he Area 51 series came to life in the mid-‘90s when on-rails light gun arcade shooters were still marketable. Players joined a military assault team and battled an alien force intent on taking over the Area 51 installation. Twelve years have passed since then, and the series has proven that it can handle full-fledged FPS gameplay with its 2005 entry. So it’s sad that, in some ways, this sequel feels like a small step back. BlackSite has all the looks and moves of a modern day first-person shooter, but it feels like it’s just going through the motions. Like the on-rails style this series was born from, BlackSite fails to forge its own path in the field of modern day shooters.

The game borrows from a lot of other FPS titles and feels very uninspired. The story about a government-run secret soldier program gone wrong never really drew me in, and the cookie cutter military grunts grated on my nerves a bit. Vehicles have Halo-style control, and though they feel floaty, they’re also still fun to drive around. The squad commands, on the other hand, feel worthless and underdeveloped. They are so unnecessary that you may even forget you have them until you need your team to open a door.

The game’s AI makes some pretty boneheaded maneuvers, too. Your companions will throw grenades at dead bodies long after they’ve hit the ground, and enemies will sometimes run right past you on their way to take cover. Even the multiplayer options are pretty standard, with only eight maps and four modes. One of these, called Abduction, is pretty fun – though it’s similar to Halo 3’s Infection where human players respawn as reborn creatures.

Even with all these annoying issues, the nuts and bolts of BlackSite’s action is solid. The controls and overall level design are good, and some of the enemy character designs look great. And even though the game is constantly hiccupping with loads, there are a lot of cool environmental destruction effects. These lead to some great action moments like walking through the middle of a small desert town as the liquor store in front of you implodes and a giant worm uncurls skyward from the debris. All in all, I can see FPS fans having fun with BlackSite since it provides all the standard FPS rollercoaster thrills, but most of us have been up and down those hills a few too many times.