Aliens. Terminator
2. The Matrix. Die Hard.
The longer you listen to the developers of Black speak, the more you start to understand the influence of
these successful action movies. Black, the new first-person shooter
from Criterion Games, aspires to be everything that those top-grossing films
were, especially when it comes to full-on, balls-to-the-wall action. A lot of games promise that kind of Hollywood experience, but after spending some time
talking to the people responsible for this game, one gets the feeling that they
might just pull it off.
To promote this much-anticipated current generation game
Jeremy Chubb, the producer of Black,
made himself available for a phone interview with Gaming Nexus. As the game nears its launch some of the last
minute aspects of the game are being ironed out, and Criterion was more than
happy to fill us in on how it's been going and what they were trying to do with
this game. Needless to say, Criterion
has set the bar high and expects big things from Black.
Black is a
single-player action game with a strong emphasis on guns and explosions. This isn't about you taking out guards from
30 yards away, this is run-and-gun action the like you only see in big budget
action movies. You command a wide variety
of huge guns that are ready to not only take down your enemies, but also do
some serious damage to the backgrounds.
When Criterion talks about destroying the environment they
aren't kidding, this game is overflowing with huge explosions, destructible
walls, and debris flying every which way.
With cars, walls, and everything else blowing up all around you, this is
one experience that really makes you feel like you are actually there in the
middle of the action.
When you play the game it's easy to see that a lot of time
and effort has gone into making each weapon feel unique. Black
is not the first game to emphasize its arsenal, we would be remiss to ignore
all the other action games doing their part to introduce more powerful
firearms. But it's not the weapons that
make Black so amazing; it's how
powerful each one feels. Each gun has a
different feel, a sense of style all its own.
Over the course of the game it's easy to grow attached to particular
weapons, making it sad when you have to give it up for another. Black
gives you that sense of power you feel when you're shooting a gun, something that
has been missing from many of today's first-person shooters.
But just because Black
looks and feels like a fast playing shooter doesn't mean you have to experience
it that way. Nearly every weapon has a
silencer, giving you an opportunity to sneak around before getting into huge
firefights. You can also perform the
traditional melee attack, which will take your enemy down in only one or two
hits. But don't be fooled, this game is
definitely geared towards getting in huge fights and having a lot of stuff
explode around you, it's a visceral experience that will keep you on the edge
of your seat.
Black has a lot
going for it -- amazing graphics, a sense of style, and some of the coolest
effects ever seen in a video game -- but it has left itself open for a number
of hard hitting questions. For example,
why isn't this game online? After all,
these days it's hard to get your first-person shooter noticed if you don't
offer some kind of multiplayer experience.
Jeremy explained that for "this version" of the game they
wanted to focus on making the best single-player experience they could.
Wait … this version??
To follow up the question I made it a point to find out what
they meant by "this version".
Are they working on an Xbox 360 port for sometime down the road? Well, if they are Jeremy wasn't ready to let
us know. He joked about his bad choice
of words and explained that many of the developers at Criterion were hard at
work on another project … a game he failed to name (or even hint about). Could Black
be a future Xbox 360 game? Let's just
put it this way, he never said no.
When asked why they decided to stick with the current
generation rather than focusing on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Jeremy
asserted that it was just too early to be thinking about the next
generation. He understood that people
are excited about the company's next generation projects, but at this point the
Xbox 360 has only been out for a few months and there's still no firm date on
the PlayStation 3 and Revolution.
Personally I would have loved to see a next generation version of Black; this is one game that hardly
looks dated. When it comes right down to
it, Black is easily one of the best
looking games on the PlayStation 2.
In fact, the PlayStation 2 version of the game not only
looks amazing, but it also manages to keep up with the Xbox in nearly every way
possible. It's this PS2 version that
Jeremy is most proud of, talking at length about how impressed he was that they
were able to pull all this off on a six year old system. With only a few noteworthy first-person
shooters, the PlayStation 2 is far from the first choice for fans of the
genre. But if you're a PS2 owner who has
been waiting for a worthwhile FPS, then it's time for you to rush to your store
and put your money on Black.
Black's biggest
surprise is not its action or huge explosions; it's the way the story elements
are inserted into the game. Criterion
Games has decided to cast real people for live-action full motion video
sequences, one of those odd little quirks you don't see in video games these
days. Like the first-person shooter
elements of the game, these cinemas are full of style and have a very distinct
look to them. Inspired on TV shows like
24 and Alias, these cinemas fit perfectly with each level's all out action.
After having a taste of Black
(and talking to the people responsible for making it), it's safe to say that
this is one game that is trying to be as big and explosive as a summer action
movie. With all of the chaos going on
around you, it's hard not to be reminded of the movies of Jerry Bruckheimer and
Michael Bay; it's an experience like no other.
GamingNexus looks forward to playing through the final
version of Black in the next couple
of weeks. Expect a full review around
the time of release, and more information as the days count down. If you've been waiting for the most chaotic
first-person shooter around, then it's time for you to get excited about
Criterion Games' Black.
