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| | Title:
Black
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Action
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Publisher:
Electronic Arts
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Developer:
Criterion Software
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Release:
02/01/2006
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
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If there is anything the guys at Criterion are known for, it is for making games fun. Burnout 3 gave the racing genre a good kick in the shorts when it took the most frustrating aspect of any racing game (wrecking) and made it enjoyable. Burnout 3 won numerous Game of the Year awards and currently has a sequel in the works; Burnout Revenge.
But Black is not a racing game. Instead the boys at Criterion wanted a new challenge in the form of a first-person shooter. This is actually a very interesting choice because of the incredible popularity of first-person shooters thanks to the Halo, Half-Life and Unreal franchises. It seems like every feasible idea has been done with this genre of games and one has to wonder if Criterion can do for first-person shooters what it did for racing. Surprisingly, it looks like they just might. Criterion is taking some very unique design approaches and attitudes towards the game that just might usher in a breakout hit like Burnout 3.
There has been no information released on the story of Black. Primarily what has been showcased in the screenshots and trailers is the incredibly fun gameplay. Criterion is taking an approach similar to what they did with Burnout 3; all you have to do is make it fun. Since Black is a first-person shooter the most important component Criterion has to work on is the guns, control and gameplay. More specifically for the aspect of guns is which ones will be chosen and how they can and will interact with the environment(s). There have not been any announcements of licensed guns (real life models), a similar design choice when it came to Burnout 3 with its cars. All that is known about which guns are going to be in the game is from the screenshots and trailers. Guns confirmed for Black are a pistol, assault rifle, double-barreled shotgun, rocket launcher, and SMG. The final number of guns is unknown at this time. Dual wielding will be an option in Black since one screenshot shows two SMGs being held.
If there is one thing Criterion is known for, it's destruction. So it should come as no surprise that Black will feature a fully destructible world. It’s not only how the guns fire, but also how they affect the world around them. Plaster will blow off walls and holes will be punched into cars. Even entire buildings are not safe thanks to the release of one screenshot, which shows a massive explosion erupting from the side of a building courtesy of a rocket launcher.
How the A.I. will respond to a world with such amazing guns and a destructible environments is still unknown. It can almost be assumed though that a good portion of the gameplay will focus on using the guns and environment to the player’s advantage. And since Criterion is known for making aspects of a game where destruction is involved to be over-the-top, the character models and how they die is probably going to be amazing.
Overall, it looks like Criterion is doing to first-person shooters what it did to racing games. That is, making a new fresh experience by focusing on what is most important in the genre. In racing, it was speed and crashing. In Black, it's going to be guns and how they affect everything they spray.
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