Dom Robinson reviews

for Xbox

Distributed by
EA Games

The title refers to the Black Ops marines of which you're a part, but while it's a single-player game you'll occasionally have help from team members who come along. Thankfully, you don't have to try and direct them all over the place - so don't worry if you're not a fan of strategy games - and better still they won't always rush into the heat of enemy gunfire only to get shot down five seconds later like a dimwit. Luck must play a part sometimes, though, as in one section where you're being attacked by snipers, some of them have single-shot guns which they use while you have the chance to crouch down behind headstones in a graveyard, but later on as you walk through enemy trenches that snake in all directions the structure of the enemy's territory is such that they can literally come at you from all sides and they don't just use guns... some have rocket launchers too! Don't worry, there's one or two of those for you to use as well but you can't carry everything at once (two guns seemed to be the limit, plus grenades of course, which makes a nice change from the average first-person-shooter that lets you run around while carrying an arsenal that'd embarrass the Terminator!) and you're going to have to work out what you need and when, then go back across difficult terrain to recover the weapon you need next. It is not easy. In fact, sometimes it can be down-right difficult to get through a level and, unless you pass a checkpoint along the way, it's back to the beginning when you get capped.

Even though I'm only in my early thirties I can still be a cynical old Hector, so when a game promises "Black is a fresh and unique take on the first-person shooter", part of me has a hard time believing that and having played video games for my whole life it takes something great to impress me. Black does achieve that, and so much so that it has that "just one more go" factor, partly because you want to strive to reach the end of the current level and also because you don't want the bastard enemy to beat you! It's also very immersive so drags you right in while you're not realising and leaves you wanting more when you have to return to reality. The graphics have the same problem with close-up detail as Half Life 2, but I'll let that slide to a degree because it's brilliant the way you can hide behind many an obstacle in order to get a better viewpoint from afar and shoot away at the scores of enemies to be done away with. This might be difficult to describe in a review but once you play you'll soon understand. A combination of crouching behind things, then zooming in on your target and moving about slightly to get in position will give a most satisfying result when you pull off a great kill.

Time to pay a visit to the whinge corner now, but there's nothing here which should put you off taking part in the Black experience. The game prides itself on how you can blast away and makes it sound like there'll be as much scenery left as if you'd gone to town as the Hulk jumping up and down on everything. However, while you can shoot at pretty much everything, as promised, only the assigned things will fall apart, a la Red Faction. If that detracts from your enjoyment of the game then you're really not paying attention as they could've built all that in but then it would've come on several discs and made the Xbox slow down to a crawl as it calculated the trajectory of every bullet into the distance, etc. The game physics do plenty here to keep the game fresh and entertaining as you make your way through the level. There is no jump button which is frustrating at first, but there'll still be a workaround to get to where you want to go. There's also no compass so you can go round in circles sometimes (particularly in the jungle), and if you're accompanied by someone and they come out with "Enemy at 12 o'clock...", etc. erm... how do you know? Also, there is a difference between "first aid" and "health pack". The former patches up your health while the latter lets you store 'first aid' for later and you can hold three of these maximum. At first this was confusing as the game told me I picked up a spare first aid pack but it didn't show up as me holding one. D'oh! There's occasionally some foibles, too, such as the non-death of a baddie when stood right in front of a huge explosive tanker that I shot at.

In fact, there seems to be too many baddies standing next to explosive barrels and the like, but it was still nice to find when I tossed a grenade into a building in the hope of doing some damage to the people inside that the whole place went up like World War III! That was a bit too easy there, but it still has the potential to be rock hard when you're running out of health and can't find any packs about. All that said, this is still a game that every fan of first-person-shooters must play, even if it's just trying out on a rental for a night because you'll want to keep it for longer than that. The action is fast and frenetic, the sound is loud - plus the directional audio cues keep you on your toes and despite a few niggles at first it's very easy to get into. You'll soon learn also that just rushing in all guns blazing isn't always the answer - sometimes it's good to go a little bit off the beaten track into the bushes of the jungle section, for example, to hide from the enemy while walking through the forest before you strike. Let's hope the eventual sequel is as much fun.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2006.