Review: BlackSite - Xbox 360 - Xbox 360 - HEXUS.net

Nice graphics

The problems continue with the audio, which at times is superb, gathering pace and managing to get you into the spirit of things with suitably creepy noises followed by blazing fan fares when the action hots-up, but at other times it’s dreadful. During some cut-scenes, in which you have the freedom to move around Half-life style, there are spots in the room where the dialogue becomes louder - even though you’re further away from the person who is speaking. During a driving scene I noticed that there was no sound when the Humvee hit the ground after it jumped a ramp, but on other occasions you would hear a bang. Once again, it raises the issue that the game doesn’t seem to have been tweaked prior to release.

Graphically, the locations in BlackSite do look great and it’s certainly the game’s most impressive aspect. The character models are also intricately detailed, though I’m not sure whether the thin line that appears to out-line them is meant to be part of the style of the game or whether it’s just poor coding. You know when you watch a news reporter on TV and you can tell that they’ve been superimposed onto a location and they aren’t actually in the place they are reporting from (filmed on blue screen)? The characters look a bit like that, so they don’t really seem to be part of the environment; they seem somewhat detached.

Click for larger image

I don’t want you to walk away from this review thinking that BlackSite is the most God-awful first person shooter I’ve ever played; that wouldn’t be true. It is, however, true that I’ve never played a game that sends out such a mixed message. BlackSite is pure quality in some places, with great AI, good monsters, beautifully rendered locations and some ‘jump out of your seat moments’. But you begin to lose trust and get frustrated at moments like when you jump into two identical Humvees at different points in the game and discover that they both drive at totally different speeds for no apparent reason. BlackSite needed more work before release, which is a shame, because it does have flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, what we’re left with, is a rather forgettable first person shooter.

Pros
Some great looking environments
Big, bad aliens
Has a few quality moments

Cons
Lots of bugs (of the programming kind)
Morale system is pointless
Squad commands are pointless
The driving scenes are dire

A weekend rent and nothing more for this buggy alien shooter.

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