XBox 360 Rally

You know, growing up in rural Michigan, I never had a lot to do. I remember spending countless summer nights with my friend Shanon at the local BP Gas Station, feeding quarters into the Area 51 arcade machine they had in the back corner. There used to also be a King of Fighters machine (one of those red Neo Geo cabinets), which was replaced later on with an RoadBlasters machine. Shanon and I got so good at Area 51 that we could get through the entire game–twice–on a single quarter. When they finally took the machine out of the BP, we had 9 out of the top 10 scores maxed at 999999. I challenge anyone to top my streak of 176 consecutive kills on 176 shots. Go on, you can’t do it.

So naturally, you can imagine my hesitation when I hear that they’re planning on releasing a sequel to Area 51. Or to be more specific, the sequel to the remake of the arcade classic. But, after playing through the demo, I have to say… I have hope.

After the game loaded, which took a good minute, I found myself standing outside a gas station. The game opened up a lot like the original arcade game, with a guy in my face to essentially tell me to “let’s go!”. After scanning the environment real quick, I looked up at the gas prices.

“$3.15″

I saw that and, out of disgust, shot the sign. A moment later, I hear my team mate utter the following line:

Yeah, I don’t like those prices, either.

…this is the moment I fell in love with the game. For future reference.

Now, the game (so far) plays rather well. The controls are tight, the layout is good and the game just feels natural to play. By using the RB button, you can command your teammates to perform simple tasks like moving to certain locations for cover, stacking on doors and firing at enemies. The problem with this is that your teammate AI is so good that you really don’t need to use it… ok, I guess that really isn’t a problem. But still!

The game looks simply amazing. The water effects, specifically the rain rolling down signs and walls, is second-to-none on the Xbox 360. Second. To. None. The character models of your teammates are detailed and lifelike, and the monsters… well, just look at the banner picture. Absolutely fantastic. But there is a drawback — when you have too many things going on at once, the game chugs into the single frames. Now, I keep in mind that this is but a demo and that there is still a good bit of time for the developers (Midway Austin) to fix these issues, but still, it’s disappointing to see regardless.

The sound… outside of the incredible voice acting, and the ambiance sounds like raindrops striking different surfaces, etc., the game’s sound so far seems like it’ll be unimpressive. Serviceable, but impressive.

This is turning into the most long-winded First Impression I’ve ever written. But so far, the game looks very promising.

Oh, and by the way… those creatures you see up there, in the banner picture… they’re human. This, naturally, proves that there is more than simple aliens at good ol’ Area 51.

You can expect to see Blacksite: Area 51 due out sometime this September, which will mean that no one will play it. Ever.

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