Black is one of those little gems that comes along that brings a refreshing small fix for gamers. It seems that most games in the industry will jump on any new trend that happens to deemed popular in order to gain maximum sales. This generation's trend for first person shooters seems to be Stealth/Simulation, where stealth is the key to survival and every bullet fired must count. I love Tom Clancy games and their dedication to realism, but the amount of copy-cat games and modifications that emerge is on the border of pushing it. Realism is fun in the sense that it's kind of role-playing. However, there are times where I crave the sheer action and chaos of Hollywood Action movies, where explosions are abundant and bullets are a plenty. Black is the fix for my craving. Albeit a small fix.

Saving Sucks
I'm going to get this out of the way first, as this is the most irritating and stupid aspect of the game. The save system is pure devil feces and makes me wonder why Criterion Games didn't implement a better save system, especially for this kind of genre. The game can get challenging, which is a good thing; however, with a poor save system much like Black's, it can get plain irritating. For example, as you go on in the level and you get killed you will have to start all over again. The only time it saves is when you pass a checkpoint. Sorry Criterion but this type of saving progress is obsolete and should only be limited to Super Nintendo Mario games. Now picture this, you are almost done the level, your health is almost gone and you have no more health packs, you walk toward the corridor, then BLAM you're hit by an RPG. Now, you have to begin from the checkpoint and go through all the same enemies and make it to the point of where you last died and finally kill the RPG soldier. Trial and error sucks.

I love my Guns
Now that the save system is out of the way, let's move on to the game's real stars: the guns. Oh boy, does Black make carrying any type of gun feel empowering. I mean, it's not like Black has special alien weaponry, like the game Prey, it only has weapons that almost every other combat simulation game has. There's your typical AK-47, Spas-12, Walther 2000, Mac 10, Uzi, and so on. However, Black puts them on a pedestal, figuratively speaking. Thanks to the powerful graphics, every gun is painfully detailed, right down to the individual casing of each bullet inserted into the magazine. Each mission will have it's own star weapon and you will go through each level using that weapon to create destruction. Mind that you can only carry two weapons at a time, making the significance of each gun even more significant.

Since you can only carry two weapons at any given time, it makes for some careful tactical decisions on your part. There are 7 categories of weapons: Pistols, Sub-machine guns, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Heavy-machine guns, and the Rocket-propelled Grenade (RPG). Each of those categories serve their own function of Close Quarter Combat (CQC) or long distance fighting. So, in the game, if you're going indoors, you would opt for a CQC weapon (SMG, Shotgun, Pistol) instead of long ranged weapons (Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle). If it's an open outdoor environment, Assault Rifles, or perhaps a M249 or Walther, would make due.

Shoot, fire and move. That's all you need to know and do.
The packaging of Black is insribed with the words "OVERT ACTION", which is a big change from forced down "Covert" games. Black is all about being aggressive and bold as there's no use in sit and waiting; just go out with guns blazing. From the guns to the made-to-be-blown-up-for-your-pleasure levels, everything is frantic and fast. Cars, barrels, crates, and other debris litter the streets for your cover from incoming enemy fire. Be careful, some of those objects are explosive, while other's break easily. A good example of moving and using fire is the Cemetery level, where you hide behind headstones that shatter from bullets. Apart from that, walls can also break and doors can be blown down (a minor side note: shooting down doors is the only way you can open them).

Unfortunately, the hollywood inspired pyrotechnical levels can get pretty redundant. Despite that fact that blowing **** up is cool, it just seems too artificially crafted. The same can be said for some of the levels in Half-life 2, where explosive barrels lay everywhere, asking you to blow them up. In Black, it just seems too convenient that there is a carefully placed explosive over-sized propane tank surrounded by enemies. There is a difference from being cool to being necessary, it's line that must developers seem to cross.

The missions are the same throughout. It's a call back to the days of Doom, where you'd start at the beginning and fight to the end to complete it, but only this time, you have to collect some intel on the way. As you progress through the game, you will get objectives like eliminate all enemies, destroy barricades, defend area, and proceed to next area. You can't expect much from a game whose goal is to mimic movie action.

Of course, in order to recreate hollywood, the enemies have to be aggressive and relatively dumbed down also. It's a numbers game when it comes to artificial intelligence. You being outnumbered is the key to the game. There will be times where the enemies will take cover but they always pop their heads out long enough for you to pop them. Running from grenades seem to be almost impossible for them also. Throw a grenade and it's almost a guaranteed kill.

Due to the mission's simplicity, the game will end pretty fast for most. There is no multiplayer or bonus features, other than playing the same game again on a higher difficulty that has been unlocked. Thanks but no thanks, going through the game once is definitely enough, especially with the save system.

Inspired Locations
Each mission has its own theme and look. Instead of progressing through a continuous stage, every time you complete a mission, you will proceed to the next. In one mission will be fighting in a cemetery and the other you will be fighting in a The Rock-inspired asylum. All the locations bring back memories of certain movie set pieces. Combine that with the fact that you can destroy almost everything, makes things feel great.

The game does, however, try to create a cohesive story to meld the locations together. Nothing special, it's just enough background to give you indication of why all of the sudden you moved from a asylum to a dock. The story is told through full-motion videos of real actors. They're done pretty stylishly but not enough for people to care about them.

Pure Orchestrated Madness
The sound effects are earth-shattering as each bullet and rpg impact. I fully recommend playing Black on a surround sound system in order to get the full feeling of being in an action movie epic. The feeling of being in a movie is reinforced with a fully orchestrated soundtrack that seems to be used in action flick. There's no hardcore rock soundtracks here, folks.

Black is like a bullet. It has a big bang, but in a flash, it's gone.
No matter how much I would love to give Black a four-star rating, the fact that the save system is pure hokey and game is short with barely any replay value severely hinders the game's overall impression. It's recommended that you play it at least to taste what it has to offer. It's short and bitter-sweet.

Recommended: Yes