Blackwater is back: Founder of controversial contractor launches Xbox 360 shooter - Military Video Games, computer games, games, gaming - Military Times

Blackwater is back: Founder of controversial contractor launches Xbox 360 shooter

Is there nothing those crazy mercs won’t do for a buck?

The hired guns at Blackwater are blasting away on a new front, this time door-kicking their way into the console wars with their own first-person shooter for the Kinect-enabled Xbox 360.

Hands-free gamers can play as one of four Blackwater operatives running and gunning through a North African hellhole gone from bad to worse. “Blackwater” goes on sale Oct. 25 with a price tag of $50, distributed by Italian publisher 505 Games.

Joining forces with Seattle-based Zombie Studios, the game was developed by Blackwater founder and former Navy SEAL Erik Prince, who renamed his company Xe after a string of civilian deaths and other controversies in Iraq involving Blackwater employees.

Prince since has sold Xe, but his Blackwater brand isn’t so tarnished as to make him gun-shy about using it for his entry into the gaming world.

Players will be “shooting, moving and communicating through very difficult, unknown, uncertain situations,” Prince told USA Today. Meanwhile, he says, plans are in motion to license the Blackwater brand for a new line of travel gear and other products as well.

Early reviews of the game have been mixed.

With plenty of full-body jumping, ducking and kicking, IGN editor Anthony Gallegos was surprised at how physical the game was, but he was disappointed with the point-your-finger-style aiming of no-controller Kinect.

“It kind of takes me out of the moment when I’m waving my hand around trying to figure out where I’m aiming — totally unlike a badass mercenary,” Gallegos says. “It’s cool to see someone trying out a military shooter on Kinect, but I’m still not convinced this is the place for it.”