Black (Sony PlayStation 2, 2006)

The above is the motto of Black along with the five rules of guncraft: guns are the stars, every bullet is your baby, bigger guns equal louder explosions, leave a trail of destruction, and get creative with your kills.

Black is a first person shooter type game from Criterion Games, the company who released the Burnout games. Black puts you in the role of a highly trained special operations officer named Keller. You'll learn through CGI cut scenes that your objective is to locate and kill a terrorist named Lennox who is the leader of a group of terrorists called the Seventh Wave. Prior to each mission, and there are eight of them, you'll see a cut scene that sets up the mission. The cut scenes are flashbacks and your character is in chains and is being interrogated. These CGI scenes are obviously meant to give a dark and shadowy mood to the game. Then the mission starts and the killing begins.

Black is a beautifully constructed first person shooter. The backgrounds and graphics are some of the best available on the PS2 platform. Added to this is the openness and realistic feel of the game. Black allows you to use both cover and concealment to fight your opponents but also allows them to shoot apart your cover if its not sturdy enough. It also allows you to choose different ways to complete your mission using different approaches to buildings and towns etc. The primary missions are fairly basic and for the most part easily accomplished. They range from crossing towns to blowing up objects to killing specific targets. Secondary missions are available in each level. These are typically simple missions like finding hidden blueprints and destroying safes or laptops. The missions will take you through forests, cities, bridges, buildings and of course underground. All of the backgrounds and graphics are great but what sets the game apart is the action.

In Black you gets lots of ammo and lots of targets which is perfect since everything seems to explode. You can shoot doors off their hinges, shoot out windows, blow up propane tanks, shoot vehicles until they explode etc. Pretty much anything that's colored red in the game can explode and usually a bad guy is standing next to it. There are lots of different weapons available from pistols to RPG launchers and every type of machine gun in between.

With all of the positives of Black, the game still has some issues. The CGI flashback scenes are really repetitive and can't be skipped. I understand the programmers were trying to set the mood with the evil goverment interogators yadda yadda yadda, but enough already - lets start shooting bad guys. Next, a couple more checkpoints would have been helpful. There's nothing worse than creeping along a level for twenty minutes trying to find everything and patiently sniping every enemy and then getting killed. Finally, the ending is very anti-climatic. It feels like you end up killing several hundred bad guys and then its just over. You get a little cut scene where the game is left open to a sequel but doesn't give you any closure.

Black is a fun game with lots of shooting and explosions. Its beautifully done with great graphics and sound. Its takes between six and eight hours to complete but doesn't have a lot of replay value. This problem would have been solved with a multi-player (head to head)option. Overall, Black is a great game and is a must for any fan of first person shooter games.

First of all, I am new to the "Game Platform" gaming experience! I have always played games on the computer with the idea that since I own a computer, why go to the expense of buying an X Box, Playstation, or Gamecube game system. I WAS WRONG, VERY WRONG!!! Black is the second "Shooter" game that I have purchased since buying my Playstation 2 and it has been worth every penny. The artwork and screen rendering are excellent and put you in various locals like check points in the woods, war torn cities, docks, factories, and hidden underground facilities. Occasionally you will have assistance along the way in the form of two additional soldiers or snipers helping you, but usually you are alone on your missions. The storyline is a little sketchy and if you start over as many times as I did, it gets to be quite boring and repetative. I thought the background music was well done and adds to the over all mood of the entire game. The weapons in Black are another positive. They all have realistic range, capacity and aim. In automatic firing mode, the weapon will actually drift on you just like the real thing, making it harder to hit your target the more rounds you fire at it. You will find that short bursts and single shots work much better than unloading your weapons ammo as quickly as you can. Black will keep your attention and keep you well entertained for hours, especially if you are new to gaming platform games and the learning curve of a new controller.
What I didn't like about Black was as I mentioned above, starting over! Black does not allow you to save your game on your terms. You have eight missions in Black with roughly three parts to each mission. If you die or need to quit playing between these mission parts, you cannot save your game and will lose your progress up to the last completed mission part. Considering how difficult some mission parts are, this little problem can become a major irritation quickly! Also, there are four difficulty levels to the game. Once you complete a difficulty level, you will receive a minor reward like unlimited ammo or nickel plated weapons. This is nice, but you start a new difficulty level and play the same game. No new missions, areas, or weapons. Just lots more bad guys ready to kill you. Not much incentive to play again, although this game is rather addictive and fun.
I decided to buy Black because it sounded like my kind of game and was listed at a reasonable price as an EBAY Auction Item. I have totally enjoyed playing it and hopefully the few complaints that I have had about the game will be fixed when and if there is a "Black 2" released in the future. If this happens, I will be standing in line to purchase it as soon as it hits the store shelves.

And that's why it rocks. From the moment you play Black, you will notice that the weapon you're holding is as real as they come, but one thing is peculir: it holds 90 bullets per clip, more than enough to rage hell against masked terrorists totally vulnerable to headshots.

Even the gameplay itself is just... bullets. Bullets everywhere. And the way they did it is so freakin amazing. When the bullets hits all around you, the dust flies up and your visiblity gets low, making the gunfight more realistic than in any game I've ever seen. If you hide behind a concrete pillar, enemy bullets will eventually tear it to pieces, making you look for another hiding spot. And the game's memory is so capable that the ground will be littered with bullet casings. It's an all-out war and each bullet that each weapon fires will leave you in awe.

The graphics are the most amazing thing I've ever seen for a Playstation 2, especially as a first-person shooter. From the blurry vision you get when you reload a weapon to fiery explosions to bullets that take a chunk out of concrete walls, this game is very visually oriented, and will make your jaw dangling for quite a while.

There are certain flaws to the game however. The biggest flaw is that you can only save progress after you've beaten a mission. Sure you get checkpoints but they're so far apart and if you decide to quit the game after getting to the 2nd checkpoint, I'm sorry but you have to do that mission all over again. The story is rather convoluted and confusing the first time since everything is flashback. And the terrorists can endure ridiculous amounts of shots if it's not a headshot. They can really survive 20 AK rounds to their arms and still run around fine. The A.I. is really fine tuned but can be real frustrating some times.

Another thing is, and this is not a flaw, but I'm just saying, the game doesn't have much replay value at all. I mean, sure you get unlimited ammo for weapons after beating each difficulty level, but other than that, it's just a good single player fps. There is no multiplayer whatsoever and no level has any memorable moments. It's just a hide-and-shoot game that will get you fired up but after it's all been said and done, you'll want to go to another game. Actually, it really sets up the stage for a sequel.

I personlly think this game works best as a rental. It's relly great game, but it's not a keeper.

At first opinions this game is really great, good graphics, realistic weaponry, good gameplay and fairly easy controls.
It is very intense with lots of explosions and all kinds of stuff to shoot at.
The levels are open and you can usually see from one side to another with the right weapon.
The game's only downfall is its difficulty settings, where you have to progressively beat harder levels. But once you go from normal to hard, nothing changes with the game, it gets very repetitive. There are less healthpacks and harder enemies for few rewards. In my opinion there should have meen one more mission at the end if you beat the whole game.
I highly reccomend this game to anyone who likes first person shooters, but I would suggest renting it instead of buying it, once the game is done it's pretty much no fun to play anymore.

This is hands down the best game I have played for Ps2. The game play is simple kill and destroy everything and after they are dead kill them again, then blow up the building you killed them in. This is really the first Ps2 game to have a destructible background. What this means is that if you shoot a rocket at a building in the background the building will explode and show damage. The point of this game is to kill everyone is your way and survive to the next level. There are mission objectives, but it doesnt really matter if you complete them or not to move on the the next level. I dont know what I like best about this game, the amazing graphics or the huge arsenal of weapons at you disposal. This is a amazing game all around. The only downfall to this game no multiplayer or online. Oh well maybe on the next one, but in the mean time if you own PS2 you must own this game, it really shows the PS2 is capable of great things.