Blacksite: Area 51

[YellowHare]

Anyone else take it upon themselves to give this a whirl? The game got mediocre reviews but I'm impressed how much I started enjoying it, not 10 minutes it. It's got a cinematic feel and has got some fun humor to it and it somewhat plays like Call of Duty meets alien game. I think it might've been passed over a bit more than it normally would've due to coming out during such a stacked time for gaming.

[jefelee]

The demo was pretty blah (and short), so I never gave this another shot. Is the full game that much of an improvement?

[Alex Riviello]

Well, the original (now neutered) thread is back here- http://chud.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99187

And this was the review on CHUD- http://chud.com/articles/articles/12619/1/MCP-REVIEW-BLACKSITE--AREA-51/Page1.html

Do agree that it might've gotten more of a pass if there weren't so many great shooters around, but... sucks to be Blacksite, cause there are.

[Jcassady]

The game is all kinds of awful. Halo 3's campaign has this game beat, enough said.

[YellowHare]

I've only played through the first episode, so I haven't had a ton of exposure to it yet. But I like what I've seen, thus far. To be fair, I went in with very mild expectations, half of me wanting to give the game a try because it was the same company behind the PS2/Xbox FPS Area 51, which I loved so very much. This could just be a case of my expectations being so low that being pleasantly surprised was somewhat pre-determined.

I'll be sure to come back and update you with what I thought as I ventured on.

[Overlord]

I am considerably less forgiving towards titles that insist upon throwing themselves in the Oct. to Dec. maelstrom. I'd probably have given this a try in June of last year, but by the time it came out it was already completely obsolete.

[ZombieFever]

There really isnt anything fundamentally wrong with it. It just sets itself up for something so much greater. Every level you go through you can just envision of what the creators wanted to do but just couldnt. Overall not bad, but not good.

[BorisTheCheese]

It just seemed so mild. Very little personality and it didn't do anything new. The guns were also really weak. The "alien" weapons really sucked. Oh yeah, the aliens sucked to.

[Cogs of Fate]

The demo just made me want to play Prey again.

[Jacob Singer]

I'll pick it up when it hits the bargain bin, if it hasn't already.

[Chris Myers]

Is it better or worse than the predecessor (the one with Duchovny narrating)?

[Jcassady]

Chris, nothing beats the Red Shoe Diaries: Area 51 episode.

[YellowHare]

Well, I'm done with the game.

Overall, it was an enjoyable [rental] experience with a lot of potential. If I had to sum the game up, I would say it's a light version of Call of Duty 4 (gameplay/look) meets Independence Day (story/look). The graphics were decent, sometimes really impressive, the team AI almost too smart with helping you (a rarity, although the harder difficulty you play, the dumber they get), the vehicle sections fun/easy to drive, the game has a good sense of travel/journey and it's real fast-paced.

I'd recommend it for anyone who likes sci-fi/alien-based FPS', buy to mainly save it to play for a time during when it's a gaming drought.

[V.T.]

Thanks, yellowhare - I will have to give this one a rent sometime. Gotta finish Mass Effect as well!