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Not as fun as they say

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because of the insane reviews it got from gaming sites like ign.com, but after playing, i dont think its really THAT fun.

the game is a very creative concept, has great controls, great interface, great music. But as other reviews have pointed out, theres too much micro management for my taste. For example, if one of my villages is running low on people, i would have to drag people from other villages over one by one, stuff like that.

Dont let this discourage you. it is still a good game (i give it 4 stars), but i just dont think its as good as ign.com says it is. Personally i like simcity better.

An average simulation game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Well, I admit it. I didn't do my research and bought this game because I heard great things about it. I wish I had done a little more research before I bought it. Controling the creature is probably the funnest aspect of the game, while the constant micromanaging of the villagers is the biggest letdown. This would have been a sure fire winner if I didn't have to worry about getting the villagers food and wood every 3 minutes. Overall, if you enjoy simulations and don't mind some tedious micromanagement, this might be a game for you. If not, take a pass on this one.

Pretty Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a game where you area a god ( well, a hand acually), and you have a pet creature. As a god you can control different villages any way you like. You can even play catch with your villagers if you want. Your creature can be a cow, monkey, or a tiger. You can teach your creatue to be bad or good. You and your creature can perform good and bad miracles such as storm, rain. This game is great .You should probably buy it if you want to have a new gaming experience

Very enjoyable strategy game, but not the best

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love strategy games, especially those where you play an "all powerful" diety like Populous. Black and White was very enjoyable to play, but there are better games out there. It requires a lot of patience, so as other reviewers have mentioned, if you like quick results then look elsewhere. The creature AI is great if you have the patience to train him. If you enjoy games that require strategy but a finite set of tasks to perform like Mahjong or Solitaire, then you might find micromanaging the villages to be enjoyable. Otherwise, village management can get old.

I won't review the details of the game - other reviewers have done an excellent job below. I will, however, say that the game is possible (in fact, not too difficult) to complete if you have the right strategy and a ton of patience. If you don't care for spoilers, then read no further. After "winning" world four, you can start building Nordic wonders. Build about eight or ten of them in your largest village (the village should have about 2,500+ belief - don't build the wonders until you have a village that large) until you are able to produce about 50,000 or more wood with a single cast. Send about 1,000,000 or more wood through the vortex into world five. Also send through a lot of scaffolds for good measure. Set a 6-scaffold near the vortex (but not so near that it is dragged in). Your villagers will come to build it and when they do, they'll get sucked into the vortex. Recruit a ton of breeders and they'll produce a steady stream of villagers that walk into the vortex. When you finally go to world five, you should have plenty of resources to win. Build about twenty or more farms to ensure the villagers produce more food than they eat and zap the patooties out of the enemy creature every time he steps foot into your teritory. Ignore your creature and work the entire level as if you don't have one. If he gets in a fight with the enemy, let him loose. Hope this helps.

Be a god! Whee!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: October 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ever wish you could just... raze an entire village? Fling those annoying villagers around a bit? Or would you rather heal them and give them food? Well, now you can do whichever you'd like.

A child wanders off and goes swimming in shark-infested waters. His parents pray to whatever dieties will listen, hoping that he will be saved. You are born from their need. You pluck the little idiot out of the sea and set him down with his parents, safe and sound. The parents are grateful and they want to take you back to their village to be worshipped by everyone.

Since you're a new god, you have to learn how to pick things up, raise a creature, perform miracles, and more. Here to help educate you is your conscience: the side of good and the side of bad. These two are pretty entertaining. If you don't move for a while, they start say some funny stuff. You also meet other gods that try to help or hinder you.

That creature I mentioned is a pet. It has different needs. It needs food, water, and rest, and it'll be happier and stronger if you play with it and have it work out. At first, it can only pick up small rocks and bushes. But if it trains, it will be able to pick up bigger stuff. It'll also do better in combat. Your creature can go into battle with other creatures. Sometimes, it's for a mission, and sometimes, to keep an enemy creature at bay. You can choose to hit, block, use a special attack, or heal.

It can also learn to aide you. If it watches you or the villagers fish, it can learn to fish, too. It can feed itself or give the food to the villagers. Besides fishing, it can cast miracles, water crops, assign people to different jobs, provide wood, and more.

You'll need it's help to fulfill the wants and needs of your people. They might ask for food, wood, buildings, children, or protection. It's hard to keep them satisfied.

They can help themselves some of the time, though. You can assign people to jobs, like making babies, cutting down trees, or building. There are limited supplies of wood and food in each area, so you have to let it replenish or make some yourself. You can get food from fields, miracles, animals, or by fishing. You can water trees/forests to make them grow.

You have various miracles at your disposal, ranging from healing to making piles of wood appear to hurling fireballs. To cast miracles, you can use a one-shot miracle, which can be found underneath things or given to you, or you can accumulate belief through your villagers' prayers.

To move on in the game, you have certain missions to accomplish. Sometimes it's helping someone in need, sometimes it's defending yourself from a competing god, and sometimes it's getting a new village to believe in you. To gain a new village, you have to impress them, either through kindness or violence.

You have a choice in almost anything of being good or evil. Your creature's appearance and behavior will be affected by your alignment. You can control him using a leash. You pull him in the direction you want him to go and tether him to anything you want him to interact with. If he does something wrong, you can slap hime. If he does it right, you can pet him. He'll learn through positive or negative reinforcement.

I had one problem, and that was the fact that you can't skip the tutorial, so if you start a new game after beating it, it can get irritating. Other than that, this is a great game. You should buy it.

And I thought I was the only one who couldn't finish!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: October 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Wow. I had no idea that other people had such a problem with this game. I bought it when it first came out in 2000, and I thought it was fantastic. I played and I played, passing every tutorial, challenge and god that dared oppose me. And finally I was confronted by Nemesis, my ultimate foe...he challenged me for final control and domination, and I accepted. And my goodness, I wish I had never gone through that portal...

As another reviewer put it (and so well I think) "Black & White" is simply a "micromanagement hell." You constantly have to work: tending to your numerous and ever greedy people, trying to educate and spend time with your creature, trying to defeat other gods, passing challenges, fighting other creatures, trying to win faith and influence heathen villages, exploring, re-capturing villages, warding off other gods...I think you get the idea. It's simply impossible to do all of this. I played this game twice and eventually gave up because of its impossibility! Now I HATE giving up on a game and consider myself a good gamer and great strategist. BUT YOU CAN'T FINISH WITHOUT CHEATS OR SOME KIND OF SECRET, I DON'T KNOW! I feel embarassed not to be able to finish this game, it insults me. And I tried my hardest. If you finished without cheats I think you really are a god! I'll spit shine your shoes and chew your food for the rest of eternity!

Now back to my story...the final challenge: facing Nemesis. Firstly the jerk puts some curse on your creature, making it small and feeble and the opposite of you. Nice. Then he gives you a village (woohoo Batman!) for you to control. You now have to try and cure your poor creature by capturing villages and passing challenges. And I did that! And my creature went back to normal! Yay! But then it went back to being a tiny, stinky loser! BOO! And I have no idea why because I removed the curse! So I got over this and tried to take Nemmy's villages. Which I did, except for two which required so much belief it was scary! And then Nemesis starts winning back faith and making you look like an ass with his creature! So I kicked the crap out of his creature with fire and lightning and my creature! And it came back again and again and again! And Nemesis, although far out of range of his influence, could perform miracles in my territories! That B*****D! It was at this point I realised that there is no God (excuse the pun) in this game, and packed it in forever after my second attempt at the game 3 years later. The exact same thing happened and I felt like a gaming failure. So yes, I, the mighty gamer was defeated by lack of logic or faith or whatever!

The game itself was alot of fun, barring the last stage! I thoroughly enjoyed the actual playing and fighting those idiot gods. It really kept me entertained and busy. But the last stage was just horrid, disgusting! And what's with that "Future Room?" It always says "The future is still uncertain." What a crock of sh**! The future's always f****** uncertain nimrods! (Not you). It's just a game that will eventually frustrate you and p!$$ you off. I would recommend it to those who like playing old games on those Ridiculously Hard settings (like Duke Nukem and Doom). I just couldn't do it as a 12 year old or as a 15 year old. Maybe I could now, but I don't have the patience or energy to try again.

In short, "Black And White" gets 56% overall and 75% for fun. If you enjoyed it completely, I'm guessing you finished the game or cheated your way through. Perhaps my days as a strategy game player are numbered (though I've passed numerous strategy games on the hard setting since then, such as "Earth: 2150" and "Red Alert 2"). In any case, those who finish "Black & White" honestly deserve to be glorified in the eyes of strategy gamers, for they cannot be mortal or of this Earth. I wouldn't buy this game again purely because it's 1) Too old and 2) Depressing. So make your choice, but YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

God as errand boy.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 17
Date: October 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Is being god were so dull, god would find a new job.

an aquired taste

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

WARNING: NOT FOR EVERYBODY!! this game is geared towards a specific sect of gamers: people who 1. have alot of time (it took me 6 hours to get through the 1st 2 worlds), 2. like to micromanage complex systems of economies (each village has its own problems). Personaly I loved it and would recomend it to my friends. The creature AI was cool, you can let them wander and(if you teach them the right things) they will help your villages, lessening the load on you

black and white

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: August 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

black and white is a cool game. You will loveit (unless you do like animals).

Lots of potential cram packed in a mediocre, ultimately disappointing product

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have a love/hate relationship with this game. Black And White had so much potential and it p*sses me off to see it squandered. The creature AI is wonderful and I spent MANY hours training my creature, watching it interact with its environment, grow, destroy stuff, etc. But as a "strategy game" this title simply fails on a number of issues. In lieu of the originally scheduled rant documenting my fall from Black and White loving grace I am going to summarizes my thoughts on this title.

Point 1: Interaction with the creature IS THE GAME, and the game designers dropped the ball. Instead of involving the creature in a number of meaningful quests, they regurgitated a bunch of trite puzzles like the Tower of Hanoi and bog the player down with micromanaging an extremely dull "strategy game" -- envision playing StarCraft WITHOUT military units, where everyone plays as the Zerg and you win by having the biggest creep... only it is much worse than that! Honestly, even if the strategy portion of the game were more interesting I am not sure if this could be reconciled with creature interaction so that both are possible. I mean, how do you find time to train and play with your creature when you have a thousand psychotic villagers blaspheming your name and asking you for permission to build houses and breed while an angry enemy god throws fireballs at you! It will be interesting to see if Black and White 2 can solve some of these issues.

Point 2: The interface is innovative and also needlessly complicated. Spell and Leash Gestures are particularly questionable, especially when combined with the strange navigational interface (a God should not have to move by pulling itself on the ground with its hands for Christ's Sake).

Point 3: The plot is COMPLETELY linear. So much so that, even when it is possible to deviate from "the path", the program just ignores your actions until it gets what it expects. For instance, in lands 3 and 5 I managed to destroy the enemy's temple before taking all of the villages, and the game didn't respond at all until I went back and captured the villages.

Despite my complaints I would recommend buying this game (especially since it is so cheap now), but I also STRONGLY recommend stopping on land 3 and just enjoying yourself with your creature. Having won the game I can tell you that you are not missing anything in the ending (which quite frankly sucks along with most of the plotline preceding it), and level 4 and 5 will have you pulling your hair out. For those who choose not to heed this warning... god help you. :)

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