Blacksite: Area 51 demo on Live

By Tom Bramwell Published 11 May, 2007

Way ahead of release.

A demo for Midway's upcoming Area 51 sequel is up on Xbox Live Marketplace weighing in at 583MB.

With the game due out this summer on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, a demo so soon is a bit of a surprise, but we're not complaining.

We're not yet sure what you can actually do in the demo, but we do know you won't be able to do any of it if you live in Germany or Asia, where the demo's not available.

Fortunately it is there for both Gold and Silver Xbox Live users, judging by Major Nelson's post, which also includes the following handy synopsis:

"Modern day fears come to life in a familiar, yet extraordinary setting: A small American town swarming with alien life. The government is desperate, struggling to contain secrets so terrible they can no longer be kept.

"Everything hinges on the actions of Aeran Pierce, a former Special Forces assassin thrown into one of the most explosive moments in American history."

Let us know what you make of it.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • t8yman #1 5 years ago

    the crackdown dlc is up too, for those of you that havent been to the forum

  • bonker #2 5 years ago

    Great thx!

  • Inquisitor #3 5 years ago

    Wow, thats unexpected. This is completely out of the blue, glad they seem to have gotten rid of giving the demos to gold users a week early too, the forza demo came out at the same time for silver users aswell.

    Downloading now, will post my impressions an hour or so by the looks of things.

  • platinum #4 5 years ago

    living in germany and paying monthly for live (and probably more than anywhere else on the world, too, for that matter) can someone please remind me what exactly the point of paying that fee was when we're being cut out of every freakin' content!
    thanks a bunch microsoft!
    get off your lazy buts and figure out an age varification system, damn it! common, it realy can't be that hard to do. actualy i'm pretty sure it's been done before for other online services! and, jesus, it's good damn microsoft!!! those guys make windows! software solutions are supposed to be their field of expertise!!

    aaaargh, there's no point in ranting about this stupid region lock online in a comments section!
    sorry, but it sure made me feel better!

  • quantumsheep #5 5 years ago

    "Aeran Pierce"

    Isn't he the presidential bodyguard from 24???

  • DanWhitehead #6 5 years ago

    I think they mean Warren Pierce, named after the book.

  • BravoGolf #7 5 years ago

    Saw the vid of this, looked shit

  • Scurrminator #8 5 years ago

    that looks amazing. especially the end bit - out of the blue this was, thought it would be awful!

  • IAmBatman #9 5 years ago

    > thanks a bunch microsoft!

    It's your government's fault, as it happens. And you're paying the fee for the multiplayer, same as everyone else on Live.

  • absolutezero #10 5 years ago

    Just played through, it was alot better than I thought it was going to be.

    Ran out of ammo fighting the insect thingys at the end and had to melee them all. Hopefully itll be region free so I can pick it up on the cheap for the single player, the multi doesnt sound interesting at all.

  • repairmanjack #11 5 years ago

    Well I picked the "wrong" day to work from home...

    :)

  • Inquisitor #12 5 years ago

    First part was great, good firefights, pretty scary aliens and a decent amount of destructable scenery, unfortunately it crashed my xbox. Ho hum, I'll give it another go in a bit.

  • Dizzy #13 5 years ago

    It is not bad. Looks a bit like Gears but plays like a classic FPS. Nothing groundbreaking in gameplay.. but the "athmosphere" is there.

  • spongebob #14 5 years ago

    What did you guys think of the original Area 51?

  • WrongShui #15 5 years ago

    That spidey 3 ad comes out just enough for it to say "a former Special Forces ass".

    Made my day.

    The last one was alright, it was nice to see the greatest acting robot doing something.

  • SBfistfun #16 5 years ago

    I thought the first one wasn't bad, if unspectacular, although I played through it in work so I don't know if I would ahve though that if I'd paid 35 squid for it!

    The multiplayer was a bit disappointing though, really bog standard.

    Cold war was betterer

  • peteb #17 5 years ago

    @platinum

    im in germany and still managed to download this and the crackdown stuff from my UK account. Gues stheir region stuff still isnt active yet

  • neosalad #18 5 years ago

    looks .. nice..
    though the demo is very short...
    sortof reminds me of f.e.a.r but outside instead of in corridoors..
    and shooting alien things instead of men.

  • Lukus #19 5 years ago

    Platinum- Isn't it cos of more strict censorship laws in Germany that you're not getting it?

  • davisorle #20 5 years ago

    I just played the demo. This game ROCKS XD. I really didnt expect anything from a so premature demo from the actual release game but that shit already looks stanning (Unreal Engine 3 may be blessed ) and the atmosphere is really something else. OMFG when is the real deal actually coming out? I dont remember :S. The only bad thing is the Demo lasted less than 4 minutes BUT still enough to make you see what is coming. No wonder why the demo is out so early. Now I really cant wait :p

  • GamesConnoisseur #21 5 years ago

    Aye the demo is too damn short! Was shocked to have 'end demo' blurbs come up too soon!

    Looking reasonably good though

  • alpha-0ne #22 5 years ago

    Its more of an interactive promo trailer than a demo, very impressive though did people notice the destuctable columns near the petrol station very impressive..

    Also the effect at the end when the suprise happens looks great !

  • Scimarad #23 5 years ago

    Excellent stuff - Can never resist an alien invasion:-)

  • Fyzzu #24 5 years ago

    While I just thought it was really quite generic and not overly impressive at all... Might've been the shortness of the demo, though, considering the size.

    EDIT: Ah, yes. It's listed as a Teaser Demo.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/07 @ 03:49

  • numptyboymatt #25 5 years ago

    I downloaded it but I cant play it - the dogs barking at the beginning set my dog off barking and he doesnt stop until I turn it off. Bastard.

  • DjWhizzkidd #26 5 years ago

    This is impressive, very good atmosphere. Its a long way off release too so hopefully they will sort out the dodgey frame rate and screen tearing.........I hope.

    Its quite tough to aim at the moment with the frame rate issue.

    So anyway, if they get this running as smooth as Forza !! it could be very good indeed.

  • Max_Powers #27 5 years ago

    hand-up everybody in the comments section that works for Midway or the developer.

    My money is on Davisorle.

    That said, the demo was alrightish if a bit generic

  • Kostabi #28 5 years ago

    did people notice the destuctable columns near the petrol station very impressive..

    Ha, that caught me out in a big way. I hid behind the columns in time honoured FPS fashion, only to feel an 'oh shit' moment when the beastie blew a hole in it and started reigning death down on me.

  • Hunam #29 5 years ago

    I thought it was ok, seemed generic run and gun with some ok graphics. I just imaged it to be like Resistance without the gimmick weapons.

  • Skeletor #30 5 years ago

    @IAmBatman
    German government has nothing to do with it. MS just doesn't give a shit about its German customers and thinks that setting up a proper age verification system would be just too expensive. Perfect excuse for a mod chip since German live lacks a lot of content now.

  • numptyboymatt #31 5 years ago

    Finally managed to have a go now - pretty impressed considering I had no previous interest in this at all.

  • davisorle #32 5 years ago

    Well the destractable columns weren't the only noticable thing in the game. There's already a lot of details that have been taken care of in this game ( demo ). And I don't know how many of you have played the original Area 51 game ( with the voice of Manson ^^ ) but that one also looked REALLY good as a game for the original xbox. And if I can remember it was also a lot of fun to play.

  • coojam #33 5 years ago

    I thought it was ok, seemed generic run and gun with some ok graphics. I just imaged it to be like Resistance without the gimmick weapons.

    And without the brown. And a better atmosphere. I was dead impressed I must say, the graphics were quite lovely, it was paced very nicely and the effects were great. The weapons were suitable meaty as well.

  • Scump #34 5 years ago

    Yeah i got to admit I was impressed with this. It seemed to run on the 360 without killing it. However Rainbow six has destroyed games like this for me, I have this constant urge to take cover

  • andrewwd #35 5 years ago

    Not too shabby. Better than expected.

  • JayPee #36 5 years ago

    German government has nothing to do with it. MS just doesn't give a shit about its German customers and thinks that setting up a proper age verification system would be just too expensive

    A bit like blaming trees for not developing stronger bark so they don't get chopped down.

    But I feel your pain.

  • onyx_elite #37 5 years ago

    This demo has filled me with buckets of weeping joy. I've been following Blacksite's progress for a while and thought it looked particularly tasty and the demo was a welcome, if brief, surprise. I was slightly confused when I ran out of ammo tho, like I'd forgotten to pick some up or I was supposed to steal it of one of the other guys.

    Personally it gave me the impression of a mixture of Half Life 2 and GRAW with a sprinkle of Gears shiny for good measure. I don't think any serious Gears of War comparisons can be made due to the relative differences in play style, setting and appearance.