Black (Xbox)
The First Person Shooter genre didn’t really hit the dizzying heights of today until the 7th generation of consoles thanks to contributions from Call of Duty, Battlefield, BioShock, Crysis and many more. This doesn’t mean however that the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox had none to offer though, with niche titles like Red Faction and earlier titles in the COD franchise becoming cult classics for some players. Black is arguably the most beloved shooter of the gen not called Halo and as I’d never given the game a chance and thought the game’s visuals seemed to hold up really well, I decided to seek out a copy on the OG Xbox and give it a try.
The biggest compliment I can pay to Black is that it doesn’t feel like a 6th generation title. The shooting is immensely satisfying with noticeable feedback that makes each of the game's many weapons feel weighty and punchy. Firefights end up caking arenas with smoke and dust making them feel very realistic and adding to the immersion. Environments also react to these firefights with explosions and bullet holes galore making the player feel like Rambo a lot of the time. Through all of this carnage, Black maintains a steady framerate with few dips that I noticed during my playthrough. There's a difficulty spike towards latter stages of the campaign that had me using med kits constantly, but the gameplay at least did enough to stop me from quitting because the moment to moment action is where you’ll have the most fun during your playthrough of Black even if some sections do feel a tad unfair. One particular later game section puts enemies at a distance with heavy body armour meaning you have to sit still taking pot shots from afar, not really an aspect the game excels at. Overall though, the game's core gameplay is great and has not dated like many games from that era.
2005 was the year when Gears of War, Okami and Black were released and one thing they all have in common is astounding presentation. Although the game features a lot of grey, environments in Black are superbly and cleverly designed with gameplay options in mind and the world has artistic cohesion not seen in many shooters today. The missions also tend to put the player in different locations such as a graveyard filled with snipers, an oil factory or a wooded area leading to some barracks. The music which only chimes in occasionally sets a high standard and the main theme has become a personal favourite of mine, sounding like something from a big budget Hollywood action film which means it fits perfectly here. Animations are also incredible with enemies reacting to bullets naturally and realistically. Furthermore, reload animations look unbelievable with an attention to detail not seen in many modern shooters even if the animations which see the character fiddling with sniper scopes or silencers can happen during combat which can lead to some cheap deaths. The most impressive part of the presentation though are the weapon sound effects. Very few games have the gun sounds that Black does with every weapon having a booming sound that matches the impact visually. The shotgun in particular has become one of my favourite weapons in any game based on just the sound alone.
Unfortunately, Black does have one large negative and that's the story. There isn't much to say about it honestly but it does have some potential. You are CIA operative Jack Keller, tasked with stopping a terrorist organisation called Seventh Wave. The story is told through flashbacks during an interrogation in which Keller tells his side of the story and while the voice acting and direction is solid, the story just doesn’t do enough to compel and the cutscenes end up stopping you from enjoying the great gameplay. The cliffhanger ending also suggests there will be a sequel that never came leaving the narrative unfinished which given the lack of interest I had in it, I am ok with. The story’s short length was criticised by some at release, but as someone who has played many games that overstayed their welcome, I'm fine with Black’s length. Some form of arcade mode would have been appreciated though just so I could enjoy the combat some more. There are side objectives in every level of the game that must be tackled on higher difficulties which could be an incentive to play through the campaign again, but most of these are very basic and I tended to just do enough of them on my normal playthrough in order to pass the mission.
Rating: Don't blacklist this
8/10
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