Overview

Blacksite is not a direct continuation of Area 51. The game's developers created the plot without considering the scenario of the previous installment. Therefore, they decided to come up with a brand new story that has almost nothing to do with the universe of the original game. It all starts with a simple routine mission in Iraq in which you and your squad will have to find out what's behind a top-secret bunker defended by Saddam's forces. The result? Make way for the special forces soldiers who love to handle AK-47s and who will fight you with all their might - a science fiction game that looks at the side of Call of Duty? Absolutely, and the result is simply catastrophic, with an awful AI, bland and ultra-linear scenery, and pointless clashes. The developers would have been better off not doing it and to skip the mission.

Gameplay

After this deplorable act, the player will discover an extremely dangerous scenario based on the creation of elite soldiers returning to revolt against authority. Flat from start to finish, Blacksite is no less enjoyable thanks to the heroes' charisma and a few over the top gunfights. The player will be able to participate in some particularly pleasant missions, notably by jeep, helicopter, or squadron in the middle of an American suburb. But nothing transcendent in itself since Blacksite remains extremely classic in its approach to the genre. No surprise for the experienced player, who will be able to complete the adventure in one go in less than four hours in normal mode. The challenge? None per se. The enemies are as stupid as can be. The scenery is only partially destructible. The game suffers from big time-outs, the bosses are very easy to beat, and the finale is ridiculous, worthy of the greatest B movie of the century. The only challenge is to avoid the bugs that will spoil your life throughout the adventure. You face the final boss once, and you empty 2500 bullets on him without managing to kill him. Then, you give up, disgusted. Two hours later, you start again, and after only 30 shots, your enemy is dead and gives way to the final cinematics. The game seems to have missed the QA phase, with crashes and stuttering framerate that will make your console crash. It's hard in such conditions not to blame the game developers who, despite some good ideas, didn't deliver on their promises.

Graphics & Sound

The Unreal Engine 3 foreshadowed a technical achievement of very high standing, with extremely realistic models. Unfortunately, all of the developers' fine promises ended up in a real disaster. Not because Midway's title is visually flawed or ugly, but rather because it suffers from a staggering number of bugs and technical flaws, starting with numerous slowdowns that will sometimes cause your console to crash.

In addition to these fairly regular crashes (especially against the end boss), the title also suffers from some display flaws, such as the appearance and disappearance of whole sections of the set and other graphical bugs. But other bugs just as huge as a jeep that flies several meters above the ground, rocks in levitation, allies that disappear, and voices that cut themselves.

Fortunately, the soundtrack received special attention, with correct sound effects and music.

Conclusion

In the end, Midway delivers a first-person shooter that's buggy to the extreme, with a B-series scenario and suffering from many technical flaws. It was too bad because the game's universe, its characters, and the Unreal Engine's use had so much potential. Light years away from what we expected, Blacksite will not find its place in any Xbox 360 collector's library.