In0x’s Reviews

Black       X-Box                                      March ‘06

     At a time when most developers are jumping on the nextgen bandwagon and Microsoft has almost completely abandoned the X-Box it’s really refreshing to see a company like Criterion showing the old console a little love. A lot of third party developers were so hot to support the new console that they delayed whatever games they had in the works and retooled them to get onboard with the X-Box 360. While the rest of the world was tripping over themselves to get a title out on the new system Criterion was busy working on a couple of awesome games for the X-Box that would prove the console was far from dead. Black, as in Black Ops, is one of those games. 

     Everything about Black screams “budget title” but that only goes to prove you don’t have to spend a ton of money to make a great game. The enemy AI leaves a little to be desired and it seems like you’re fighting the same three guys over and over and the character animations are nothing to write home about but none of that really matters because this is still an excellent game and I had a lot of fun playing it. The fact that it only cost $40 when the X-Box 360 games I’ve been buying lately cost $60 also doesn’t hurt.

     By far the best thing about Black is the weapons. I’ve been around guns since I was a little kid and I can tell you that until now I haven’t played another game that accurately shows how much fun they really are. The blurb on the box says that the guns are the stars of the game and they aren’t kidding. My guess is that the guys at Criterion spent a good part of the development cycle at the range just shooting the hell out of everything and taking notes. It shows in the finished product because pulling the trigger in a video game has never been so Fonzi cool. The way the guns seem to explode with exaggerated firepower and the damage they do to the environment is completely over the top and a thing of beauty, like a symphony of destruction. Geomods, destroyable objects, degradable cover and interactive environments are all things I’ve seen before but I’ve never seen them done as well as in Black. To add to the carnage it seems like someone left explosives lying around everywhere. Fuel tanks, ammo crates, parked vehicles, you name it. If it blows up it’s in the game and you will blow it up and when you do your enemies will react with glorious ragdoll physics.         
                                      
     Another thing I really liked about Black is that they shot the cut scenes with a camera and real actors instead of CGI which added a bit of gritty realism to the game. The moody orchestral music and the way they used it to build suspense and change the feel of the different areas was also a nice touch.

     I actually wanted to give Black an even higher score than I did but there is one thing that is glaringly absent. There is no multiplayer at all. No split screen, no LAN, no X-Box Live, nothing. It’s a damn shame because this game would have totally rocked X-Box Live. 

     If the X-Box will be remembered for one thing it will be first person shooters. Right from the start with the release of Halo it has been home to some of the very best games in the genre and while Black may not rewrite the book it might very well claim the honor of being The X-Box’s Last Great First Person Shooter.

I gave Black an 8.5

In0x      NYC