Blacksite: Area 51 (2007 Video Game) User Reviews

Ultra alien rail shooter.

[wadehatfield98 · 7/10 · 19 May 2011]

This game was a difficult review for me. I am a big fan of alien games. I did like this game. It isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but it delivers. The characters were pretty cool to know, but they start down sliding in the last act. The environments are nice to look at, but we've seen them to much. Enemies start off good, but then they get repetitive. I not talking bad about the game, it's just it could of gave us a lot more thrills. The creatures were nicely detailed to but you see then far to much. The shooting is like Area 51 meets Call of Duty style. But all and all I had fun with what they gave me.

7.5/10

Blacksite Area 51: Old School FPS

[Spoonhui · 7/10 · 15 July 2010]

I'm going to be brutally honest with you, most reviews written by large or fairly well known game reviewers usually base their score on the popularity of game as well as the tech and specs. I am reviewing this game souly on the tech and spec.

Presentation: This game has a reasonable story line which isn't complicated or too simple. The graphics aren't bad but neither are they fantastic, basically if you can live with a few rough edges you can get through this game, there are a few issues with frame rates though, for instance in areas with loads of action the game can lag a little, but this only happens a few times depending on which console you play it on: Ps3 lag = moderate, PS2 lag = rare and xbox lag = low to moderate, but don't let this bother you it DOESN"T really effect game play a lot. The other problem is disappearing team mates, yes sometime your team mates can disappear but they reappear when you 1. shoot your gun or 2. walk into a building or new area this again is very rare. The game has a pretty cool strategic system where you can order your squad to move or attack, as well as having to look out for your morale level. Overall the pros and cons just level out the score

6/10

Gameplay: The game play is good, sometimes a little repetitive but once you get past the first level you wont see this again, destructive scenery is a nice touch when blasting a hole in a wall to get through. Controls are simple and easy to get a hold of. In fact the game play looks as if it had influenced some pretty big games like Resistance FOM and Killzone 2, the two games looking to of borrowed of of Blacksite. The AI is good as long as you play on 'HARD' and Not 'EASY', and the enemy variation is really done well. Sometimes there are a couple of annoying long walks to get to the next bit of action and it does make you lose your rush. Overall though the gamplay excels the presentation and probably the best factor of the game.

7.5/10

Sound and Script: The script is again a little bog standard but there are a couple of pretty intelligent comments made by you squadrons but apart from that the script is just like any FPS. There are glitchy sounds throughout the game which for any really serious gamer who gets annoyed by anything will damage their like for the game. The music is good and builds the suspense well.

6.5/10

Apeal: This game should appeal to anyone who has a love for horror games, old school FPS's and possibly even Modern Warfare 1 (just a hint though). This game looks like a PS2 game but handles like a PS3 game, for those who enjoyed Half Life 2 will probably like this as well simply because it feels slightly like Half Life just not as Big or Good. If you like games with more than a cheap thrill you may want to rent or even buy this game. More than reasonable game and underrated.

OVerall 6.8/10

"Why do strange things happen to small towns?"

[siriusly1986 · 9/10 · 28 May 2018]

Old school style first-person shooter that plays on the Area 51 urban legend. I like the game and it gives that sci-fi action movie vibe like the 2011 film Battle Los Angeles. But if there was an action packed episode of the X-Files filled with government troops, an assortment of aliens both big and small then this game would be closer to that.

The game has several alien designs and I personally find them really well done. These aliens range from humanoid types, insectoids to gigantic worm and tentacled creatures that looked like they came out of the 2007 movie, The Mist. The characters are likable and engage in funny small talk. The game is set on the present day which is refreshing seeing all these popular "human vs. alien" shooters that are always set in the future in space in some planet far away. Having to see soldiers in contemporary US military equipment battling aliens in some western desert in small town America is somewhat a rarity in video games with Half-Life 1 from 1998 the only thing that comes close to mind.

Having played this on the PC the graphics seems to be superior from what I gathered with those who played it on Playstation who complained about the graphics being foggy. Unreal Engine is gorgeous and it really comes out with the PC. I also heard the game is notorious for being 'unfinished' because of production problems it faced. This is noticeable during gameplay, with npc soldiers appearing out of nowhere during sequences and then disappearing from the map and also when they are killed which I find really archaic. A patch or mod could have fixed this but so far in 2018 (ten years later) I have not found any.

I give the game a solid 9 because I expected a really bad game due to the mediocre to negative press but was pleasantly surprised instead. Blacksite Area 51 reminds me of games I used to play in the past. It has that old school charm but with nicer graphics and interesting Americana sci-fi setting. If you are fan of conspiracy theories regarding extraterrestrials and the government cover-ups give this game a try. Its not that bad its actually quite enjoyable.