Black review

Not the balls-out explodaganza we were promised, but still intense

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Big

  • +

    plentiful explosions

  • +

    Intense firefights with waves of baddies

  • +

    Guns behave like the real thing

Cons

  • -

    No multiplayer

  • -

    Short story mode

  • -

    Few places can be torn apart

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Forget everything you think you know about Black. It isn't to first-person shooters what Burnout is to racing games. It's not an over-the-top explodaganza that lets you destroy anything and everything you see. Hell, you can't even tear chunks out of most of its walls.

What it is, though, is a fast-paced shooter that takes long, loving looks at its guns as often as possible. There's a ton of pre-designated stuff to destroy (plenty of it explosive) and the intensity ramps way up in later levels, but anyone who just wants to go nuts and level everything will come away disappointed. That said, there's a lot in here to like.

More info

GenreShooter
DescriptionThis definitely lives up to the term 'gun porn.'
Platform"Xbox","PS2"
US censor rating"Mature","Mature"
UK censor rating"",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.