Black

Black does everything outstanding--for a single-player first-person shooter. When it comes to multiplayer options, however, Black is...well, in the black.

Guns Are a Man's Best Friend
Under interrogation, you detail your path of destruction and murderous rampage in an attempt to hunt down a known terrorist. What you didn't know: You weren't officially sanctioned by the U.S. Government, and instead, were used as a pawn for someone else even more sinister. Eh, so what, you say?

My sentiments exactly.

While the storyline dribbles the normal military cover-up story, the game's presentation on how the story is told is much more exciting. And in this case, Black is told through the gun barrel's point of view...literally. The objectives for each mission are simple: Shoot anything that moves; shoot anything that doesn't move; make it to the next objective with ammo to spare.

The guns are Black's obvious stars in the game. In fact, your own movements, besides walking in all directions, is limited to just crouching. The actions are more focused on the weaponry and what they can do once the lead starts to fly. Just about every single object, vehicle, and non-breathing obstacle can be blown to bits. Added the countless masked men shooting back, and you're in for a highly destructible account of an embellished modern-day battle-zone experience, even if it feels like the gameplay is over the top.

But that's the point of Black.

A Gun Under the Pillow
The gun effects play a huge part of the action. Each real-world gun distinctly pierces the ears with a booming rat-tat-tat that roars the best in a fully turned-up surround sound system.

If the ear massages of gun noises can be interpreted as foreplay, then the visually frenetic gameplay is the penetration to wholesome gunning ecstasy.

Let loose on the trigger and you'll be rewarded with an orgasmic display of mayhem. Actually, the more flurries your gun can give, the better the experience you'll have. You are supposed to blow things up. And you are supposed to pump 10-plus rounds into one single guy. If done correctly--and it's hard not to--then the run-and-gun tactics will consume your eyes with a breadth of destruction never before seen in any type of shooter. You'll marvel at the intense explosions, and the effects explosions have on anyone standing next to them; you're an unwilling witness to the perfection of rag doll physics.

Handling such powerful pieces of hardware is a cinch, too. In Black, AK-47s, Mac 10's, SAW's, and Grenade Launchers all require just the basic touch for maximum effectiveness. Aim and shoot is all you need to do. Each gun is accurate to its own given area of effectiveness such as short- and medium-range.

A Gun of One
Black does misfire at certain points. Enemy A.I. is a mix bag of sharp-shooting mercenaries and idiot-thinking drones. For example, soldiers can be oblivious to you even though you performed a head shot on someone next to them. But the Kevlar-masked henchmen with a shotty are aggressive enough to hunt you down wherever you're hiding.

Of course, the low point in Black is the lack of any multiplayer options. You can't even play split-screen. Upload a high score on a board? Nope. What gives?

Without any multiplayer games, you are forced to replay Black in the harder difficulty settings that then open up some cool guns with which you can play. But is that incentive enough to play over and over again? For brainless FPS fun, Yes it is.

All told, if Black was created to produce an adrenaline-induced euphoria of maddening guns going wild, then it is a total success. In the sequel, as the end of the story sets up, let's hope the AI is improved and includes at least some type of multiplayer type--which would then predictably give it a better score.

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Rivenscry

I agree, Black was never meant to be the most serious games ever yet it still has one of the funnest openings i've ever played.

P.S. Does anyone know when Black 2 will be released?
Its going to rock! (hopefully)

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