I don’t care what anyone else says, the eighties were a great period for films. During the eighties, Arnie (the Governator) was at the top of his game, Die Hard made Bruce Willis a force to be reckoned with, and even Stallone was making semi-decent films. In many ways, the eighties were the apex of the action movie. Don’t get me wrong, there were some real awesome action flicks from the nineties on, like True Lies and The Matrix, but since Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991 and basically p0wn’d the genre, the steady flow of big-budget action flicks out of Hollywood has slowed down to a trickle.

Which brings me to the game BLACK, developed by Criterion and published by EA. Criterion, known primarily for their equally cathartic Burnout racing series, created BLACK with a very focused goal, to make the guns the stars. For this reason, BLACK plays out as a homage to every action movie you’ve ever seen, having you shoot your way from one hairy situation to the next, with huge explosions, high body counts, and destructible environments. Make no mistake, BLACK is one of those visceral games that drags you in from start to finish, seldom letting up on the intense action. While there are a few things that sour the experience, like a fairly short length and some AI issues, BLACK is still a very engaging action game that dares to do things a little bit differently.

BLACK has a story, involving a war in Eastern Europe, a terrorist cell, weapons running, blah, blah, blah. The story of the game is moot, just remember that your character is thrust into a hostile situation with a whole lotta guns and more double-crosses and plot twists than a season of 24. BLACK is all-out action from start to finish.

As I said earlier, the developers wanted to make BLACK all about the guns, and they succeeded in that sense. Even the most mundane weapon in BLACK is a rockstar, and the ones that shine have a blinding luster. The AK-47 is a personal favorite, as workhorse of an automatic rifle as you can get, pumping out rounds with accuracy and range. The shotgun is another highlight, dispensing foes in one blistering shot and opening doors.

That’s right, I said you could blow open doors with the shotgun, and once you’ve done this, there really is no going back. In fact, most objects in the environment have some degree of destructibility. In one particular area, a sniper has some ground on you in a cemetery requiring you to employ the use of headstones for cover. However, the sniper will blast away at pieces of the headstones until he can get to you, meaning you’ve got to book it to better cover. Walls on structures will get holes blown in them, even sections completely decimated. Another area has enemies in derelict buildings shoot RPG’s at you, blowing up things left and right. Once you get a launcher of your own, you can take these fools out, often producing a huge explosion ringing throughout the entire structure, nearly toppling it over.

While as cool as it is, BLACK does have a few glaring issues that prevent it from being as good as it could’ve been. First is the AI, which is certifiably lame. Baddies don’t use squad tactics, employ the use of cover, hell, they won’t even shoot at you sometimes. Secondly, the game is extremely short, around five and a half hours, first go through. While this does make the game more accessible for mainstream audiences, allowing them to have a chance to finish the game without getting too worn out or frustrated, given that the game doesn’t have a multiplayer element, replay value is quite low.

Graphically, BLACK is amazing, pushing the Xbox hardware to its absolute limit. The lighting effects look phenomenal, and the smoke trail effect when you shoot off an RPG is awesome. The guns are meticulously detailed, with all kinds of nice little touches, and the destructible environments look and feel downright nasty (a good thing). BLACK is as good as it gets for this generation’s hardware, and stands as a great swan song for the Xbox’s technical capabilities.
 

BLACK’s sound is even more amazing than its graphics. The game makes full use of Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and the explosions, screaming enemies and whizzing bullets will give you ulcers. The music also does a fantastic job of putting you into “action movie” experience, as it could fit into any number of films in the genre. All right, probably all of them.

BLACK is a great FPS that does things a little differently by giving us all that really matters (gunfire, explosions, carnage) and nothing else that doesn’t, even if it can be a bit of a double-edged sword. The game is quite short, the AI is downright dumb and the action is straightforward (intense though it may be). However, shooter fans will find a lot to love in BLACK, as will casual gamers. 

Gameplay: 8.5
BLACK is all about the basics. It’s a straightforward shooter that makes no attempt to create puzzle solving elements or anything of the Half-Life 2 variety, but rather takes on the barebones and does them right. However, this is a double-edged sword, as the game may come across as being a little bit on the simplistic side, and other shortcomings, like the short length and dumb AI, may sour some gamers looking for something more.

Graphics: 9.5                                                                                                                                        
This is one of the best looking games you’ve seen (and probably will see) on the Xbox, folks.

Sound: 9.7
BLACK sounds amazing, with great music and some great use of 5.1 surround sound. This is one of those games that you show to your friends when you tout your audio system to make them feel poor.

Difficulty:  Medium

Concept: 8.5 
BLACK keeps away from all of the complicated gobbledygook in most FPS’s and instead give us all that matters, guns, bombs and bodies.

Overall: 8.7                                                                                                                                       

BLACK is a great game, an accessible shooter with mainstream appeal, just what the Xbox needs in its twilight hour.