I believe that Blackwater has a tremendously interesting subject. Players are placed into a role as a member of the titular organization, a private company that works to provide services to whomever they enter into a contract with. Players have to ensure that democracy is brought to the inhabitants of Harri, a fictional country. However, there are a tremendous amount of forces that wish to continue the status quo. This Kinect-heavy title will have players get into the motions that one that may actually be stranded in a war zone would do; one actually has to swing around their gun to get to the different enemies, for example. While it is possible to use the standard Xbox 360 controller to move around your character, I find that there is a much more realistic feel to the Kinect side of things.
There is a pretty substantial realism to this title that manifests itself in terms of a player’s life – one can only take a few hits before they die. While the amount of different save points makes the title easier than it would normally be, I would be lying if I said there was not a severe difficulty curve here.
After completing the main single-person story, I found that the game really shines in the multiplayer. This ensures that up to eight people can play the title, which will rapidly degenerate into some of the most rapid and bloody fighting that one can imagine. Blackwater is a title that will not get the ink that it deserve, but is in reality a pretty serviceable first-person shooter; the additional multiplayer really is the icing on the top of the cake here. Search around and purchase this for anyone that is a fan of first-person shooters. I can guarantee that they will dig this game.
Rating: 8.1/10
Blackwater (Xbox 360) / 2011 505 Games / http://www.505games.com