Blackwater is a game that endeared itself to me before I had even inserted the disc. Blackwater is trying to be a little different from most other games - I like different. It’s not your typical first-person shooter and it’s not your typical Kinect game - Blackwater certainly is trying to be new with its choice of Kinect or traditional controller for shooter gameplay.

I appreciate the practical side of a game that offers gamers a choice and even if the Kinect or traditional controller option doesn’t work this time around, the idea is a sound one that hopefully more developers will consider in the future if their game seems suitable for both types of control.

The promotional video for Blackwater shows off the Kinect gameplay in full swing with the player grasping his imaginary weapon neatly tucked against his cheek as he fires short, controlled bursts into the on-screen enemies. Frantic diving to the side, a peek around the corner, a quick upward slap of the elbow to load a new ammo clip and the overhead swing of the arm to toss a grenade, and this game is looking all the business.

Certainly now you can go weapons free with your Kinect and look totally David Webb (that’s Jason Bourne to the uninitiated) doing it. When I considered this promotional video alongside the paper concept of the game, Blackwater was starting to seem really intriguing and I was looking forward to trying out this latest generation shooter with the Kinect interface.

As far as the controller options go, Blackwater is a jack-of-all-trades title for the Xbox 360, but it’s clear that the intended weapon of choice is the Kinect controller and the Kinect experience is what we’ll be focusing on throughout this review. Besides the obvious player interaction differences, there’s no significant change between the controller selections in terms of the actual game itself.

Blackwater has a fairly basic storyline holding the action together: Blackwater is the name of a (real-life) private military company which is, in the game, currently employed in an unknown North-African conflict to support UN aid groups looking after civilians who are fleeing a maniacal warlord. Since Blackwater The Game was the brainchild of real-life Blackwater founder Erik Prince it’s unsurprising that the game puts a lot of effort into each cut-scene to emphasise that at the heart of Blackwater isn’t a gang of soldiers-for-hire intent on killing people for commercial gain, but rather a group of your typical honour-bound American heroes who are more about saving the world and upholding justice. A group of Captain America’s and Lone Rangers, if you will.

The graphics in Blackwater are very poor (and very outdated) and despite its entry into the market in 2011, the game holds more in common with interactive coin-op shooters of yesteryear than it does with most other titles released for Xbox over the past five years. Playing Blackwater with the Kinect interface feels much the same as playing Virtua Cop 2 or Lethal Enforcers at the old arcade houses, only this time you’ve traded in your pink and blue plastic light-guns for make-believe weapons.

The premise is simple: stand still, aim at the target, wait for the Kinect to respond, and move on to your next target. Of course interspersed within this sober activity is the occasional twisting, turning, and leaning to look around corners, as well as jumping, ducking, kicking, and hiding behind cover.

Apart from the disappointment of experiencing a very mediocre game, what really disappointed me was how unlike the promo video the actual playing of the game was: you can’t caress an imaginary M14 with two arms and hope to shoot anything - the game focuses on one of your hands and if you try to hold an imaginary rifle you’ll just confuse the Kinect. You’re better off literally pointing your finger like some sort of lethal bullet-emitting wand than trying to make yourself feel like a gunfighter.

Responsiveness is somewhat delayed because the game gives a few milliseconds for you to confirm your action before firing but it gets the job done. The movement in the game is entirely rails-based and after every few kills you will be shown a cut-scene of team members relaying messages with a finger in their ear before you’re transported into a new combatant with a new weapon.

At first the action is novel and much akin in excitement to the old light-gun arcade games but it soon begins to feel repetitive and predictable. There are some choices to be made now and then about which path to follow but this has no effect on the game besides a change of scenery.

In the singleplayer mode, levels can be quite long (at least, they can feel quite long…) and there is no checkpoint revive option which means if you die anywhere along the level, you have to repeat the entire series of events again. Not usually a deal-breaker if it’s fun to play through a level again but in the case of Blackwater, it makes the entire experience even more frustrating. When you grow tired of the campaign you can try out a competitive mode with up to eight friends to see who can rack up the highest score within the time limit. This is a novelty but the gameplay is much the same as the campaign and the addition of a split-screen mode would no doubt have improved the game’s fortunes.

In Kinect-less mode (i.e. controller mode), the game is the same but far less exciting. The sticks replace the aiming hand and the body’s position, which is probably sensible for the translation between Kinect-mode and controller-mode for this particular game, but in terms of general shooters, the controls are swapped around and reminded me more of Time Crisis on PC than most other shooters on Xbox and it takes a lot of adjustment. As a controller-driven shooter game it’s not great at all and is clearly meant to be Kinect-centric.

Despite the game’s graphics and gameplay lending itself to a retro light-gun feel, Blackwater could still prove to be quite a bit of fun in a shooter world dominated by the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises. The key to enjoying this game is to ignore the Kinect-less option and only tackle this title if you own a Kinect and have a forgiving, patient heart. It’s by no means a blockbuster title but if Erik Prince’s intention to establish a new gaming franchise is to be believed then this is just the start of a new wave of Kinect shooters.

The control gestures aren’t quite as the promo video would have you believe but it’s not enough disappointment to ruin the experience. This is definitely a good option for the younger kids, especially action-crazed boys, and should be avoided if you’re old enough to drive your own car. I will admit, it’s the best Kinect-based shooter I’ve ever played, but that could also be because it’s the only Kinect-based shooter I’ve ever played.

The Good:

- Brings me back to the light-gun gaming days

The Bad:

- It’s a bit simplistic
- Graphics and gameplay are poor

Purchase: