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BIG BADDABOOM !!! MIGHTY BIG BADDABOOM !!! :-)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 78 / 94
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having been hyped to death in articles and newsgroups online and offline the truth is finally out: Black is coming to your living room, playroom, bathroom or wherever you keep your PS2.
Can Black live up to the hype? The answer is: Mostly yes, but just mostly. It depends on your personal expectations from a game in general and shooters in particular if you'll love it or just like it. It also depends simply on what mood you're in.

Developed by the same dudes, who brought us "Burnout 3 Takedown" and "Burnout Revenge", which were all about action and not so much about depth or complexity this is about what you can expect from Black.

The game does not bother too much with the story. It is some kind of flash back in which you, an imprisoned secret agent slash mercenary slash heavy weapons dude slash run of the mill underground hero, recalls what happened to him before he got there. Apparently you were trying to track down and eliminate some terrorists, which in turn is your goal throughout the couple levels the game throws at you. That's about it. They might as well have been a little more specific about the enemy - why didn't they just pick evil groups such as: Nazis, Anarchists, militant Communists, militant Capitalists, the Beast Buy (TM) corporation, parents who raise their kids to become arrogant self-serving brats and are proud of it, or worse: anarchistic Nazi-Communist-brats from Beast Buy parents! - but hey: they didn't choose any of these but simply picked "some terrorists" as the enemy to keep things generic. That's cool, too: at least we don't need to read the "Evil villains weekly" then to understand where the bad guys come from...

So what are you gonna do in the game? Easy: You have a nice arsenal of weapons, which fortunately look and sound terrific, and you use these to blow up hordes of enemies.
The action is intense. The best thing - and that's what the game has been praised for all along - is the fact that you can blow up scenery pretty much everywhere. Everything that looks only halfway destructible can somehow be destroyed. Often it just takes a couple of bullets to pulverize tomb-stones, blow doors out of their frames, punch holes in walls or make pillars, monuments, roofs, stairs and whatnot explode or crumble to pieces!!!
There are clouds of dust and debris where your bullets hit. Vehicles explode when they take too much damage, barrels of fuel incinerate everything and everyone around them when shot.
And, of course, there are destructive and explosive objects all over the place - especially close to dense clusters of enemies (these guys love to live dangerously and hang out around anything that has an inscription like: flammable, breakable, explosive or toxic... sad, sad, sad... but good for you - just don't brag about it too much, soldier!)

Again: the experience is an incredible adrenaline rush. The graphics are fantastic, the sound is awesome (crank up your subwoofer and Dolby Surround!!!) and the action is fast, furious and brutal - even though no blood flows in this game - which I think is cool, there doesn't need to be blood to make a game stand out: hello Rockstar and your "Warriors" (which I really dig, except for the over-the-top brutality).

The levels look super pretty. Almost all cool PS2 effects are being used such as: fog, smoke and other particle effects, colored lighting, light-tracing (light-beams come through windows, canopy of trees, cracks in walls etc.) motion blur (hello Burnout Takedown!) and a realistic damage-response to every object (wood splinters, bullets leave holes in metal, porcelain shatters etc.). There are nice themes as well such as: an old cemetery, a factory or industrial complex, a military installation and several more.

The action is best comparable to the game "Darkwatch". Black, too, has great action, easy and responsive controls, awesome visuals and sound (the visuals actually surpass Darkwatch by far!).

The problem is that Black does not have much depth. The game remains a pretty generic shooter, far from the complexity of "Project Snowblind". The campaign is relatively short. You should be able to play through it in about 6-8 hours, depending on how much time you take to marvel at the visuals - or not. The mission design is also pretty old-school: get to the end of the stage or area (and there's not exactly a variety of ways to reach the goal) by shooting everyone in sight and - congratufrigginlations - you have made it to the next stage - press rewind and play again.

Very much like Burnout Takedown / Revenge appealed to the casual action-oriented racer, who just wants to pick up the controls, open a can of beer and go go go WITHOUT reading an instruction booklet (with endless paragraphs on how to tweak and modify cars) - Black delivers the same kind of gameplay in the shooting sector: pick up the controller and have a blast - but don't go looking for much depth, mission variety, strategy or other brainwork.
Admittedly, there are moments in the game, where a little strategy is needed and the game forces you to take a careful approach, search cover, outsmart the enemies - but in general the enemy AI and level design feature the RAMBO or COMMANDO approach. But the game hardly forces you to carefully plan your actions (as Killzone did), which in turn makes Black a whole lot faster - which may not be a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

So here's the verdict: 4 out of 5 stars
Pros:
- Presentation: sound, graphics, frame-rate - gets the best out of your PS2!!!
- Intense action - like your favorite action flick made interactive!
- Quick frame-rate for the PS2 (only occasional drops)
- Destruction galore!
- The adrenaline - oh, the adrenaline! Replay value may be found in the sheer action of the game
- Good Dolby Surround and Widescreen support

Cons:
- story is a mild excuse for the action
- enemy AI sometimes so pathetic it makes you want to drop the weapon and give the guys a hug out of sheer compassion for their low IQ!
- Hardly any replay value, unless simply to re-live the action - which however you might just want to do
- Too short! Come, on guys, you could have given us a couple more stages!!!
- Not very deep, straightforward shooting

Get Black for the action, because it's easily better and more fun than Darkwatch. Or get it if you want to show off the PS2's real power to yourself and your X-box-ensnared buddies.
If you like it a little smarter, get Project Snowblind instead. If you like it a little slower, get Killzone! If you like it a little cheaper: get Area 51!

If you want to play it real smart: be patient and wait a couple months until Black is considered a "classic hit" and thrown at you for $20 and lower!!!

Either way: enjoy the game!!!

Your Reverend.

A truly INTENSE first-person shooter!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 32 / 34
Date: March 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Okay, there are many great parts to this game, but first I want to spill the reason for the 4 instead of 5 stars... The developers did an outstanding job with every aspect of this game except multiplayer. Despite how terrific this game is, it would be nice to play head to head in a battle or play a co-op through the lengthy missions. Yes, that's right, this is only 1 player!

Okay, now for the meat of the game... This is a truly intense FPS. When I say intense, I mean INSTENSE!!! If you have never played a game that really got to you and made your hairs stand on end this is the one for you. However, not for the faint of heart, this is sure to keep your senses stimulated. The graphics are truly awesome, and they are much better than you'd expect on a PS2! The sound is equally amazing!

There are 8 missions, yes 8. But, don't be fooled. This is by no means a small game that you'll beat in a matter of days! The first mission lasts about 15-30 minutes while all the others vary from anywhere between 50-90 minutes. Each of the levels begins with a continuing storyline about a Black Ops secret operative who's being interrogated by a high ranking military official. If you care nothing about the stories in these games, the other content will make up for the minute or two you have to listen in on the conversations before you play. Don't worry though, after you beat a mission and come back to that one you can skip the commentary.

A nice aspect of this game is that you don't know all of your objectives before playing each mission. You are given new primary objectives as you go through each level, just as a real soldier is given new orders in the battlefield. The realism of this game is completely outstanding! One note...this is not a game that promotes a stealthy assault. I actually prefer those types, but I soon realized that this is a guns blazing run-and-gun type game.

In each mission, you will be able to choose to complete secondary objectives. A certain ammount of secondary objectives are necessary depending on what difficulty setting you're playing on.

That brings up the next topic. There are three difficulty settings to begin with. Easy, Normal, and Hard. Playing the game through all 8 missions on Easy will unlock nothing. Playing the game to completion on Normal will unlock the new silver weaspons. With this unlocked, any weapon you pick up will be a silver version with unlimited ammo! Very nice! After beating the game on Hard, you will unlock the last and hardest difficulty setting...Black Ops! Believe me, anything above Easy is very hard for any FPS fan!

Overall, the storyline is good, weapon cache is superb, audio and visual effects are stellar, and the action is amazing!

Highly recommended to any FPS fan!

Very addictive, but one serious flaw.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: November 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is probably the best shoot em'up I played since Goldeneye for the N64. The story is about a soldier being interrogated by higher officials for participating in missions he supposedly didn't have clearance for. And your relivin' the missions through his story's via a first person view. The best feature about the game to me is the controls. I didn't find no real learning curve, basically just pick up and play. It has a sniper mode and you can zero on your targets. Really its like playing Goldeneye again. There are 3 difficulties ranging from easy to hard. When you beat all the stages you unlock the features for that mode. Such as unlimited ammo for every weapon you pick up. So try to imagine how much fun it can be running through stages with a rocket launcher and unlimited ammo.
The stages are pretty interactive, you can blow up just about every thing. There are stages where you will engage in a serious fire fight and your doing it with help. The CPU is very, very helpful on your part. So you are not fighting alone at all. And most of those stages, especially in the harder modes, you must have patience or you will die alot.
My only beef about this game, is that it can be so unrealistic, to the point where its frustrating. I have put an entire magazine of 7.62 into the enemies chest and shoulder area at close range and far, and they sometimes didn't die. 5 rounds of anything 5.56m or bigger is overkill. Anything more than that is human slaughter. Still, I recommend this if your into blowin' things up and death on a massive scale.

BLACK-Ops

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

BLACK is one of the best FPS`s on PS2 it may be a run n gun,but with a twist you have a DESTRUCTABLE environment that see`s you blowing up alot of buildings,vehicles,explosive barrells and statues along with enemies of coarse.
Since BLACK is going to be a series(a trilogy,to be exact) as Criterion and EA confirmed it,the game ends in a cliffhanger,Not to mention there does need some gameplay improvements like More weapons,maybe some multiplayer(Both online and offline),and BLACK 2 also needs to be concidderably longer.
I await the sequel.(I hope it comes out on PS3)

Pros:
-Good characters
-good story
-Destructable stuff.
-Some extra guns
-Shiny graphics
-Theres gonna be a sequel:)

Cons:
-Not long enough
-Not enough weapons
-No Online/offline multiplayer

Overall-BLACK is one of the best First Person Shooters available on PS2,Its worth evey penny.
8.8/10(88%) GREAT game!

Snap Crackle Pop Bang Dead

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Here we are, near the end of the PS2's life. This great little system has not had much luck with FPs' to put it lightly. 2004's Killzone, while personally I enjoyed it, wasn't up to par with what people were expecting. Enter Criterion. They are the team behind the popular (and fun as hell) Burnout games. Could it be possible for a team whose most popular games were about smashing cars successfully make an FPS? The answer my friends, is yes, they can.

Usually at this point in my reviews I give details about the storyline. You are a soldier named Keller who's after someone named Lennox and it involves traitors, terrorists, and black ops missions in Eastern Europe. That's about all I got from this game and you'll quickly forget names and faces. The events are played out in cutscenes between levels that are filmed with real people. Usually this is a big no-no in games but it works here. The scenes aren't the greatest but I enjoyed them for some reason. Actually, the only redeeming thing about them was the filter used on the camera and the interrogator's voice (I say that because I swear to you that it was Paul Eiding, better known for voicing Col. Campbell in MGS1 & 2 [I love MGS if you didn't know) even though he's not credited for being in this at all). So yeah, the story is paper thin (actually, that's not really fair to the paper) but this game was never about story so this can be excused...to a point. Even though you won't remember names or faces, you'll never forget the look, sound, and feel or a G36C or an AK-47 or a Magnum.

This game is about guns. Loud guns, destructive guns, big guns, small(er) guns, lots of bullet's guns. It's gun porn basically. And being about guns, it better control damn well. FPS' on consoles are notorious for being inferior to ones on PC's, while I agree that this is true, Black handles very well for a console game. The controls are tight and you feel in control. I had some big (and one smaller) problems in this department though. One was the lack of a sprint feature. You move slow enough as it is that it makes the lack of this even more prominent. The smaller problem was the limit of two guns at a time. I know they did it to make you focus more on each individual gun (they, along with the bullets are your babies in this game after all) but there was more than one instance where I wanted to different machine guns so I'd have enough bullets but also would have liked a Magnum or an RPG. It's a small problem but doesn't really hinder the game in any way. But probably my biggest complaint in this department is the fact that you are limited when it comes to how far you can shoot. No I don't mean how far a gun's bullet can go in real life or anything. The bullet stops a lot sooner than it should, making shooting from large distances without a sniper rifle a pain. It's a pain because even though the bullet doesn't get there the enemy still reacts to it, even though they couldn't have possibly heard the shot. That brings me to the AI. It's pathetic here. The enemies are dumber than the empty can of Mountain Dew sitting here to my left. Most of the time they won't even realize you are in the same room as them until you've offed two of their buddies they were talking to. They can be deadly when they ambush you, only because it takes 1,427,832 bullets to kill a standard guard. Sometimes this becomes a game where you see how much damage a baddie can soak up before dying--especially shotgun-toting enemies, who basically can still walk and shoot despite getting nearly a full magazine (which can range from 70-200 rounds) unloaded into their faces. It gets extremely frustrating after a while (especially at the very last part of this game). And this game is WAY too short. If I'm gong to spend $40-$50 on a game then I want it to last a while, not just over 6 hours like this did. There are 8 missions in this that can be completed in around 30-40 minutes on Normal. This game feels like a demo to what Criterion really wanted to make. It's almost like this was in production then they got their hands on the next-gen hardware and said "Screw This, rap up on this and we'll do what we really want to in Black 2" (which there will be one because the last cutscene practically gets up on the table wearing a leotard with roman candles and sparklers going off holding a big green sign saying "To Be Continued..." It's disappointing for sure but for some reason, I liked the ending and the direction it took. Other than those though, this game controls silky smooth, just as it should. Reloading is awesome in this game. Criterion added an ingenious touch to reloading. Since this game is about guns (they are the star after all) when you reload everything, except the gun, gets blurry. That's because at that point you are entirely focused on the gun. It's awesome every single time you reload (which you'll want to do every chance you get!).

Graphically this game is practically unmatched, only a few games (like MGS3, GoW, etc...) can come close to it. Everything looks good. Character models, environments but mainly the stars: the guns. They look beautiful. They are detailed down to each individual screw. The light bounces off them like it should and they are just...beautiful. It almost brings a tear to my eye...almost. I also know what you're wondering about, explosions. They are abundant and huge in this game. Imagine the biggest explosion you've ever created in any other videogames...and multiply by at least 3. Some get ridiculously huge but never redundant. Explosions fill the screen with so much fire and thunder and fury that they almost feel biblical. But I had to take off points because there is slowdown, particularly noticeable after there have been some explosions and you zoom in but it's not that reoccurring and doesn't get in the way all that often. So yeah, this game is great to look at and is the first game since MGS3 that nearly makes "next-generation" graphics irrelevant.

You know how people would test out their brand new home theater by using the Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan as a test of the home theater's visual and sound quality, and as a demonstration of said home theater's supposed awesomeness? Well Black is pretty much the best videogame for testing and showing off a home theater. I'm almost tempted to say that this game cannot be enjoyed properly without a home theater system. This game sounds amazing. The guns are loud, so are the explosions (which there are plenty of). If you have a home theater system (like I do) then you will feel the blast from the guns. They feel and sound like they should: powerful and loud. This is something that can't be explained, you just need to experience it for yourself.

Black is a shallow game that aimed (no pun intended) for nothing more than having blast (again) with guns. But it succeeds with flying colors. It's a game that's great fun and you should buy if you're an FPS or action fan.

Hype is a bitch

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Black is the highly anticipated first person shooter by Criterion, the makers of the wonderful Burnout series. Can the company that has changed the face of arcade racers do the same to the FPS genre?

Black begins with a video introduction that features live actors and sees your main character being questioned by a mysterious man. He wants information and claims that if you tell him what he wants to hear, you just might be saved from going to prison for the rest of your life. While the story that is there is suitable, don't expect to be blown away by the revelations in the game. This game is all about the intense, adrenaline pumping, hands sweating action. Black delivers this in spades and must be commended for the insane action that is seen and heard onscreen while you play.

As the man questions your character you relive past events and see what unfolded. This is how the story progresses and you will find out while you are being questioned. You're a no-holds barred man and do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the problem. You start the game off in what could seem like a city under attack. The enemy has made you and all hell breaks loose and once it starts it hardly lets up. You are allowed to hold two weapons at a time in and there is always plenty of ammo around. Enemies drop health packs, grenades, and ammo. While making your way through the eight levels, you will experience moments that seem pulled right from the biggest action movies seen. Crumbling buildings, explosions, cars blowing up, shrapnel going everywhere, dust flying in the air, and debris being scattered all over is just about all that will be left when your done with the levels. This game focuses all on the action and does it so well that you can't help but be in amazement and it definitely helps cover up some of Blacks other problems, which I'll get to in a bit.

The game looks and runs amazing for current gen systems. This is easily one of the better looking FPS on Xbox and I wouldn't be surprised if some people thought the game could almost be next gen. The guns all look very realistic and have a nice shine effect to them went moving around and reloading. The reloading animations are done quite well and really show the time and effort that Criterion really put into the look and feel of this game. Enemies look good but they unfortunately don't have too many different looking ones. You're stuck with about 3-4 of the same looking enemies the whole way. Levels are varied and wide. Urban streets, dark forest, and old cemetery are just some of the places you will travel through while fighting your way through many enemies.

What adds to Blacks great feeling of action is the sound. Sound plays a key role in delivering the intense action experience and giving you yet another reason to play this game. Explosions will rock your speakers to the max. You hear the deafening sound of the concussion shock wave from grenades and RPG's. When things explode you know it and the game constantly keeps you on your toes. The enemies constantly taunt you in their foreign language and they go screaming when you throw a grenade. The soundtrack, while not constantly playing, chimes in at the right time to add that extra feeling of being in an action movie. All the guns give off a unique sound and even when equipped with a silence they give a piercing, silent yet deadly effect.

Control-wise, the game plays like most first person shooters. At first the aiming seemed a little different and unfortunately there isn't anyway to calibrate the sensitivity for it. After a while though I became used to it and was killing soldiers left and right. If you've played one FPS before then you'll get the controls down just fine.

Now where Black seems to fault is in a few key choices and I do believe if they had just mixed the game up a little bit more they would have had a greater title on their hands. First thing that comes to mind if the fact that there is no multiplayer, off-line or online. For a shooter this is just strange since these games practically all require multiplayer in some form. The story is an interesting one but just when things are heating up, the game ends. Also, aside from all the shooting, well you will shoot and shoot and shoot some more. The game revolves around pure and constant action and that's about it. Considering the game only has eight levels and the action is fast, don't expect this game to last you more then six to eight hours, if that - I clocked in about four myself.

While Black does a lot of things great it took a few steps back and didn't really add anything new to the FPS genre. Interesting mission objectives and story really lacks. What Black does do right is the fact that you are almost guaranteed to not find another game this action intense in a long time. I've never played a FPS with this much going on and stuff flying around on the screen. So while the game may be shallow in some ways if you're a hardcore action buff then you should enjoy Black immensely. Does killing nonstop and blowing everything to smithereens interest you? Then give Black a try.

The "M" Rating Is for Language

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Good first-person shooter game, but if you're looking for graphic violence with blood and gore, this isn't it.

The violence in this game is on the level with the James Bond or Black Hawk Down games: You shoot people, there is no blood, and then their body disappears.

The only reason this game got the "M" rating was for profanity: Lots of gratuitous "F" bombs dropped. Without the language this is definately a rated "T" game.

Rated "M" must sell better in the first-person shooter games, so lacking graphic violence they had to come up with an easy way for the harder rating.

Overall an entertaining game, but nothing you haven't seen or done before.

BEST GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game has been the best for the 1st person shooters I have played since Halo. Graphics are awesome for the ps2 and the story line was superb. This is a must get for your ps2 if you love 1st person shooters, also the controls are great with the game. I would give it more then 5 out of 5 if I could. I hope this helped anyone out if you weren't able to decide. Note Some language and of course theres violence. not sure if wanted for underaged kids.

Believe the Hype

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game really exceeded my expectations. It's by far the most beautiful looking game I've ever played on PS2. The sound and graphics are amazing! I happy to find locations besides the factory, industrial settings. The forest areas really balance out the game. The game is believable enough in regards to head shots. It depends on what angle you have on your target. Sometimes, a single shot on top of the enemy's helmet will finish em. I like the dudes with all the body armour. They require at least a full clip of lead. If only this game was a multiplayer...
Besides that I think this is the best shooter on PS2. Kick back, crank up the volume, and destroy everything (virtually speaking).

Just Rent It

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm glad I rented this game instead of buying it. It's fun as far as blasting everything and everyone in sight for stress relief. The graphics are very well designed. However, I found the autosave feature to be crap. No matter how far you go in a level or how many check points you hit if you don't finish that level you MUST start the whole level over again later. I also wish they had allowed the ability to skip the live action interigation series that preceedes each level. Each time you play you are forced to sit through several minutes of talk that you've heard before and don't need to hear again. The game's fun for what it is (a shooter with no depth or real story line) but I would recommend heading to Blockbuster and renting it as it's not worth the purchase price.

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