The selection of weapons in Blacksite is acceptable but not innovative. You get a pistol, a sniper rifle, a scattergun, a plasma rifle, an assault rifle, a rocket launcher and occasional gun turrets. You may also use grenades and explosive propane tanks. I found myself most partial to the plasma rifle. Ammunition crates are widely dispersed throughout the levels, but with the more powerful weapons, you frequently find yourself hunting for more projectiles. In a game emphasizing the unusual, I was expecting more creativity in this dimension, not just the standard arsenal.

The assortment of characters helping you in your efforts is colorful but not entertaining. In addition to Pierce, the members of the Delta force squad are Cody Grayson, Logan Somers, Mitchell Ambrose and Noa Weis. You can order them around strategically to any particular location, but you end up doing most of the tough fighting. Although you get to hear whether your squad morale is high or low as you progress, outside of generic judgments about your success or failure in battle, this assessment seems primarily to be a function of whether you’ve temporarily lost some of your comrades in battle. (They spring back to life again a bit after they die). Moreover, the main point of most of these allies appears to be to undertake mundane tasks such as opening doors for you or setting explosive charges, as, incredibly, you generally can’t undertake these actions for yourself.

One of the strengths of Blacksite is the integration of a decent physics engine. A lot of what you encounter is destructible, including some of the places you find to hide from enemy fire; watching your cover slowly disintegrate as your foes pound it into dust can be a harrowing experience. Specifically, you can blow up walls, pillars, bridges and vehicles; once, I even savaged a fire hydrant, and the top came off and water came rushing out. However, on occasion, you inexplicably encounter some objects that can’t be altered, no matter how hard you try.

To a limited extent, Blacksite weakly attempts some critical commentary on current American military involvement overseas. On several occasions, characters will shout out epithets attacking the United States government and accusing it of engaging in a conspiratorial cover-up of what’s really going on in the war, with American soldiers being unwitting victims. However, this politically charged subversive element doesn’t come off well; the critique lacks both depth and punch, and its injection is odd in an offering that has such an emphasis on arcade shooting.