Gamespot BLACK Review

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http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/black/review.html

Its right there in that link, so don't click it unless you want to know.

Ok that should be enough filler to prevent people from finding out without clicking the thread.

7.4

The Good: Really sharp audiovisual presentation; makes a great first impression; lots of glass to break

The Bad: Not much reason to play through it more than once; gameplay feels stuck in a rut; disappointing story; often-idiotic artificial intelligence.

Ouch. Glad i didn't get caught up in the hype.
 
let me be the first to say i told you so!
jimbo wont be pleased :)
 
v1p3r said:
It may look nice but it appears the prerelease screenshots were fake.

Spot the AA difference:
IGN: http://xboxmedia.ign.com/xbox/image/article/684/684449/black-20060130105845620.jpg
My own xbox: http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4215/19216806image99px.jpg
Click to expand...
what's wrong with your xbox ? mine looks basically the same as that screenshot and the other videos i've seen.

edit: i went back and loaded that mission again, and there is something seriously wrong with yours if that's what it looks like.

the story is kind of 'lame' or unoriginal, but the way it's presented is excellent, it [can] involve you really well.

the visuals are excellent, for xbox -- you really need to play it before you can judge it.
 
Are you playing it on a CRT TV? If so it won't look as aliased as on a PC monitor.

I'm using the same method to take screenshots as the reviewers use so I wonder whats going on :/
 
it got a much higher result at metacritic.com - the reviews are actually fairly solid generally
an unspectacular but well made game it seems :|
 
playing it on my recently bought lcd tv.

i also tried it on my old flat tube tv and it looks fine too.
 
Must be a problem with my XDK setup then, I'll have to look into that.
 
IGN gave the PS2 version an 8.7 and the XBox version an 8.6. They raved about the graphics and sound, but did complain about the relatively uninspired gameplay. They said the AI wasn't bad, but it did encounter problems occasionally. Overall pretty good scores. Its good to see the current-gen not falling behind the next-gen too quickly.
 
StardogChampion said:
Told you it would suck the first time the screens were released.
Click to expand...
.. except for, it doesn't suck ?

opinions and high scores big to differ with you, also, have you even played it ?
 
StardogChampion said:
Don't need to play it. I can tell it's a mindless generic.
Click to expand...
hah, thanks for saying that -- all current & future posts by you talking about black are void, until you play it.
 
Gamespot is supposedly notorious for underrating stuff, but then again game reviews are in general massively overated, (tell me, in which other industry is a 60% score used to describe a game as terrible?).
 
JellyWorld said:
Gamespot is supposedly notorious for underrating stuff, but then again game reviews are in general massively overated, (tell me, in which other industry is a 60% score used to describe a game as terrible?).
Click to expand...

Schools :P D's are no good.
 
Raziel-Jcd said:
Do you have a standard tv? On a HD tv the aa gets highered at least for the 360. Also i never thought this game looked good. It looks fun tho. So if it comes out on 360 or ps3 ill probably get it.
Click to expand...

Ahh that makes sense, I bet they took all their screenshots on 360s. Sneaky buggers :p
 
I bet it'll still sell like crazy though. People like mindless shooters, i do. :P

Oh well.
 
hmmm guess i'll rent it, dont wanna spend 60euros on a game with 0 replay value...

not that i have 60euros to spare atm anyway :(
 
It looks like an awesome game, but yeah definitely a rent. Still though I bet it'll be a lot of fun, looking forward to playing it.

Game companies really need to focus on adding more replay value to their games. MGS, Timesplitters, and GTA are hands down worth buying because of all the replay value they offer. Also, I bet this game would be amazing online, that's ridiculous that they left it out.
 
'High octane action' was never going to interest me without good gameplay and story. Thats where they went wrong, I think - all they did was bank on the action. Fail.
 
I don't really see what people got against this game. I've played the game now and I'm very pleased with it. It was pretty much what I thought it was supposed to be. Mindless shooting with terrifying weapons at your disposal. This isn't a game with an emotional story. This is like Burnout just with weapons instead of cars. That was Criterions purpose with the game, the guns were the show of the game.
And also, there is a replay-value. I don't see what the hell wrongs with Gamespot, seriously they lost all my respect.
Oh and one more thing, don't judge the game from a few screenshots, play the game and judge it after.

I'm seriously enjoying the game, really offers a challenging experience with mind-blowing action. Glad I bought it.

The box...
black.jpg
 
john3571000 said:
let me be the first to say i told you so!
jimbo wont be pleased :)
Click to expand...
damn you!
i wanted to be the 1st :farmer:
 
Loke said:
Mindless shooting with terrifying weapons at your disposal. This isn't a game with an emotional story. This is like Burnout just with weapons instead of cars. That was Criterions purpose with the game, the guns were the show of the game.
]
Click to expand...

Thats the problem, you can't just hold the game together with that. It needs other elements too, and thats why Black has come off a disappointment to me. In this age of gaming, you expect more.
 
StardogChampion said:
Told you it would suck the first time the screens were released.
Click to expand...

Umm.....7.4 is fairly good score for a game. Especially from Gamespot.
 
Meh GameSpot's reviews are shit. I own some of the games they have given bad reviews, when they are actually pretty good. I won't believe it 'till I play it...
 
I still can't believe they gave Half-Life 2 a 9.4. It clearly should've been at the very most a 8.8.
 
And that is where I disagree, HL2 is simply the best game ever made ;)
Alot of people simply miss the little details.

And one quote a sig Deus.
 
/sad.

There's no denying the details, the excellent plot, the great graphics, great characters, but I'm afraid there's little variety in the gameplay. Oh sure, you can drive vehicles a few levels or control Ant Lions, but those wear thin by the time the level is over. HL2 is a great game, but not that great.
 
Well, I certainly think it is. I find it weird that you mention little variety in the gameplay, but to me that’s one of its greatest strengths. Each chapter contains something new, a new environment, different gameplay. From vehicles to controlling antlions to battling striders in the Nexus square to using turrets to defend an area - it never fails to keep you entertained.

No other game that I've played (bar Deus ex), has such awesome variety. But that’s me.
 
Samon said:
Well, I certainly think it is. I find it weird that you mention little variety in the gameplay, but to me that’s one of its greatest strengths. Each chapter contains something new, a new environment, different gameplay. From vehicles to controlling antlions to battling striders in the Nexus square to using turrets to defend an area - it never fails to keep you entertained.

No other game that I've played (bar Deus ex), has such awesome variety. But that’s me.
Click to expand...

Completely agree.

HL2 certainly has some failings, but variety of gameplay is not among them.
 
While I can't deny that HL2 is one of the greatest games I've ever played, and its got more style in the first level than most entire games, I don't normally like mixed gameplay games like that where one minute its a FPS the next you are driving a crappy vehicle or whatever.

Admittedly the vehicles were really well done however the buggy in particular annoyed the crap out of me at times.

The shoot-out with the chopper in the Airboat is the great, especially when playing at a challenging skill level.


I'd like to play Black - probably never will though becuase Im too busy.

It looks like alot of fun. I hated Burnout more than anyone alive, so Im glad they are decided to try something new with their game engine. :thumbs:
 
Half-Life 2 got 9.2 not 9.4.

And a 7.4 from Gamespot is a pretty generic rating. Especially considering Quake 4 got 8.0 and that was pretty much as generic as they come. Also the guy who reviewed Black is probably the best reviewer on the site, as he cuts through the bullshit and doesnt review games with as ridiculously high standards as Greg Kasavin does.
 
Having played Black , I have to agree with Gamespot's score rather than IGN's.

A.I isn't good , the game is all about shooting and explosions , the different guns are useless - in the end you stick with only one and there's no reason why not.

I don't know if it's a console thing but having no jump and action button is ridiculous and it results in a simple level design.

8 missions? only 6-8 hours of gameplay? and people are still bitching about the 4-6 hours of episodes which are 30$ minimum cheaper.
 
The review is pretty good, I don't agree with everything, but he is clear and does a good job of telling the good and the bad sides of the game.

Overall IMO the game pretty much delivers what it promised, even on the AI side. there are some very stupid times when your team AI runs in to a building and the enemy only just starts shooting when you get in. But overall, they do take cover,run from cover to cover, get more hits the more you stay in the same spot, and are pretty good shooters. Basicly even though it's a high-octane shooter, you're always on your toes quickly runing from cover to cover, watching out if the enemy is going near an explosive.
More variaty would have definatly been better.
 
Tamer17 said:
the different guns are useless - in the end you stick with only one and there's no reason why not.
Click to expand...
useless ? i always carry an automatic with a shotgun, or magnum or sniper, or a 'heavy hard hitting' weapon like that.

you might find a gun you really like in each mission, and is efficient, but there are always times when it's better to change to something which is more suiting, like the spas-12 (shotgun) for corridors or whatever.
 
I actually like The UZI gun, I kill enemies a lot faster then with an AK for some reason.
 
Gametrailers video review.

Completed it yesterday, pretty much the best FPS game on the Playstation 2 imo.
 
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