Games of E3 – Midway’s Blacksite: Area 51
Aliens. Big massive fugly aliens. And guns.
By Adam Hartley
Midway had a strong showing at E3 this year, what with a more-than-solid Christmas line-up featuring Unreal Tournament III, Stranglehold and The Wheelman, though the one game which really stood out for me was the full-on alien first person, squad-based blast-em-up Blacksite: Area 51.
The couple of levels of single-player gameplay for the Xbox 360 build of Blacksite: Area 51 I got some hands on time with were from a more-or-less complete version of the game, according to the producer, Oge Young. In them you play as military vet Aeran Pierce – fresh out of Iraq and now taking on a far more deadly foe in the shape of hordes of aliens invading your home turf in Nevada.
Around 80% of the game is a (very polished) squad-based, first person shooter. The remaining 20% is a variety of driving and rail-shooting from helicopters and tricked-out Humvees.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by Blacksite: Area 51 as I’m not usually such a big fan of squad-based shooters. The incredibly simple one-button squad management system here could well change all that.
The game’s storyline was written by Susan O’Conner (of Gears of War fame) and the brief glimpse of the game I got last week certainly left me wanting to know more about my character’s background and about where these fugly great big ‘Flathead’ alien worms were from. Indeed, the sight of these ‘flatheads’ busting out of the ground and spitting out huge fireballs of doom as we circled overhead in a helicopter, pumping them full of machine gun bullets, actually had me physically flinching. And as for the boss ‘flathead’ – well, that one has to be seen to be appreciated.
Blacksite: Area 51 really is pure 1950s kitsch sci-fi taken to the nth level. While I only got to check out the single player demo of Blacksite: Area 51 at E3, the final game will include online co-op multiplayer and 16 player deathmatch. I cannot wait to try out the co-op version of the game on release this coming September.
Check the latest few screens from the game right here for a taster of what’s in store.
Midway had a strong showing at E3 this year, what with a more-than-solid Christmas line-up featuring Unreal Tournament III, Stranglehold and The Wheelman, though the one game which really stood out for me was the full-on alien first person, squad-based blast-em-up Blacksite: Area 51.
The couple of levels of single-player gameplay for the Xbox 360 build of Blacksite: Area 51 I got some hands on time with were from a more-or-less complete version of the game, according to the producer, Oge Young. In them you play as military vet Aeran Pierce – fresh out of Iraq and now taking on a far more deadly foe in the shape of hordes of aliens invading your home turf in Nevada.
Around 80% of the game is a (very polished) squad-based, first person shooter. The remaining 20% is a variety of driving and rail-shooting from helicopters and tricked-out Humvees.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by Blacksite: Area 51 as I’m not usually such a big fan of squad-based shooters. The incredibly simple one-button squad management system here could well change all that.
The game’s storyline was written by Susan O’Conner (of Gears of War fame) and the brief glimpse of the game I got last week certainly left me wanting to know more about my character’s background and about where these fugly great big ‘Flathead’ alien worms were from. Indeed, the sight of these ‘flatheads’ busting out of the ground and spitting out huge fireballs of doom as we circled overhead in a helicopter, pumping them full of machine gun bullets, actually had me physically flinching. And as for the boss ‘flathead’ – well, that one has to be seen to be appreciated.
Blacksite: Area 51 really is pure 1950s kitsch sci-fi taken to the nth level. While I only got to check out the single player demo of Blacksite: Area 51 at E3, the final game will include online co-op multiplayer and 16 player deathmatch. I cannot wait to try out the co-op version of the game on release this coming September.
Check the latest few screens from the game right here for a taster of what’s in store.
Companies:
Midway
Games: Blacksite: Area 51 Gears of War John Woo Presents: Stranglehold Unreal Tournament 3 Wheelman
Games: Blacksite: Area 51 Gears of War John Woo Presents: Stranglehold Unreal Tournament 3 Wheelman
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Comments
Joji 17 Jul 2007 12:09
1/2
I liked the demo and I might buy but there's so much games pigeon holed for September, its freaking ridiculous.
By the way, did any of the Spong crew manage to get a go of Mirror's Edge from DICE? I'd like to see some info of those games that were missed by some, like this.
By the way, did any of the Spong crew manage to get a go of Mirror's Edge from DICE? I'd like to see some info of those games that were missed by some, like this.
zoydwheeler 17 Jul 2007 13:06
2/2
Joji wrote:
did any of the Spong crew manage to get a go of Mirror's Edge from DICE? I'd like to see some info of those games that were missed by some, like this.
Unfortunately not, though I personally hope to get a look-see at this very soon. In fact, you've just reminded me to nudge EA on this, cheers.