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BlackSite: Area 51 Preview

While not a classic, Midway's Area 51 for Xbox® was a great "popcorn" action game that you could play over a weekend. The upcoming adventure for Xbox 360™, BlackSite: Area 51, appears to be much deeper and far more engaging.

Although Midway refuses to discuss the story at length, the narrative centers on an alien invasion that (guessing at this point) spread from the Area 51 base and into the small town of Rachel. Step into the combat boots of a roughneck Special Forces army dude that, thankfully, brings along a few of his buddies to assist him in eradicating the extraterrestrials.

Gunfire erupts from muzzles and
inhuman terrors wail in the night.
If anything, Midway nailed the presentation.

Like most-first person shooters, blast monsters with an assortment of pistols, machine guns, and other nasty toys, but you also ride around in humvees, ATVs, and civilian vehicles. Furthermore, most dangerous situations may be tackled in several ways.

Choose Your Tactics
For example, early on you come upon a biomechanical creature shaking a minivan and scaring its driver. As you watch the carnage from behind glass (inside a gas station shop), review your options. If you prefer the commando route, immediately open fire, shattering windows and hopefully hitting the beast before exiting the front door where the battle continues, often times with the monster returning fire and giving chase.

As an alternative, sneak up on the alien, get its attention, and take cover, either inside the gas station or behind a hummer, pausing to reload. If those methods don't work, seek out destructible objects. In this case, the alien has the unfortunate luck of standing next to small tank that, upon being shot, quickly spins around and explodes. Of course, being that this take places at a gas station, the pumps will erupt after a few, well-placed bullets.

If timed correctly, an explosion kills the alien and nothing freaky happens, but if you fail to down the target, the hulking mass drops to its knees and the occupant, a scary bald thing, scurries from its head and quickly crawls across the floor. It only takes a few rounds to kill it, but remain a safe distance away, as the creature explodes before dying.

Monsters on the Loose
After this unnerving experience, monsters approach from all sides and a firefight ensues. Midway hasn't released the full bestiary, but it seems some of the early creatures have humanoid features and use guns, suggesting human/alien experiments gone awry. Although hair-raising, you should make it through this battle thanks to the wealth of decisions at their disposal and the outdoor environments.

Instead of fighting adversaries in tight spaces, you have room to maneuver—falling back behind the gas station (to trick the monsters into walking near propane tanks), retreating into the building, jumping into a humvee, or just running around, as all the while multiple things explode in a destructive ballet of fire, sparks and smoke. The game doesn't feature as much destruction as Midway's other shooter, John Woo presents Stranglehold™, but you will delight in busting up soda machines, sending the entire gas station to oblivion, and blowing out windows.

Squad Tactics
Furthermore, fellow squad members help by opening fire on enemies or performing simple tasks such as opening/blowing up doors and running to a specific location, actions achieved by pointing in a direction and pressing the left trigger. BlackSite doesn't feature enhanced squad control like Ubisoft's Rainbow Six series, but these simple orders give the game more depth.

BlackSite: Area 51 appears to contain the standard lot of weapons such as an assault rifle and pistol. You may also use melee attacks to tenderize the enemy, or run them over in one of the vehicles. However, seeing as how the creatures have weapons, no doubt you'll come across futuristic technology at some point.

You can also take the fight online, fragging opponents in Death Match, Team Death Match, Capture the Flag, Human vs. Reborn (right on, people against aliens) and finally Siege, where teams control territory by capturing rival players.

All of this action takes place in a gorgeous world populated by detailed aliens, lightning strikes, rain that patters off the ground and runs down buildings, shattered glass, and plenty of fire. Cars get tossed into the sky, large objects crash into buildings (such as the aforementioned liquor store), and humongous creatures stretch appendages into the heavens. Meanwhile, gunfire erupts from muzzles and inhuman terrors wail in the night. If anything, Midway nailed the presentation.

Thus far, BlackSite: Area 51 looks like a beautifully twisted game that features heavy doses of violence. It may not redefine its genre, but at the very least, its developers should deliver a solid game that shooter fans will enjoy.

Article by Chris Buffa, GameDAILY Senior Editor