No Love for Hype continues...
By BraindeadRacr 5 Comments
...with:
In retro-spect "BLACK" as number 20.
And Castle Crashers, as #21.
And as usual, a little disclaimer.
I just bring up the bad stuff about a game. There, for the 21st time I have to secure my ass with a flame shield.
But you're here for the bashing of this game right?
First of all, the game's made by Burnout developer Criterion. Remember when Bizzarre, known for Project Gotham Racing, came with The Club, and what an utter failure that was? Well, Criterion did it right... It's one of the finest shooters available. For as long as it'll last.
Damn, it's difficult to digg the crappy stuff up.
Alright, for beginners.
There's a storyline, and technically there isn't. I can tell you, what Criterion told me, but it won't make more sense that way either. "You're playing as a soldier who has done something, some other dude's using you and your history against you to put down the small rise of the Soviets.".
Basically, they could've kept it Counter Strike and;
"You're American. And they're Russians. And there's a M16 in your hands. Russians are evil, evil bastards. Kill 'em all.".
The story doesn't make any sense, whatsoever. In any way. It just doesn't make sense. You'll quickly come back to the political propaganda I just gave you; "Ruskies are bad, Yanks are good.". Though, it won't get any less complicated. There's cutscenes all over the place, which, from my most random guess - Try to explain what the heck happened. But even then there's the distraction of the disorted, and damned-prison lighting that is supposed to set a "I R EVAL!" mood.
Hell, most cutscenes feel like Dr. Phil's interviewing Marylin Manson during a power-out.
But enough about the story. As there's virtually no story.
The gameplay.
Linear. Linear. Linear. Linear. Straight-forward. As straight as a left turn goes. Oh wait.
Entire missions have a few objectives. But consider the objective names fancy "Synonyms".
"Blow up the Bridge" > "Kill dudes."
"Meet at the Russian Goulag." > "Kill dudes."
"Get through the trenches to get to the Russian Farm" > "Kill dudes."
From the first mission, to the last - Your objective involves getting from point A to point B, alive.
But, this game's got a bit of what I call, "Counter Strike Syndrom."
There's an objective, yes. But in the end, all you're doing is killing others, before they kill you.
And that's perfectly fine.
In BLACK, the guns are so effective, and so torturing-good, and for it's time, the insane graphics. To get to the point, the weapons are so great, that the only thing you're willing to do is to charge and kill dudes anyway, rather than scooping around like a stealthy rat, snatching laptops and plans.
There's some flaws with the AI, and all.
But, after 20 games, saying the AI has the survival instincts of a suicide bomber, I think I'm better off just sayin' - They're stupid enough to give you a fair shot at survival. Unlike war.
Oh, and there's no multi-player whatsoever, nor is there any replay value other than being able of unlocking silver weaponry that has unlimited ammo. And the game's length lasts, I'd say, about two-third of Halo 3's eight-hour campaign. But, like Counter Strike - There's something to it. And all you're doing is blowing dudes away.
G.S Score: 8.0-ish, right?
BDR Score: 8.5
