their series and anything which tries to copy is rarely recognised as being an ambitious and inspirational game. "Blacksite" is no exception. This game will allow you to take on the alias of "Pierce", the sergeant of a small squad of elite soldiers which you will become acquainted with for the duration of the game. The beginning of the game takes place in Iraq, where you and your squad are looking for WMD's in a large Taliban base. Whilst carrying out the mission, you'll find more than you bargained for. After the Iraq prologue, the true enemy reveals itself as some kind of alien species and it's your job to stop its invasion of US soil, as well as find the culprit behind it all. The first thing you'll notice about the technical side of this game is the graphics. Blacksite was built on a modified version of the Unreal engine, allowing for more realistic looking textures and player models. However, these graphics aren't nearly enough to compensate for the amount of bugs and glitches that this game holds. At first, you'll excuse most of them, but over time they will definitely add up. The little things, such as guns and ammunition floating in mid air will quickly annoy you. This, coupled with glitch filled and predictable environments and slow frame rates, will be just enough to make you want to get the game over with. Blacksite doesn't get any better in the gameplay department either. The AI are predictable and lackluster, and the lack of variety in levels will make for a mediocre playing experience. Also, the idea of commanding a squad isn't nearly as cool as it sounds. They are, at many times, utterly useless except for the increasingly annoying times when you have to get them to open doors for you, because apparently you're too good for that. On top of these gameplay issues, Blacksite is far too easy. An annoying crosshair will always eliminate any challenge that even comes close to you, regardless of whether you aim of not. These issues could have easily been fixed if the game's development was not so rushed and more time was allowed for the developers to identify its flaws. In summary, the fans of big popular FPS's such as "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" will not make a good impression, but will be respected for its effort and lengthy campaign. Don't expect this game to be great, but give it a go and see what you think.… Expand
  8. CanadianGamer
    Jul 30, 2013
    7
    I know this game isn't amazing however I really enjoyed this game and found the story rather interesting. The gameplay was just like any other shooter and easy to get use to. The environments were decent. The graphics were pretty nice for the year this game was made in. Also, if you paid close attention throughout the story there was a few neat references to Star Wars and X-Men. Go giveI know this game isn't amazing however I really enjoyed this game and found the story rather interesting. The gameplay was just like any other shooter and easy to get use to. The environments were decent. The graphics were pretty nice for the year this game was made in. Also, if you paid close attention throughout the story there was a few neat references to Star Wars and X-Men. Go give the game a shot and remember that this is a older Xbox 360 game.… Expand
  9. scoundrel
    Jan 29, 2018
    5
    You always feel its on the verge of greatness, but drops the ball entirely and leaves you disappointed. I did play all the way through and enjoyed it enough. If you have free time.
  10. SenorKoquonfaes
    Feb 5, 2022
    5
    The story itself I think is perfectly satisfactory and held my interest the whole way through, wanting to discover more the closer we got to the depths of Area 51. The story does end rather abruptly and you’re not given much in terms of exposition before the credits roll. Overall, the story mostly boils down to a typical military jarhead kind of narrative with not much in the way of anyThe story itself I think is perfectly satisfactory and held my interest the whole way through, wanting to discover more the closer we got to the depths of Area 51. The story does end rather abruptly and you’re not given much in terms of exposition before the credits roll. Overall, the story mostly boils down to a typical military jarhead kind of narrative with not much in the way of any character development.

    The core mechanics of the game are pretty standard for the time and are perfectly functional: you’ve got regenerating health, a two weapon limit, a weapon melee attack, you can crouch behind rocks or walls to take cover and you can ADS with your weapons for better accuracy. There is no sprint function, which is kind of a shame and makes traversing the levels kind of slow and tedious. I did notice some destructible cover in the game, such as doors or partially fractured concrete barriers. It’s a nice detail that I wasn’t expecting to find in this game and actually forced me to move and find new cover a few times instead of just camping. The primary gameplay loop involves progressing through mostly linear, scripted action sequences: shoot some “Reborn” soldiers and/or Xenos, move through a hallway to the next objective/combat arena, have a mini boss fight where you need to shoot it’s glowing weak spots as well as fend of smaller groups of canon fodder and repeat. Similar to the story, the gameplay loop and core mechanics are also perfectly satisfactory, if a tad unremarkable and largely repetitive. However, it functions as needed and I was alright with that. The weapon arsenal works as needed but is very limited in terms of what you can use. You have an M4 assault rifle, a USP .45 Tactical Pistol, an XM8 Sniper Rifle, Frag Grenades, a rocket launcher and an AK-47 which is only available during the start of the game when you’re fighting the Iraqi Republican Guard. You’ll also only get access to two of the “Reborn” weapons, which are an energy scattergun which behaves sort of like a shotgun and a Plasma rifle with rounds that can be detonated mid-flight.

    For a contemporary FPS game for that time, that arsenal is way too small in scope. There are no variants of other weapons or alt fire modes and having just two “Reborn” weapons feels like it’s really short-changing the player. The lack of weapon variety can also make the shooting and the overall gameplay feel even more repetitive than its already is. Occasionally, the combat arena gets broken up with either driving sections where there’s not a whole lot of expositional dialogue or combat (it’s often better just to drive past the fight and hit the next checkpoint), “on-a-rail” sections like a mounted vehicle turret or a helicopter minion or a turret section.

    The game also features a light tactical element to it: you can press the RB and order your team to focus fire on a targeted enemy or move to other areas of the combat arena. While this sounds useful in theory, like using it to have them flank enemies or provide covering fire, in practice your squad mates will often just mover into an open area and get gunned down or take there sweet ass time trying to take down a single enemy. It’s often just more expedient to kill the enemies yourself and the only time I regularly used this command was when you need them to open doors in order to progress the game.

    Graphically, I think the game is fine for 2007. The textures are of decent quality and the lighting seems okay. It does kind of overdo it with the bloom effects, but plenty of other games from around that time period were also guilty of that.

    On a technical level, this game does have some issues. The most egregious one being the frame rate. It never really feels all that steady. It dips pretty frequently when loading in a new area and during certain combat encounters. It’s at it’s worst during the final chapter as you fight your way deeper into Area 51. There were at least 3 or 4 times where the frame rate dropped down into Powerpoint Presentation territory, despite the fact that there wasn’t a lot happening on screen. Thankfully, it never screwed me over during a combat section or mini-boss encounter but it’s arguable the game’s biggest technical flaw. The loading times feel mostly fine. I didn’t notice any significant texture pop-in or streaming and got no hard crashes.

    Blacksite: Area 51 can be some half decent fun as a mindless, alien shooter. But overall, it’s a textbook example of a middling game. The mechanics all function well enough and the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. But it’s just kind of a forgettable FPS game that doesn’t really excel at any one thing nor does it execute any really poorly either. If you can find a copy of it for a bargain basement price and you’ve got an afternoon to kill, you could do worse than Blacksite: Area 51.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 48
  3. Negative: 3 out of 48
  1. IC-Games
    70
    Over all BlackSite tries to slip itself into a niche squarely between the two benchmarks of FPS gaming, Call of Duty 4 and HALO 3. It unfortunately doesn't succeed in making that niche, in fact trying to make itself a little of one and the other it fails doing anything profound.
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  2. NTSC-uk
    20
    Instead of creating the game they promised themselves in the design documents, the end result is a spaceship sized wreck of catastrophic proportions and with very little redeeming qualities to prevent it from being placed at the very bottom of the bargain bin where it belongs.
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  3. Console Monster
    79
    The graphics for the game are simply stunning. Normally, Midway games have pretty average graphics, but the graphics in BlackSite are very crisp and detailed.
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