  In this game, not being able to hit the side of a building won't be a problem for the aiming-challenged.
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Mindless violence, I think we can all agree, is generally a bad thing, but what about single minded, focused violence? Criterion have locked and loaded all the explosiveness of their Burnout series into a first person action shooter in an attempt to translate the relatively sedate fun of automotive carnage into something a little more serious.
Ignoring the development most recent shooters have taken, weaving delicate narratives to give some sense to all the violence and bloodshed, Black takes a wholly different path. Sure, there¹s a story here, one of some secret service guy having gotten up to no good on some previous missions, but it doesn¹t matter one iota. In fact I doubt anyone will pay any attention to what little plot there is, because after each cut scene, Black puts a gun in your hand, and lets you shoot almost anything, with the most satisfying effects.
There¹s no doubt, nothing in my mind takes hold immediately the way Black does. The ability to blow almost everything in sight to dust with guns is mighty appealing, be it inanimate or human. Furthermore, strategically popping a particular piece of scenery just to send the resulting masonry crashing down onto the poor enemy soldiers below only bolsters the already considerable feeling of power.
Yet it¹s this focused, single mindedness that could be construed as Black¹s downfall. The level design is so horrifically linear and unintelligible that it always feels like the next step, despite having cleared every visible foe thus far, will no doubt be the step to trigger the next wave of bad guys.
This is the conflict. Should I really care? There are few other games out there that provide such a completely visceral experience. If I want plot and delicate cause and effect, I probably shouldn¹t entertain Black in favour of something trickier like one of the many Rainbow Six outings.
It¹s the feedback Black constantly bombards with that turns what ought to be a completely mind numbing experience into something worth playing. Glass shards flying, smoke and dust clouding your way Criterion have quite obviously taught themselves a thing or two about environment destruction and explosions over the course of their Burnout releases. Even down to the expelled shells littering the surroundings, the attention to detail is immense.
Despite being no Ghost Recon, it¹s not to say you can just run through Black all guns blazing, tempting as it might sound. Instead Black really is all about that destructible environment, taking cover, and then losing it as it¹s blown away by enemy fire. The enemy AI isn¹t the greatest ever unfortunately, with situations where enemy soldiers remain composed, despite the guy patrolling next to them taking one to the forehead.
As I¹ve ascertained, Black is conflicted right from the start, but it¹s not until you really start progressing through its levels do the excuses Black has for its existence begin to wane. Sure, the scenery changes but the goals or how they¹re achieved do not. It really is just shoot, duck for cover and shoot again all the way through. The eye candy, and it really is as good looking as an FPS has ever been, wears thin soon enough. And it¹s not particularly long either. But then that really is just fine. Because as it is, despite the conflict as to whether it¹s too focused in abandoning all semblance of intelligent narrative, empowering the player with total destruction over a million levels will get really boring eventually.
Black sets out to achieve one goal of being the biggest, loudest and most impressively single mindedly violent FPS. Regardless of the zero it receives for narrative, it most definitely scores huge on thrills.
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WHAM! Rating:
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7.5 out of 10
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ESRB Rating:
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M (Mature)
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Official Web Site:
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