Likewise, the story just doesn't have that hook to keep you motivated. You won't give a crap about anyone on your team (even someone initially presumed dead at one point – one of your soldiers even admits he went "to his funeral"); the twists and turns are foreseeable from a mile away; and the whole thing ends on a sour note instead of having a riling conclusion. It's decent fun as you go through it the first time, but there's hardly anything worth returning to Rachel for.

Then we come to multiplayer, which is average aside from one key ingredient. You have the usual modes here, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, supporting up to ten players. It can be a good time, but nothing compared to the rich, bold multiplayer experience of Call of Duty 4. Worse yet, there's no co-op campaign. It would be awesome to go on an alien hunting binge together with friends, but it just doesn't happen. The main thing that stands out with multiplayer is the Abduction mode. You'll either play as a human fighting off against "taken" soldiers (corrupted by the aliens) or vice versa, attempting to enslave fighters for your cause. It's a nice twist on an otherwise typical set-up.

Visually, Midway Austin puts forth a mostly acceptable effort. The environments look great, particularly in the dark catacombs of the Iraq base or town buildings when enemies jump out of nowhere. However, some of the lighting effects are weird, as the soldiers sport a "shiny" glow that makes it appear as if they bathed in toxic waste. Slowdown and pop-up occur often as well. The destructible environments are pretty cool, though, especially mowing down concrete columns as you blast enemies. In terms of audio, Blacksite has great orchestrated background music, but the dialogue is mostly forgettable. One of your soldiers talks so much you just want to go up and smack him in the face with your gun.

If anything, Blacksite: Area 51 has terrible timing. Over the summer (or the beginning of the holiday game rush), this could've been a big hit, even with its problems. However, it just can't hold up against the better shooters. It's a decent rental, though, especially if you have a nagging need to turn aliens into big piles of goo.