- Delivers on the promise of guns,
guns and more guns
- Adrenaline-filled gameplay to keep gamers coming back for more
- Great-looking graphics prove that the Xbox still has graphical
muscle
- Where’s the multiplayer?
- Gameplay can get too linear
- A.I. at lower difficulty setting gets too predictable
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Black
Score: 8.6 / 10
With the “stars” of the game being touted
as the multitude of military weaponry you wield against your foes with
extreme prejudice, the first-person shooter Black has been
self-described as “gun porn.” It’s true you may need a cigarette or two
to calm you down from the exhilarating gunplay at work in Black. But the
game has uneven and predictable A.I. and a sometimes-too-linear path to
follow in addition to the ultimate FPS sin today, a lack of online
multiplayer. Ultimately, Black doesn’t provide much more than an early,
point-blank adrenaline rush before being a bit off the mark later on,
although overall it still is another good FPS within striking distance
of the bull’s-eye it intended to shoot for.
Straight from the development folks at Criterion Games that took a new,
hardcore and intense spin on the racing game with its Burnout franchise,
Black follows the strike force activities of the BLACK ops squad of the
United States military, serving
as a special protector of the American way
from foreign and domestic threats. Black’s solution to solving theses
threatening situations? Blow them the hell out of the existence with a
vast array of impressive military weaponry. Black is proud of the fact
that you’ll be eradicating the enemy with a cadre of soldiers trained to
kill, kill, and kill some more with pistols, rifles, machine guns,
rocket and grenade launchers and everything in-between and beyond, all
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in
the name of the U.S.A. way of life.
Black tells its story through live-action cut-scenes retelling the
entire game’s single-player adventure as an after-the-fact interrogation
of what really happened. But the plot gets a bit too twisted and
convoluted to follow closely. Fortunately, the gameplay picks up the
fumbled story and takes it to a action-packed, intensified end zone of a
full-fledged running and gunning, adrenaline-filled kill-fest.
The primary objective of Black is to get from point A to point B while
purging everyone foolishly in your path. However, although the action is
hot and smoking as the barrel firing hundreds of rounds from your
weapon, Black sometimes get lost in a maze of linear gameplay and
predictable A.I. While the A.I. does ramp up to the Mensa zone on higher
difficulties, on most it isn’t too tough to shoot hot lead into most
enemies you’ll face The best tactic, one that the game actually
encourages and rewards, is to use destructible objects strewn throughout
the game to help you in your killing task, such as conveniently placed
gasoline storage containers outside buildings enemy soldiers may be
currently occupying or vehicles with opportunely unobstructed gasoline
tanks in your gun’s sightline.
Just a few shots from your gun and you’ll unleash an exhilaratingly
explosive maelstrom upon the enemy and clear a road (linear, at that)
towards the next mission at hand. Using the strategy of blowing up key
components of the game environment is the easiest way to make a winning
journey through Black, particularly taking into account that killing
enemies strictly using your weapon is a sometimes-arduous assignment. It
seems like almost every enemy you wind up shooting instead needs
practically a full clip pumped into him for him to perish, unless you
use another overtly suggested killing methodology, the headshot.
Graphically, Black is a visual stunner, joining the A-list of handsome
Xbox titles. The guns again are the stars in the graphic department,
with some of the most gorgeous weaponry visuals you’ll ever see. The
character models and varying game environments are also extremely well
done, proving that while the next generation of console graphical
greatness is already upon us with the Xbox 360, the Xbox still has a
visually stellar performance or two still left in it.
Unfortunately, while Black is fun while it lasts, it doesn’t last very
long, ending your immorally enjoyable shooting spree too soon. Making
matters worse, there’s absolutely no multiplayer at all. Black’s
entirely a single-player affair. It’s hard to believe that there’s a FPS
released today without the standard multiplayer that extends the
lifespan of even the most average of FPS gaming undertakings.
Black comes at you with all guns blazing, but lacks the firepower to be
a truly special game in the caliber of Halo 2. The A.I. predictability
coupled with linear game levels somewhat dampen the invigorating,
bullets-flying-everywhere gameplay that will have your ears ringing from
gunfire hours after playing. And no multiplayer? Why Black is missing
that aspect, which is practically a given feature in each and every FPS
released today, is harder to figure out than the “magic bullet” theory.
But Black’s still a heart-and-gun-pumping thrill ride for most of your
dark journey, sure to please the card-carrying NRA member in all of us
gamers.
