One trick Pony with three legs
Black is one of those I had a hard time deciding what score I'd give it. Sure, the game is really good, it does what it sets out to do, really, really well. Shooting the 15 or so real world weapons is a blast. AK-47s, UZIs and even RPGs will help you destroy an load of faceless troops. The combat is very smooth, and features some incredible animations, reloads and even some wicked muzzle flashes, basically, all the weapons feel and play like monsters However, this accompanied by a staunted Single Player experience (Which only lasts 5 hours) and a slew of other shortcomings leave what could have been a homerun, a pile of miss pitchs. There is also no real story, so just forget about that.
The First great thing you will notice will of course be the guns and all of the crap you can blow up with them. This is actually not as much as you'd want. Sure theres a plenty of explosive barrels and some glass here and there, but in terms of environemnts, there is really a lack of true level destrucion. You basically wonder around waiting for that next explosive device to show up, and shoot that, and the same scripted animation will play as usual. Its a very powerful game, don't get me wrong, but there's not very much of it to boot, and about 80% of the thrills it offers up are purely scripted moments.
Visually the game is gourgeous for a Last Generation title. The visuals really pop and the weapon models look incredible. By todays standards you'd still be impressed. I loved the game's use of a different mood for each level but this graphical touch isn't saying much when theres only 7 levels. The Sound is badass as well, and it's almost as booming as a Call of Duty game, if not more. This game still could have used a few more months in the oven before its launch however in terms of these next flaws.
Bugs, Terrible AI and short length single player are the contributing factors to this games sufferege. Its a solid shooter with great explosions and some awesome guns to toss in, but the lackluster AI and god aweful level design leaves me somewhat saddened. The game is only 15 bucks, but as the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 continue to pump out mega house shooters like KILLZONE 2 and Call of Duty 4, theres really no looking back nowdays. Hopefully criterion will make a Black Paradise if you will and turn the series on its head with some changes and maybe some co-op love, but as it stands, BLACK is a solid, 3 out of 5.
