It's the prettiest FPS on PS2 by far, and even though it isn't the best shooter for the system, it's still a great game.
+Graphics are so good, it seems magical the PS2 could run it
+Tons of stuff to blow up and shoot
+Multiple difficulty levels and guns to unlock
+Levels throw tons of challenge at you
+Arsenal is high-powered and loud, if somewhat small
+Sound effects are just as good as the visuals
The Bad:
-Lackluster storyline
-Jumps in difficulty way too fast and often
-Just barely fails to live up to its hype as the best PS2 shooter
-No multiplayer options whatsoever
The casual gamer might blank out when asked what BLACK is, but most hardcore players have definitely heard of it before. It was called out as one of the last great PS2 games, and the best audio-visual game for both the PS2 and Xbox. Designed by Criterion Games, the developer of the destructive racing series Burnout, decided to create a first-person action game after making nothing but Burnout games; and BLACK, the explosive, mega-fun, but really hard FPS for PS2 and Xbox, was that game. Unveiled at E3 2005 (or somewhere around there, I can't remember), gamers and critics everywhere were already ready for the destructive single-player-only frag-fest to be released, even though it came out in early 2006, several months later. Does BLACK live up to its hype? Well, I can answer that question for you.
To start off with, BLACK has what may be the most cliche storyline ever. In fact, it's been used so many times, I can sum it up in half a sentence; military operation gone wrong, guy gets interrogated. That's about it. But the knowledgeable gamer likely knows that people don't play first-person shooters for the story, they play it for the action, hands down. Because of that, the story doesn't really matter. The rest of the game, however, is great.
Let me just say right up front that the graphics are, in a word, INCREDIBLE. Everything has a flawless amount of detail; even the generic thugs look great. The lighting is perfect, and the effects are almost cinematic. The game looks so amazing, you'll play it and think, 'HOW DID CRITERION RUN THIS ON A LOWLY PS2?'. Hell, on a PS3, for crying out loud, it would look decent. It's seriously that great. I mean, the PS2 has made some pretty good-looking games to balance out the bad-looking old ones, but seriously, BLACK's visuals are just unbelievable. The audio is also amazing, but not quite as good as the visuals. I won't get much into that, however, as most of you probably have heard it in action.
You get several different guns in BLACK. The arsenal could have been a little bigger, but the guns in the game are high-powered and fun to shoot, so it matters little to not at all. You get an arsenal of SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, and special weapons, like an RPG, a grenade launcher, a magnum, a light machine gun, and a sniper rifle. The magnum is the hardest to find, but in the final mission, it's quite common. Why then? Well, let's just say you'll need its power.
Aside from the guns, visuals, and audio, the most well-known part of BLACK is its passion for destruction. Practically every single thing you see can be damaged, and if your reticule turns black, you can fully explode the object targeted. These objects are common, such as cars, trucks, nuclear power plants, explosive barrels, and even parts of buildings. Destruction is loads of fun, and it's helpful, too, because when many enemies are on screen shooting the hell out of their clips at you, you can pretty much fire your bullets anywhere, because if the bullets don't get them, the exploding objects that they hit should. I guess it's no surprise Criterion's first non-racer was a shooter. It works.
BLACK is definitely not lacking in difficulty. Even on easy mode, the enemies are some tough cookies. They will do anything they can to destroy you, and will keep spawning and spawning at times. It takes a lot of bullets to kill an average guy, unless you aim for the head/neck area, then it takes slightly less bullets. Either way, it is not an easy game to play combat-wise. At least, if you play it like a run-and-gun shooter. Which, despite its emphasis of destruction, it is not. You need to have strategy to get past a certain wave of foes, because if you don't, you're gonna get your ass kicked, no question about it. Silencers for your guns make for an obvious stealth opportunity, but other than that, you need to think for yourself most of the time.
What is a bit frustrating about BLACK is that it jumps in difficulty way too fast and often. Like I stated in the previous paragraph, it is usually a rather hard game, but there are times when you luck out and it becomes a breeze. At these times, it is so much fun to blast your foes around because you don't have to worry about an RPG exploding you or anything like that, even though sometimes it really IS just luck. But unfortunately, these moments are overshadowed by the hard moments, which is frustrating as hell when you don't feel like carefully planning your tactics. What a bummer.
There are 4 difficulty levels in BLACK; Easy, Normal, Hard, and Black Ops, which is the hardest difficulty level, unlocked only by beating the game on Hard (as unlikely as that may be). You'll definitely wanna play through it again, because it's fun as hell and it only takes the experienced player about 7 hours to beat. Aside from that, there are also unlockable weapon attachments, plus silver versions of all the weapons. It has a decent amount of replay value, but is kept from being great in that category from the worst part about the game; its lack of multiplayer. If BLACK had multiplayer, it would get a 10 from me. Imagine destructing everything with competition in front of you, I mean, just imagine it. Seems like fun doesn't it? Yeah, I know, you're disappointed too.
BOTTOM LINE: There isn't much more to BLACK past its near-PS3 quality visuals and audio, except for fun, explosive FPS action. But that's what we FPS fans like about it. Because of its high difficulty and lack of multiplayer, it isn't the best shooter for PS2 like many claim it is, but nevertheless, it is still a great game that shouldn't be missed by fans of pure destruction, or shooter fans in general. Unless the lack of multiplayer in your shooters is mind-degrading, pick it up now.
Graphics- 10: Detail, lighting, and almost every other aspect of graphical technology has been pushed to the limits for near-PS3 quality visuals. On PS2 this will probably never be topped.
Sound- 10: Almost as amazing as the graphics. That's all there is to say.
Gameplay- 8.5: Tons of stuff to explode make this fun shooter even more fun. The A.I. is a little too smart, however.
Replay Value- 7.0: This is the category that kills. There are 3 difficulty levels plus an unlockable fourth and unlockable weapons and attachments, but the lack of multiplayer means you won't say with this game forever.
OVERALL- 8.8/10 (not an average)