Black Preview

By Kristan Reed Published 2 June, 2005

Who needs next-gen?

Ever since we first clapped eyes on the tech demo for Black about a year ago it was glaringly obvious this would be a game to watch. A game where the central concept was about "being able to have fun with a gun in an empty room," where "the gun is the star," and one that was "going to do for shooters what Burnout did for racing games". Or in other words, the most insane levels of destruction your eyes have ever seen outside of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. When Criterion's Alex Ward talks about recreating the famous lobby destruction scene in The Matrix you nod politely. And then you see it for yourself and your eyes don't even blink for about four minutes.

Although the game was being shown off behind closed doors at E3 for a second year running, Criterion did at least make an effort to put on a show. Based upstairs on the sprawling multi-million dollar EA stand, the room itself was a recreation of the innards of its infamous tech demo room, complete with pitted grey concrete-effect tiles strewn with bullet holes and a floor awash with spent cartridges. "We had some fun before you got here," grins Ward. You could certainly feel the enthusiasm pouring out of the team as they surveyed the room for the reaction from the assembled hacks, even though this was probably the 100th time they'd had to play through the exact same demonstration. With Ward booming out a confident display of what the team is aiming for and EA's Jeremy Chubb providing able support in front of the chaotic action spewing forth from the big screen, the room was awash with helpless grins. A bit like the instinctive reaction we got from playing Burnout 2 for the first time, you might say.

None more Black

While most game previews would probably resort to retelling the game storyline at this point, Criterion's not playing ball just yet. To date EA hasn't even issued a press release, never mind issued teaser videos and suchlike. All we know so far is what Ward's prepared to let us in on, that it's about "a black military operation".

"You may have brushed alongside the world of black ops before but largely this world has been seen in terms of stealth gameplay - being covert, sneaking around. All of the action in Black is overt not covert," he told us at E3, but refused to elaborate any further, preferring to keep things under wraps for the time being.

But one thing Ward freely admits is that Black distils the team's best memories of their favourite movies. In fact, the last time out we got a sneak peak at the storyboarding process down at Criterion's HQ, each of the game's levels were explicitly designed to play out like your best memories of the best action sequences they could think of. Not a bad basis for an action game, you might reason.

Black background

'Black' Screenshot 1

One thing that's clear is that Criterion is going to finally break with its 'action-only' tradition and furnish Black with the requisite back-story and cast and spin a narrative around the game. Ward asserts that Criterion is making more than the cursory effort their contemporaries usually manage: "Can you name a videogame where you respect the story work?" he ponders. "It's tough isn't it? All I will say is that we've worked extremely hard to try and overcome some of the problems and frustrations that we all have with videogame storytelling." Although the Guildford-based developer is hardly renowned for sweating too much over narrative over the past six, seven years, it's heartening to know it's going all out to make it not just about the action.

But what action. Playing through the sixth level of the game (which it claims is only 50 per cent complete in visual terms and 25 per cent in development terms) we got to see probably the most refined example of how to push the current generation machines - so much so that it made the prospect of moving to the next generation seem more than a little unnecessary at this point. The sheer amount of destruction possible within Black made Criterion's bold claim of being able to have fun in an empty room look like the biggest understatement of the year. It doesn't just recreate the lobby scene of The Matrix, but puts the whole process in the hands of the player with a whole suite of graphical and physics effects that would have most high-end PCs groaning at the prospect. If any developer ever moans about the PS2 ever again, just point them in the direction of Black. This is what can be achieved with raw talent.

Mere words cannot possibly hope to neatly sum up the degree of intense destruction that plays out before your eyes. Everything from the smallest tiles on a wall, to the supporting structures of an entire building can be blasted out and turned into rubble. Most memorably during the course of the presentation, a group of enemies firing on you from the third floor of a ruined building (with the front having already been cast asunder) have the rug literally pulled out from beneath then when the concrete pillars supporting their floor are taken out by an RPG, sending them and tons of dust and rubble tumbling in on itself as every floor of the remainder of the building collapses in on itself in protest, crushing anyone else firing at you beneath. Think of the shattered levels in all those WWII games, but with the ability to keep piling on the destruction. To use a horribly overused word, it is simply awesome.

Sign of the times

'Black' Screenshot 2

But while that may well seem like a Red Faction-style pre-determined area that you can shoot out (and we're sure the level design must dictate certain limits or else you'd surely end up blocking yourself in), there really does appear to be no limit to what you can blow to smithereens. Large neon signs bolted to the side of a building can be shot out piece by piece before the whole thing eventually crashes to the ground, every window of every building can be shattered spectacularly, and every vehicle's fuel tank can be ignited, sending cars and HGVs shooting into the sky in a ball of fire and debris. It's sheer chaos on a relentless and quite staggering scale. After five minutes of just watching this spectacle you feel like you need a rest.

But Criterion keeps on piling on the destruction - and all this just from one level. Next up we got to see just how effective lobbing a grenade through an open window could be. As you might expect by now, the explosion doesn't just kill the occupants and cause a bit of smoke, but blow all the windows out and send a blizzard of glass shards and assorted debris, smoke and dust raining down on your parade. The particle effects and level of detail have to be seen to be believed, and play out with no hint of frame rate loss. Elsewhere we got to see another building collapse spectacularly by, again, taking out the 15-foot high support columns. It makes you consider the level architecture from an entirely different mindset with the simple knowledge that everything can be taken apart spectacularly. Even the hungriest appetite for destruction will be sated - and then some.

Particularly interesting

'Black' Screenshot 3

Even the basic shooting interactions appear to have been thought through on a microscopic level, with every shot capable of kicking up enormous amounts of particle effects; smoke, dust, sparks, spent ammo cases, you name it - not to mention the overwhelming amount of noise your actions make. On that subject, it's fair to say Criterion made the most of the audio set up at E3; if there was a game at E3 that made as big an impression on our ear drums then we didn't find it.

Every shot resonates like you're actually there with a gun in your hand. As Ward himself has noted regularly during the development of Black: "Shooting guns in real life is a lot of fun; we wanted to replicate that". Indeed, anyone who has fired a gun for real will know exactly what he's getting at here as the room shakes with a force that would worry household pets and curious neighbours. Our advice is get some soundproofing installed before it ships next February, as you're not going to want to play this with the sound down. As the demo session of Black came to a conclusion we were treated to one of the most extensive explosions seen outside of a blockbuster movie as a big tanker was ripped apart by a typically bombastic rocket launcher missile, and the screen shakes in protest for several seconds to give an even greater impression of visual feedback. If you want subtlety from your videogames, best give Black a miss. You might need to renew your health insurance policies to take into account blast damage from videogames.

Need For Black: Most Wanted

On the other hand, if you're even vaguely interested in first-person shooters or action games (or bored of them and need your faith restored) we'd strongly advise you to place Black right at the very top of your Most Wanted list. If Criterion doesn't deliver on its promises to shake up the shooter we'd be very surprised indeed.

Electronic Arts is releasing Black on PS2 and Xbox in February 2006. Check back in the coming months for our thoughts on Criterion's incredible shoot-'em-up.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (73) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • armyourfists #1 7 years ago

    sounds lush.

  • mcmonkeyplc #2 7 years ago

    Feb 2006?!!! I could have an xbox 360 by then! MS better makes this backward compatible.

  • spidermanalf #3 7 years ago

    Looks good

  • statix101 #4 7 years ago

    I'll pick it up on budget and play it on the Ps3....:))

  • Blerk #5 7 years ago

    Are there any videos of this running? There are about half a dozen screenies and... nothing else!

  • krudster #6 7 years ago

    None yet. We were all barred from videoing anything or else we'd have almost certainly asked to host the demo footage for you to all salivate over.

  • Rusta #7 7 years ago

    Feb 2006!!!??? don't tease us with stuff that is yonks away, give us preview/reviews for stuff that is out now, like GTA on the Xbox!!

  • Blerk #8 7 years ago

    Amazing they've managed to keep this under wraps for so long... especially now that EA are publishing. You'd have expected it to be absolutely everywhere!

  • mcmonkeyplc #9 7 years ago

    "Are you
    just gonna chuck out your xbox?"

    Well its huge! Id quite like to take an axe to it. My one is on its last legs making dodgy noises whilst playing games and sometimes failing to load. I wouldn't be surprised if it packed up between now and next feb.

    This for a £300 console.....yes I brought it on launch :(

  • Stevas mkII #10 7 years ago

    Tearing?

  • Teeth #11 7 years ago

    What about enemies? Did the game have enemies?

  • Teeth #12 7 years ago

    When I say that, I mean, how did they behave? Were they just standing still until you blew them up?

  • Madder-Max #13 7 years ago

    Do you get to shoot blinged saxo's and Corsa's?

  • pinhead #14 7 years ago

    Yep this is on the buy list, which is shortening as we approach next gen release dates. I can't wait to make roon under the tv again once the behemoth Xbox is sequestered to the loft.

  • Derblington #15 7 years ago

    The 360 isn't much smaller than the Xbox.

  • ralphwolfenstein #16 7 years ago

    I so want this to be this generation's Goldeneye...

  • krudster #17 7 years ago

    The AI was performing as well as I've seen any comparable game manage, but it was too early to make any informed commentary on it. We'll be sure to flesh out the details the next time we get close to it.

  • bloke #18 7 years ago

    Alex Ward is a very interesting guy.

    I attribute all of Burnout's "High Concept" and delivery on that very largely to him and if he's got a bee in his bonnet about turning action movie scenes into a real gaming experience, then I fully expect him to be able to inspire/cajole a team to be able to deliver that too.

    He also has a photographic memory and can quote you Zapp 64 page numbers when you're discussing old game reviews.

    Well - I was impressed :-)

  • krudster #19 7 years ago

    Really? I'll test him on a few. I've got three binders of the things up in the loft...

  • Artemus #20 7 years ago

    /adds to list

  • Stevas mkII #21 7 years ago

    So... about that tearing, then...

  • Stevas mkII #22 7 years ago

    Any? At all?

  • krudster #23 7 years ago

    Not that I could tell. I'll be sure to watch out for any the next time I see it.

  • bionutz #24 7 years ago

    Bring it on the PC!!!

  • Stevas mkII #25 7 years ago

    Thanks. Because if there's none I am so gonna buy it.

    Ahh, who am I kidding, I'll buy it anyways.

    Even if it is only so I can come in here to complain about the tearing.

    I guess at least if there's no tearing in it, I may have scored for an enjoyable game. So that's either no tearing good game, or tearing and complain.

    A win/win scenario, then.

  • Huntcjna #26 7 years ago

    Im moist after reading that preview

  • krudster #27 7 years ago

    Ew. I have antiperspirants I can recommend.

  • bloke #28 7 years ago

    Krudster - I'm sure he'll enjoy the challenge :-)

  • Huntcjna #29 7 years ago

    I've got three cans of physio sport on my desk but its just not absorbing it

  • Feanor #30 7 years ago

    "If any developer ever moans about the PS2 ever again, just point them in the direction of Black. This is what can be achieved with raw talent."

    But where should we point them if they're moaning about their lack of talent? :)

    Early 2006 is going to be a good time for PS2 gamers with Black, Okami and FF 12 all coming out.

  • green_nifta #31 7 years ago

    I think it's really clever that some of the PS2 screenshots that have been released onto the web (not these ones though) are at a higher resolution than the PS2 can actually generate. Take a look at the CVG website which shows these screens at full-screen...

    Very clever EA! Not suggesting for one second that they're fudged screenshots of course....

  • tiddles #32 7 years ago

    green_nifta - devkits have the option to output screenshots in high resolution (for magazine scans and the like)... just because the shots are in a high resolution format, it doesn't mean that it's not in-game footage (although the game itself obviously never runs that high).

  • Captain Fetid #33 7 years ago

    @ Huntcjna

    Yes, Premature flesh is the area which became wet hotly.

  • #34 7 years ago

    This and Shadow of Collusus (and GoW).

    The next gen can whistle!

  • valli #35 7 years ago

    This one sounds bloody excellent. If anyone can create destruction and particle effects, it's Criterion.

  • HarryB #36 7 years ago

    promising
    no mention of tearing

  • Xerx3s #37 7 years ago

    err PS2 & XBOX eh? So basically your saying, it will only be worth playing on the XBOX because the PS2 has shit grafs that they dont even dare to show and it lacks other interesting stuff. Ahh, what a supprise, €A is in the loop.

  • Feanor #38 7 years ago

    Who are you talking to and what are you talking about?

  • #39 7 years ago

    sounds like hype. give me vids.

  • phAge #40 7 years ago

    You sure it wasn't pre-rendered?

    \o)

  • krudster #41 7 years ago

    It *was* the PS2 version we saw.

  • green_nifta #42 7 years ago

    Quote tiddles:
    "green_nifta - devkits have the option to output screenshots
    in high resolution (for magazine scans and the like)... just
    because the shots are in a high resolution format, it
    doesn't mean that it's not in-game footage (although the
    game itself obviously never runs that high)."

    Yes, but basically, it *isn't* in-game footage since a retail PS2 unit can't output these images. You won't see these images on your TV when you're playing a game since TVs runs at 640x480 (NTSC) / 640x512 (PAL). Showing a "screenshot" at 1024x768 is plain wrong.

    I'm sure a PS2 could probably do 4xAnti-Aliasing or AIF too (as there seems to be in these "screenshots";), but it'd run at 1 frame a second. You could generate screenshots from that too, but that doesn't make it in-game footage.

  • The-Bodybuilder #43 7 years ago

    >"This and Shadow of Collusus (and GoW)."

    You do know that GoW (as in gears of war) is next gen, right?

  • krudster #44 7 years ago

    GOD of War!

  • Royal Fool #45 7 years ago

    And no PC version. Clever.

  • HarryB #46 7 years ago

    TOTALLY, LIKE, WHOAAAAAH DUDE

  • krudster #47 7 years ago

    Anyone doubting how good Black will look only needs to fire up a copy of Burnout 2 or 3 to know what Criterion is capable of. Extend that level of graphical fidelity to an FPS and that's basically what you're getting. I had trouble believing it was running on a PS2, but it was. The sooner a video comes out to prove the doubters wrong the better, but if I was working at Criterion, I probably wouldn't want all my competitors to see it either.

  • Juriel #48 7 years ago

    Sounds fun.
    Would be better on PC.

  • HarryB #49 7 years ago

    why? people need to realise fps is a console genre too

  • Scimarad #50 7 years ago

    Dammit Eurogamer, there you go again being stupidly fooled into thinking the PS2 is actually worth bothering with - You are so transparently biased towards Sony:-)

  • #51 7 years ago

    Hmm looks like a good shooter,but it looks like its been made with the PS2 in mind, The xbox version will look a little sharper and loading will be a little quicker and thats it, with halflife 2 and with the shooters we have now for xbox this is going to have to be the tattooed jesus!

  • krudster #52 7 years ago

    ;)

  • valli #53 7 years ago

    I heard that the "PS2 demo" was rolling on PC dev kits equipped with dual GeForce 6800 cards, backed up by a SGI graphics workstation, is it true? If so, $ON¥ are lying to us AGAIN!

  • phAge #54 7 years ago

    You kids are SO 5 hours ago...

  • stormcr0wfleet #55 7 years ago

    this looks very intresting :). think i will get it for the xbox for the extra little bit more power it has over a ps2. but why is this coming out 2006 on xbox and not on x360!?.

  • stoopidgreg #56 7 years ago

    so... no comment on the gameplay then; it's just all lush graphics and explosions?

  • krudster #57 7 years ago

    Difficult to comment on gameplay when we didn't get to play it!

  • crashVoodoo #58 7 years ago

    ... but why is this coming out 2006 on xbox and not on x360!? ...

    if it can be run on current gen boxes and plays & looks as nifty as the EG lot make it out to what would you do ?

    appeal to the already substantial userbase of current gen xbox players (and their wallets/purses) or alienate all of them for the smaller amount of peeps (and their wallets/purses) that have just upgraded to an x360 ?

    personally i'd don't care whether it comes out on my current xbox or the next one, if the gameplay is there, hell even if its just plain fuckin fun, count me in


    cVo
    Edited by 2 at 03/06/05 @ 08:52

  • spindizzy #59 7 years ago

    Krudster - I admire your patience and tact. ;-)

  • krudster #60 7 years ago

    Goes with the territory...

  • Teeth #61 7 years ago

    I wish people would stop inserting currency symbols into company names, it's getting really farcical now.

  • spindizzy #62 7 years ago

    Krudster - I guess so. I still find it impressive because reading these threads I feel like banging my head against the wall.

    Probably a good thing you're the journalist and I'm the one mucking about with particle accelerators that will shortly create a black hole and destroy us all*)

    *Probably not, but y'know, it MIGHT happen( ;-)

  • spindizzy #63 7 years ago

    Forgot to mention that anything from the team that gave us Burnouts 1 and 2 (oh go on, BO3 as well, even if I didn't like it myself), *HAS* to be given the benefit of the doubt. Plus Alex Ward used to hang out on the Edge forums, and seemed like a top bloke.
    Personally I'm extremely excited about this.

    And how's this for an idea? They should put the DJ from BO3 into the game as an enemy character. Imagine the sheer JOY of shooting out the struts of a building and dropping 400 tons of rubble on him? They make that possible and I'll pre-order the game right now! ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 03/06/05 @ 10:13

  • green_nifta #64 7 years ago

    I've no doubt the game looks spangly and uber-lovely, but it's just the fact that the "screenshots" they've released are technically not possible on a PS2, not even with 'clever coding'(tm). They're renders. PS2 doesn't go that hi-res! And, more importantly, neither can your TV.

  • valli #65 7 years ago

    green_nifta, most devs do that. It's the game engine drawing (I don't want to say rendering, that would confuse you) the screen at a higher resolution, nothing else. It's done mostly for print but they send it to everyone these days.

    They've been doing it since Jak & Daxter, if you look for 2D-elements, such as interface details, HUDs, etc. you'll see that they are simply scaled up and pixelated.

  • green_nifta #66 7 years ago

    Indeed, I know how they're generated (captured directly from the frame buffer) (and I do understand the difference between pre-rendered and real-time rendering, so don't worry about confusing me and needing to use words like 'draw'! :D ), it still irks me incredibly that they're passed off as 'in-game graphics' when they truly aren't. They're produced by the rendering engine, but not in its 'game mode', and they don't reflect what the game will look like running in real-time.

    They're obviously running several anti-aliasing passes on these shots as well by the smoothness of edges, effects which are very unlikely to be capable and still hold 30fps (or whatever the game ends up at).

    A PS2 can bosh out a WONDERFUL looking still image. But getting a game to look the same when played is a different kettle of fish entirely.

  • krudster #67 7 years ago

    As I keep repeating, sod the screen shots, wait for the video and then prepare to haul your jaw up off the floor.

  • green_nifta #68 7 years ago


    After your site's "wow, this is so cool" response to the PS3 'Game Demos' shown at E3 I think I'll wait to see videos of Black being played for an objective view of what it really looks like, not some snazzy promo video generated by the marketing-services department at EA.

    Hoping that it does truly rock though.

  • krudster #69 7 years ago

    You're right to think that game promo videos are generally pretty hard to trust, but even a blind monkey could make Black look good. Still, you won't have long to wait.

  • Blerk #70 7 years ago

    When's the vid arriving then, Kristan? I've only been waiting since last E3 to see what's so special about this one. :-)

  • krudster #71 7 years ago

    Dunno, I keep prodding Criterion about it, but so far no joy. I'm sure they'll show it off in their own sweet time. Sooner rather than later, but I suspect there's all sorts of official mag exclusivity and all that jazz.
    Edited by 1 at 03/06/05 @ 16:07

  • Blerk #72 7 years ago

    Bah. Curse those dreary print rags!

  • 3william56 #73 7 years ago

    You can see why Sony had to make the PS3 such a monster of a machine - its the only way to rid the internet of idiots who still whine on about PS2 graphics. But if BO3, Transformers and God of War (supposedly) hasn't shut them up, I doubt if even this mighty effort will. Oh well, we can hope.

    But hell, if this is what they can do with raw talent now, what are these boys going to do with a 360 or PS3 once they get it fired up to the same level? Ay carumba!

  • Uber_gamer #74 6 years ago

    i cant wait for the video
    and i am definetly adding this to the buy list!!!!!!!

  • majestic #75 5 years ago

    just.....awesome