Friday 29 December 2017

Blacksite

It's like first Person XCOM except everyone is an idiot.

I can forgive a FPS for being linear and for having a strange story filled with plot holes. I also am ok with it using a checkpoint system, having standard "exploding barrels" in odd spots, and a questionable physics engine that sends exploding cars flying around the map. AI that usually doesn't use cover is around the Doom II era but sure, I can look past a highly trained squad of marines and their foes lining up in the open like in the American Civil War to shoot each other with modern assault or futuristic energy weapons.

"It's ok Sir! We don't need cover against that!"

What I don't like? Unskippable cut scenes. That is my biggest pet peeve in this game, and given it is single player - one that should not exist at all. I was also annoyed that there was no option for subtitles and that all the video settings are not handled in the "video settings" menu, but via squirreling around with game files themselves. That just reeks of bad design. Enemies popping out of thin air is also a bit cheap and the final boss is a HP sponge with no indicator if what you are doing is right.

There are positives though. The game features a good array of poorly explained enemies, a unique squad system where their performance improves or declines with morale and it has huge vehicular stages that have small optional bits apart from "the way forward". Steering is done via mouse though, so don't expect to be able to check your mirrors without turning the vehicle.

There are way better shooters these days (and there were probably better shooters when this was released) and only takes one afternoon to complete, so I give this 1.5 clipping helicopters out of 5.

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