BlackSite: Area 51 - updated impressions

Harvey Smith, famed for his work on Deus Ex, sits on the edge of the stage as if about to talk about some new theater production. In fact he’s getting comfortable in a Soho cinema and talking to us about BlackSite: Area 51-the Unreal 3.0-powered squad-based shooter and increasingly distant sequel to the inexplicably popular Area 51.

Astonishingly, the BlackSite team has opted to have “seamless drop-in drop-out” co-op throughout the single-player game. “At every turn co-op has [screwed] us,” says Smith. “We’ll be looking at a shiny finished helicopter model, and ‘oh damn, where does Player Two sit?’” Despite such developmental pitfalls it’s a measure of Smith’s confidence after 15 years (and a resumé that includes both Deus Ex games) that his team leapt at the chance to include a feature that so many other teams dare not even consider for a tightly-scripted linear shooter.

Latest in Action
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Indy hanging onto a vine as in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date reportedly set for April after ESRB leak
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"
a titanium watch with grey and orange features on the arms and face
You can look like Solid Snake with this Death Stranding 2 watch, but it'll cost you over $1,500
Latest in Features
The Punisher holding two machine guns in the rain
Daredevil: Born Again - Learn the bullet-riddled comic book history of the Punisher before he officially joins the MCU
A woman in a underwater machine waving during the cinematic teaser for Subnautica 2.
Subnautica 2: Everything we know about the new underwater survival game
The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G being held above a motherboard by a reviewer
AMD's pro-consumer 9070 strategies are exactly why it's primed to dominate the CPU market in 2025
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows' transmog looks set to combine the best of Odyssey and Vahalla to make changing my drip easier than ever
Split Fiction screenshot of Zoe and Mio in a fantasy world
Split Fiction feels like a Mass Effect-meets-Fable platformer and I'm obsessed with it after just one hour
Monster Hunter Wilds characters share a meal
Oh no, Monster Hunter Wilds is so good that I'm already counting the days until its inevitable Master Rank expansion