Black & White
Amazingly, Black & White has made good on all its promises and then some. You really haven’t played anything quite like this before.
Things start simply: in a world known as Eden, a family is out for a beachside stroll. Their son runs off into the ocean and suddenly finds himself in deep, shark-infested water. The parents cry out in prayer for someone to save him, and you are created as an answer to their pleas, and save their son.
Once called into existence, and as any self-respecting Populous player will recognize instantly, you must expand your realm by gaining more believers and spreading your influence. Eventually, a story involving an evil god named Nemesis and a set of powerful items called "creeds" is introduced. It’s up to you to defeat Nemesis and obtain all the "creeds." Exactly how this is accomplished is up to you. You may become Beelzebub-incarnate and rule through terror and wickedness, or play the benevolent card and gain believers through love and compassion. Thus, Black & White.
Subhed: Your own personal Eden
Eden itself is a planet not too different from our own. There are blue oceans, towering snow-capped mountains, and lush, green forests. The people that populate it require food, shelter, safety, and, eventually, offspring. They giggle or sob while other hypnotic ambient sounds bring this unique game world to life.
You interact with the world in two ways. The first is through your mouse-controlled hand. Think of it as an actual extension of yourself into Eden. With it, you can pick up and replace boulders, trees, and villagers, cast spells, and travel from village to village. It is the most simple yet versatile interface to come along in years. To toss a boulder, you grab one in your fist, move your mouse forward with the button pressed and release it to send that rock sailing.
The same method may be applied to anything that can be picked up. It takes some practice to be able to throw accurately, but after a while you’ll be sending trees, fireballs, villagers and sheep hurtling through the air with ease.
To move the camera around, you move your hand icon to a point on the ground, click to grab the land, then pull or push yourself to that point. Think of it as moving the world, rather than moving the camera around the world. It is awkward at first, and there have been complaints of it being counter-intuitive, but there are a variety of options you can adjust to make it more to your liking, including mapping the keys to a configuration that is similar to a conventional first-person shooter setup.
Spells, known as miracles, are cast through mouse movements called "Gestures." For example, to start up a miracle, you make a clock-wise swirl with the mouse. This opens a spell menu at the bottom of the screen that lists other miracle-specific gestures. All you have to do to cast these miracles is make their respective gestures. Making a "W" motion with the mouse casts a water miracle, moving up and down rapidly casts a fireball, and making the shape of a heart casts a healing miracle.
There are over a dozen gestures in the game. You don’t have to use them -- there are keystrokes and other alternative methods of selecting spells -- but I loved the gesturing system because it made me feel like I was actually doing magic. There are plenty of miracles to play with. You can protect your villages with shield miracles, lay down the law with lightning miracles, impress non-believing villagers with the Flock of Birds miracle that makes a flock of doves magically appear, and do things that would make Moses look like a two-bit sideshow.
However, you do have some limits. You are only able to interact with objects and cast spells within your circle of influence -- highlighted in the game world by a shimmering, translucent red wall (one of hundreds of incredible visual effects). This circle grows as more people believe in you and worship you. More worshipers means more prayer power, and more prayer power means you can cast more miracles. But how can you make them believe in you if you can’t do anything outside of your circle of influence?
Subhed: Creature comforts
This is where the second method of interacting with the world comes into play: your creature. Think of the creature as the ambassador of your will. In the extensive early game, once you’ve practiced controlling the camera, you get to choose from three base creatures: a chimp, a tiger, and a cow (others are made available later in the game or via free downloads online), each with unique attributes. The chimp is smart but not the strongest fighter, the tiger is dumb but ferocious, and the cow is...well, a cow, docile and plodding. Like any parent, it’s up to you to teach your creature how to behave with a brilliant balance of punishment and reward.
The theory is simple, but mastery of it is a real challenge. If your creature poos where he shouldn’t (yes, he does poo), you slap him around. If your creature poos where you want him to (say, on an adversary’s front lawn), you pet him. Moving the hand cursor slowly over the creature -- under his chin or on his belly -- acts as a ‘pet’ while quick short twitches of the mouse translate into slaps. Be your alignment good or evil, you pet and punish in the same way, but for different actions. Should your pet eat villagers, set fire to houses, and behave as Godzilla, he can, if that’s the behavior that you choose to reward.
This system relies on some meaty AI -- your creature wanders around doing his own thing whenever not under your direct control. The AI is, quite simply, a revelation, and a revolution. Each creature emotes a genuine, and evolving personality over time; they feel anger, sadness, and happiness, and aren’t afraid to show it. Eventually, you’ll feel a bond with your creature almost as if it were a real pet.
There’s a strategy to balancing these personality quirks. Dumber creatures, such as the tiger, will take more reinforcement before they learn their lessons, but the chimp will figure things out quick smart. Eventually, the creature will be able to do anything you can do, from casting miracles to finding food for villagers. To teach it, you just have to attach it to the "leash of learning" and have it watch you perform whatever it is you want it to learn. It can also learn things by watching villagers go about their daily chores. It is truly amazing to watch your creature study your moves and then imitate you by trying to cast a spell it’s seen you do over and over again. They’ll even get upset at themselves if they mess up and cheer and clap when they get things right.
As your creature ages, it grows in size and its alignment is reflected in its physical appearance. For example, a benevolent chimp will look cute and huggable, while an evil one will being to grow spots of purple and black and end up looking like an extra from a bad GWAR video. This also applies to the appearance of your hand icon. If you’re good, it looks clean and healthy; if you’re bad, it turns purple, veins bulge out, and your nails grow long and claw-like.
Testimony to the sheer depth of gameplay here, there isn’t nearly enough room to go over all of Black & White’s amazing features. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of little details and extras. It’s simply amazing. The game certainly gets tough; taking care of five villages and trying to raise your creature right at the same time is a stressful strategic challenge. But the pros far outweigh the cons in this game. It should suffice to say that everyone here in the PCG offices is thoroughly amazed with what Lionhead has accomplished -- and everyone has had a unique experience interacting with the creature. Just trust us when we say that this is a game you definitely should not miss.