...Well... No one said they have to LIKE you. They just have to BELIEVE in you.
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I have played a ton of games - and by a ton I literally mean a metric ton (if you were to weigh all of the boxes, shiny plastic jewel cases and of course AOL CD's included)

Very few games really impress me, most of them getting a weeks worth of game-play, if that, before being shelved. Once a year a game comes along that is truly unique - This year belongs to Black & White.

You, of course, are a god over a world - a world which is inhabited by people which believe in you. Through this belief is where you obtain your power (and perhaps your very existence). How you keep and maintain this belief is up to you - and it helps to give your people constant reminders lest they forget. Do you cause a large boulder to soar overhead as they look up in Awe? Or cause it to crash down rolling death through the town center. - Well, The choice is always yours to make, but either way, they'll probably believe in you a little bit more.

Of course, a god doesn't really want to spend time doing every single little thing on this world - so why not have a pet get some things done for you? After all, this creature could roam in places where people don't believe in you....yet.

And so, You have a creature. A creature to raise from a baby and teach it as you see fit. This part of the game demonstrates simply amazing AI as you train your creature the same way you would a child. Rewarding and Punishing behavior and also teaching him with "Monkey-see Monkey-do". If you pick up a rock and throw it while you have the creatures attention, he will soon probably imitate you and throw a rock - reward him for it and he'll probably start throwing rocks on his own. The possibilities here are PLENTY in the things you could teach your creature to do.

This creature could also be completely different than you - that part doesn't matter too much. One of the games I played my creature was walking-destruction (Hey...I wonder how he turned out that way?) and terrorized all the townspeople - and I would come in behind the creature consoling them and helping them out. A double-whammy for belief - What a nice god I am for helping them out, huh?

Let us do a run-down, shall we?

Graphics:
The graphics here are simply incredible, lifelike - smooth and fluid. The world has a very pastel look that works well for the game. Unfortunately for most people out there, this -is- incredibly machine intensive. If you don't have a relatively new machine with a new video card you won't enjoy any of these stunning graphics. Five star rating.

Sound:
There is no ground-breaking work here, but the music is pleasant to listen to and all of the sound-bites of good quality. 4/5 stars.

Gameplay:
I was VERY impressed with the work done using the interface. It is inherently difficult to make an intuitive interface in a large, rotating, zooming, scrolling, completely 3d world. Look at Star Trek:New Worlds and you'll see a horribly failed example of it. B&W pulled it off very nicely. Once you get used to the interface (which takes 30 minutes of playing around in the tutorial) it's very easy to master and get to where you want to go and how you want to look at something reasonably quickly. Admittedly, there IS a learning curve here - but I was quite impressed in how they use JUST the mouse for ALL movement/zooming/rotating functions. Good job guys.

Now that the Interface is out of the way, Actual gameplay is also enjoyable. Note, however, you have to be the kind of person who enjoyed playing Populous or perhaps The Sims. If these games are on your all-time-hated list, B&W will make #3.

There is just something inherently fun of picking up a huge boulder and sending it hurling over the landscape - the physics engine is also decent for how objects react to movement based on the weight, size and velocity - a very nice touch.

(IE: A large boulder will obliterate a house if tossed quickly, and damage is present right where it hit - not some generic "house damage" that is the same for any kind of damage done to it - but instead realistic damage based on the object that destroyed it)

All of this and the huge reply value of the game earned this section 5 stars.

Extras:
Worth mentioning, there are a lot of very cool extras added to the game that hasn't really been done before in a game.

Firstly, you can set it up so that the weather in the Black&White world mimics what is right outside your window. (Via the Internet, of course)

Secondly, the game can automatically name villagers in your town(s) based on the people who are in your Address Book. - Very cool -

Also, you can download different types of creatures from the Internet to play with.

MAKE them believe in you - however you want.

Recommended: Yes