Black (PlayStation 2, 2006)

In Black you play at the character Keller. You are armed to the teeth with weaponry ranging from grenades to machine Guns.

Black's story puts you in the shoes of a soldier named Keller. You begin the game with a cutscene that shows Keller in chains, being grilled by a slimy government type. Every single full-motion video cutscene in the game returns to this interrogation, which sets up each of the eight missions as flashbacks covering the previous four days. Over time, you learn that your objective was to take out some sort of arms-dealing terrorist outfit known as the Seventh Wave, and its leader, an off-the-farm ex-operative known as Lennox.

Keller gets to use G36C, MP5, AK-47 and M16's just to name a few. This game is a first person shooter without a multiplayer mode. This means that you and your buddies will have to take turns playing through the 8 single player missions.

The game can be completed in about 8 hours, but begs to be played again. There are multiple difficulty levels that unlock all sorts of extras. Unfortunately without a multiplayer mode this games leaves a little bit desired byt he end. Did I mention the whole world can be interacted with. You literally can take your gun and blow a hole in a tree or hit the gas tank of a car for an explosion.

The above is the motto of Black along with the five rules of guncraft: guns are the stars, every bullet is your baby, bigger guns equal louder explosions, leave a trail of destruction, and get creative with your kills.

Black is a first person shooter type game from Criterion Games, the company who released the Burnout games. Black puts you in the role of a highly trained special operations officer named Keller. You'll learn through CGI cut scenes that your objective is to locate and kill a terrorist named Lennox who is the leader of a group of terrorists called the Seventh Wave. Prior to each mission, and there are eight of them, you'll see a cut scene that sets up the mission. The cut scenes are flashbacks and your character is in chains and is being interrogated. These CGI scenes are obviously meant to give a dark and shadowy mood to the game. Then the mission starts and the killing begins.

Black is a beautifully constructed first person shooter. The backgrounds and graphics are some of the best available on the PS2 platform. Added to this is the openness and realistic feel of the game. Black allows you to use both cover and concealment to fight your opponents but also allows them to shoot apart your cover if its not sturdy enough. It also allows you to choose different ways to complete your mission using different approaches to buildings and towns etc. The primary missions are fairly basic and for the most part easily accomplished. They range from crossing towns to blowing up objects to killing specific targets. Secondary missions are available in each level. These are typically simple missions like finding hidden blueprints and destroying safes or laptops. The missions will take you through forests, cities, bridges, buildings and of course underground. All of the backgrounds and graphics are great but what sets the game apart is the action.

In Black you gets lots of ammo and lots of targets which is perfect since everything seems to explode. You can shoot doors off their hinges, shoot out windows, blow up propane tanks, shoot vehicles until they explode etc. Pretty much anything that's colored red in the game can explode and usually a bad guy is standing next to it. There are lots of different weapons available from pistols to RPG launchers and every type of machine gun in between.

With all of the positives of Black, the game still has some issues. The CGI flashback scenes are really repetitive and can't be skipped. I understand the programmers were trying to set the mood with the evil goverment interogators yadda yadda yadda, but enough already - lets start shooting bad guys. Next, a couple more checkpoints would have been helpful. There's nothing worse than creeping along a level for twenty minutes trying to find everything and patiently sniping every enemy and then getting killed. Finally, the ending is very anti-climatic. It feels like you end up killing several hundred bad guys and then its just over. You get a little cut scene where the game is left open to a sequel but doesn't give you any closure.

Black is a fun game with lots of shooting and explosions. Its beautifully done with great graphics and sound. Its takes between six and eight hours to complete but doesn't have a lot of replay value. This problem would have been solved with a multi-player (head to head)option. Overall, Black is a great game and is a must for any fan of first person shooter games.

If you like the newest call of duty, you will love black. Think of call of duty brought to the year 2006. Yea, great game!!!!!!!!!

Wow, this game is amazing!!!! I love it!! Great storyline, awsome graphics, and very very fun. . . Having surround sound makes it so real. If this game had multiplayer, it would be the best FPS ever made, I am not a halo kind of guy, so I think this could beat halo.

Black for PS2 is a first person shooter with graphics that will leave you breath taken. I am playing on easy mode and it is very difficult to complete levels. The game is graphically excellent with every scene crisp and clear. I have had almost all the first person shooter games for the PS2 and the game "Black" is the best I've seen and have played. The only down fall of the game,is its a one player only game and no online game play. I rate this game A++.

this game rocks! its one of the better first person shooters on the market right now. just about anything can be shot at and blown up, making for a very fun and stress relieving game. most of the bad guys take almost a full clip to get them down, as they are COVERED head to toe in body armour. the graphics are phenomenal considering the playstation 2 is quietly aging into its 6th year of life. i sincerely hope that ea games will do a sequel on the playstation 3.

I like PS2 platform games because there are so many choices! Black is a good balance of shooter gaming skills to add to any collection...it is all out mayhem from the get go!!! I purchase most games to collect as well as play! Fast action play from the time you push the start button...also extremely captivating! Hard to stop until you finish the story line!

When you think first person shooters you think more along the line of Halo and Red Faction. Though they are great games, nothing compares to how awesome Black is. I mean the graphics are out of this world, tops Halo in every way. The realism involved and the ability to destroy everything in your sight makes this on of the top first person shooter games for the PS2. Though there are problems that keep it from being the best ever. First on most important is the lack of multiplayer. if this game had a multiplayer i would have said its the best first person shooter game ever. but since it doesnt im sorry it just doesnt cut it. also the very very short gameplay. i mean you can beat it in 2-4 hours depending on your skill level. But is it still worth buying? hell yeah if you get it cheap but if your more of a multiplayer type of guy i would just rent it or go play something else. hopefully the next Black will fix these problems, but till than Black is still arguably the best looking first person shooter the PS2 has to offer.

I rented this game and played it the whole way through in about 4 or 5 hours. I understand shooters aren't known for their length but this one is fairly short. Depending on how you play, you could finish a level in 20 minutes or an hour and a half. If you are playing to kill and don't really care about yourself, you can blow through the game in about an hour. If you care more about survival and completing objectives, your looking at about 4 or 5 hours. I do agree with everyone else that Black is the most beautiful first-person shooter I have ever played. The levels are very well designed with tremendous attention given to detail. The bullets flying out of the guns, the smoke from the RPG trail, the bullet holes, the scraps of debris. Weapon selection is decent. I got sick of using the AK-47 after the second or third level. The M16 was my favourite, but you didnt start to use it until about the 5th mission. And in a game with only 8 missions, thats lame. The Dolby sound was amazing. I couldn't crank it up as loud as I wanted because I live in an apartment. However, I used some nice headphones and was in heaven. My biggest reason for giving this game a 3 was because of replay value. Simply put, it has a pathetic amount. There are 4 difficulty settings, with easy and normal being available from the start. They are basically set up like so:

Easy: Complete only primary objective. Lots of health packs. Lots of Ammo.
Unlocks: Nothing
Normal: Complete ALL primary and several secondary objectives. Moderate health packs. Moderate Ammo.
Unlocks: 'Silver Weapons' to be used in Normal mode. Hard Mode.
Hard: Complete ALL primary and secondary objectives. No health packs. Scarce Ammo.
Unlocks: 'Silver Weapons' to be used in Hard mode. Black Ops Mode.
Black Ops: Complete ALL primary, secondary, and destruction objectives (destroy everything possible)
Unlocks: 'Silver Weapons' to be used in Black Ops mode.

-'Silver Weapons' make the guns silver and give them unlimited ammo-

And there you have it. Why play through a mode to unlock something for that same mode? I want to play through normal and get silver weapons for hard.

The other thing is multiplayer. Simply put, there is none. This game would have been phenomenal with a multiplayer option. Offline or online. I think it would have been just as good, if not better, than Halo, IF it was developed a bit more.

Conclusion: A great game if you manage to snag it for about 10 bucks. Because of the lack of replay value, I would say spend no more than that.

And that's why it rocks. From the moment you play Black, you will notice that the weapon you're holding is as real as they come, but one thing is peculir: it holds 90 bullets per clip, more than enough to rage hell against masked terrorists totally vulnerable to headshots.

Even the gameplay itself is just... bullets. Bullets everywhere. And the way they did it is so freakin amazing. When the bullets hits all around you, the dust flies up and your visiblity gets low, making the gunfight more realistic than in any game I've ever seen. If you hide behind a concrete pillar, enemy bullets will eventually tear it to pieces, making you look for another hiding spot. And the game's memory is so capable that the ground will be littered with bullet casings. It's an all-out war and each bullet that each weapon fires will leave you in awe.

The graphics are the most amazing thing I've ever seen for a Playstation 2, especially as a first-person shooter. From the blurry vision you get when you reload a weapon to fiery explosions to bullets that take a chunk out of concrete walls, this game is very visually oriented, and will make your jaw dangling for quite a while.

There are certain flaws to the game however. The biggest flaw is that you can only save progress after you've beaten a mission. Sure you get checkpoints but they're so far apart and if you decide to quit the game after getting to the 2nd checkpoint, I'm sorry but you have to do that mission all over again. The story is rather convoluted and confusing the first time since everything is flashback. And the terrorists can endure ridiculous amounts of shots if it's not a headshot. They can really survive 20 AK rounds to their arms and still run around fine. The A.I. is really fine tuned but can be real frustrating some times.

Another thing is, and this is not a flaw, but I'm just saying, the game doesn't have much replay value at all. I mean, sure you get unlimited ammo for weapons after beating each difficulty level, but other than that, it's just a good single player fps. There is no multiplayer whatsoever and no level has any memorable moments. It's just a hide-and-shoot game that will get you fired up but after it's all been said and done, you'll want to go to another game. Actually, it really sets up the stage for a sequel.

I personlly think this game works best as a rental. It's relly great game, but it's not a keeper.

Destroy everything and MEAN it! This game takes bullet physics to a whole new level ripping aprat everything in sight with your AK-47 is quite refreshing. Good levels, strategic ways to take out the hundreds of minions that come your way and just full out fun.

Great first person shooter with a good story to it. The graphics are amazing for PS2, alot of detail to the weapons and surrounding enviroment.

Its a great game very fun. i decided to buy because I played it at a buddies house and already knew I liked it. It's a pretty hard game with ok replayabillity. The only things i dislike about it has alot of profanity(and i mean no level has the "f" word less than like 4 times) and it has no multiplayer co-op or vs.

Best game in the world. the only game i always play in PS2 besides other shooting games. the only game that made me start playing the PS2. the first time i tried it, i was intense immediately and got addicted with it. i only play game in my PC, the only bad thing about this game is that they don't have it for the PC. i surely love to have this game im my PC if there making one or a part 2

I only wish it had multi player & online capabilities.
Something to think about if there planning on making a version for the PS3...

This game is one of my favorite games of all time! it is a simple shoot 'em up but you have to be careful and smart!

great shooting game this is a game you can play over and over very action packed nice graphics great fun.

This is probably the best game I have ever played!! The graphics are awesome. The game play is fantastic.

Its realy funn game nice graphic and all but hmmm too short i wish it would have moe missions. plays good and realistic GRATE SOUNDS

This game was pretty good. I'm on the 4th or 5th level and its pretty hard (on easy) which isnt a good thing. The things I liked about this game are: Great graphics, cool weapons, the cool looking areas, the explosions. The things I didnt like are: It takes too many shots to kill somebody, and when you shoot somebody from a long distance it takes too long for the bullet to get there. Thats the only bad things. I personally like Socom 3 better but Black is an Awesome game too!

My sons finished the game and are moving up difficulty levels. The only thing I don't like is that we have to save the games on different memory cards because I can only play on easy mode and still haven't made it very far. lol. But the game is a great play even for adults and teenagers.

This game is so cool and I hate first person shooters by far the best shooter for the PS2!! If you dont have it get it

Pros:Doesnt run out of levels, environments/guns realistic
Cons:too many levels, each level takes atleast 45mins to beat on easy,a person should not have to get hit 10 times with a rifle bullet to die, enemy AI is predicatable, really need to play it in the dark so you can see everything clearly
A fun game in the least a worth a few bucks to keep you busy for awhile.