Sergeant Kellar certainly doesn't have it easy. Not only does the poor man earn his living hunting terrorists across the globe, risking his life every day in the process, but the protagonist of the first-person shooter Black has now been captured by his own men and is facing interrogation for his recent activities against the terrorist organization "Seventh Wave." During this interrogation, he has disobeyed orders more than once.

The cutscenes depicting this interrogation drive the plot forward. Appealingly, the video sequences weren't pre-rendered, but filmed with real actors. The actual gameplay takes place in flashbacks and depicts the events that led to the protagonist's arrest.

Unfortunately, developer Criterion planned its shooter Black to be split into two parts, the second of which never saw release. Therefore, the game ends with a cliffhanger just when Sgt. Kellar seems to have gotten very close to the people behind Seventh Wave.

Fortunately, the depth of the plot never goes beyond "Sargeant Kellar is sent to location X to stop Seventh Wave's project Y." Therefore, the whole drama surrounding the unfinished story is somewhat less serious than it initially sounds. Nevertheless, it shouldn't go unmentioned, as an incomplete plot naturally always leaves the player somewhat dissatisfied.

The developers' main focus in Black wasn't on creating the most complex plot possible, but rather on the bombastic staging of the otherwise very "old-school" shooter gameplay, which demands neither vehicle sequences nor stealth elements. Not even the familiar, cheerful button-mashing is required in Black; instead, you simply have to reach the end of the level. Depending on the selected difficulty level, a certain number of secret documents must be found or certain objects destroyed.

This sounds like the usual shooter routine, and strictly speaking, Black is nothing different in terms of gameplay: shooting until the end of the level.

What keeps the keen shooter fan interested until the final sequence, however, is how Black presents itself. This is already positively noticeable in the first mission, when shortly after the level begins, the first building explodes and shortly thereafter, the player himself brings down a church steeple. Overall, it's remarkable what the developers at Criterion have managed to squeeze out of the PS2 hardware in terms of graphical fireworks.

Powerful explosions alternate with impressive smoke, light, and fire effects. Only some ground textures — particularly what's supposed to represent "grass" — fall a bit short.

However, there's a partially destructible environment that, thanks to the nonstop action, reduces some sections of the game to rubble and ash. This makes the indefinable mud on the ground less noticeable.

Somewhat more annoying are a few of the sloppy enemy animations. While they're excellent in close combat and appear buttery smooth, in a firefight at greater distances, it becomes apparent that some performance has been compromised: For example, when hit from a distance, the enemies move jerkily, as if some intermediate movements were missing. But given the rest of the effects Criterion has delivered in a PlayStation 2 game, this is certainly excusable.

The sound coding, on the other hand, isn't even faulted in detail. It's excellent: screaming enemies, fierce muzzle flashes, and massive explosions will make the gaming room shake if desired. The music pieces chosen for the game are also impressive. Although they repeat from time to time during a section, they skillfully underline the gameplay and create a pleasant sense of drama during the firefights.

The gameplay, as mentioned at the beginning, is limited to the bare essentials of a first-person shooter. The actual mission objectives may be titled "Reach the border" or "Find this or that person," but essentially, you only have to reach the end of the level. To fend off the followers of "Seventh Wave," Sgt. Kellar draws on a rich and modern arsenal of weapons, ranging from submachine guns and Uzis to shotguns and AKs and even a rocket launcher. The only somewhat odd design decision is that our character can neither hop nor open doors in the conventional way. So, our hero has to run around even the smallest raised object instead of simply jumping over it. If he finds himself in front of a locked door, it can only be opened with the help of a pump-action shotgun or grenades.

A strange but explosive game design!

BLACK is a solid action roar that fully exploits the PS2's technical capabilities and largely overcomes its dated gameplay with its superb production. Action fans will be well catered for here!

I can see why it's necessary to use force to open a locked door—that makes sense. After all, the enemies want to keep us out. Of course, they lock the door. But the fact that Black's protagonist is incapable of climbing over even the smallest of elevations creates unnecessary walking.