Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

Criterion games have developed a fine first person shooter for the xbox and playstation 2. The makers of burnout made a popcorn type game. You will have a blast the first time through. But you might not be compelled to play much more than a couple of playthroughs.

There is a story in Black, but it is convoluted and confusing and not partically engaging.

Forget the story though and the game is a lot of fun to play. It is a traditional first person shooter and you get the normal assortment of weapons including AK's and grenades. What makes this game special is the destruction. You can blow up a lot of the stuff in the game. Graphically, it looks great for a last gen game. Beyond that, it actually affects the gameplay in interesting ways. You can kill enemies by shooting through walls and blowing up barrels.

The main problem with black is its replay value. It is a short game, only about 6-7 hours, and there is no multiplayer.

But if you are looking for a good rental, Black will do just fine. Don't expect the kind of value like you will find from Call of Duty 4.