Black Review

February 27th, 2006, 19:11 Posted By: wraggster

Expectations, eh? While Black is technically flawless, painstakingly designed and probably the best single-player shooter on PS2, we can't help but feel a little disappointed. Why? Because it doesn't keep its promise to "do for first-person shooters what Burnout did for cars".

Forget the plot - its some nonsense about a rogue arms dealer in Eastern Europe. Black is about guns. A near-pornographic, Hollywood-amplified celebration of big guns. From the Pistol to the AK47 to the Magnum, every weapon glints with steely menace - feeling sufficiently weighty due to a sublime combination of sound effects, pad rumbling and 'heavy' reload animations.

Fire an Uzi at a hotel sign, and it splits letter-by-letter down the middle, Fire a shotgun at a steel door, and it clangs off its hinges - there are no 'interact' buttons in Black.

While most scenery is destructible, its effect is often cosmetic. Most times, you just need to find the gas boiler/petrol can/explosives 'conveniently' left by suspiciously large groups of enemies and fire away - like most 'normal' shooters.

There are killer moments, like firing an RPG rocket into a skyscraper in the opening level and watching six floors detonate in a shower of bodies and glass; or sniping in the graveyard, and blowing up headstones to reveal your enemies' position.

The opening level is mildly disappointing. For all the feeling of menace (bullets whizz from all directions) and almost farcical levels of destruction, there's no real feeling of danger, since health packs are plentiful - it's typical EA.

Don't be fooled. We really, really like, Black, but can't love it. It's not that destroying a 40 foot overhanging bunker in a shower of shards, screams and bullets isn't exciting, but that deep down, it doesn't mean anything. It'd be missing the point to complain about the lack of online or multiplayer features, but it does prevent Black from being the most complete FPS on PS2.

As it stands, it's an exemplary tech demo, with moments of blinding exhilaration. More tactile, if less atmospheric, than Killzone, more exciting, if less precise, than TimeSplitters 2, but less well rounded than a truly great FPS like Halo, or Half Life 2. You'd swear EA were holding back for a sequel...

Black is out for PS2 and Xbox now

Overall: 89%

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