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Video

Launch Player

The Club ³⁶⁰

Conflict: Denied Ops ³⁶⁰

Preview

Blacksite

Format Xbox 360

Developer Midway

Publisher Midway

Genre First Person Shooter

25-Sep-2007 Aliens, guns and explosions combine to stamp a B-movie feel on the FPS genre...

1 Comments

If you could dream up your ideal FPS game, chances are it would include huge explosions, huge aliens, huge set-pieces and a Girls Aloud mud-wrestling mini-game.

You'd then be told that the Girls Aloud mini-game wouldn't be allowed for licensing reasons but for everything else mentioned, you'd be pointed in the general direction of BlackSite. It has the huge explosions, it has the huge aliens and it has the huge set-pieces all squashed into the template of a squad FPS.

Producer Mike Jones, no relation to that Mike Jones, says that BlackSite is looking to capture the feel of a summer B-Movie. Think The Host or The Faculty, movies that feature giant creatures stomping about and causing anarchy in a modern-day environment (big city, high scool and in BlackSite's case, a trailer park). It's just damn good fun.

This being a squad FPS as opposed to a straight up Rambo-style FPS means you have to look out for your team-mates too. That doesn't mean holding back from sending your two comrades into a writhing pit of aliens and expecting them to come back with a goo-stained knife between their teeth. Rather, it means bailing them out of trouble if an alien gets too close, sticking with them and ensuring no-one gets into too much trouble.

Your squad members have a morale rating. When the morale is low, your squad will cower, take cover and hang back. When the squad morale is high, they will become more effective in combat and even melee attack aliens in the mouth. That's what soldiers do when their morale is high. Honest.

GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE
Of course, all this would mean nothing without bad-ass aliens to shoot. Meet Firebrute. He's a shy creature and hid whenever Midway got their Screenshot Camera out but take our word for it when we say Firebrute is like a tortoise. A giant, demonic tortoise that glows angry red and spits fiery laser death at you. Ouch. Mike Jones says that in 2-player co-op, one player can distract while the other can attack. Presumably not stand around cluelessly and get fried to death, a la OXM.

Eventually, we figure it out. The Firebrute is a tremendously strong creature, so you have to avoid it at first. This is done by hurtling through the nearby building as the Firebrute melts it with his laser attacks and eventually, you trip over a rocket launcher. Now the fight is about to get even...

Saying more would ruin it, so here's something else to think about instead - there's another demo due. "The previous demo was a short one," says Jones. "It was a teaser. The demo next month may have co-op. There will be multiplayer components to the demo." But sadly, no Girls Aloud, either in the demo or the full game. Will BlackSite's dizzying mix of aliens, guns and explosions be enough to compensate for its absence? The signs are good... we'll find out when it's released on October 26th.

Ryan King