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.
Page 1 of 2