Black Member Review for the Xbox

Now, before I start this review I have say that I am in love with firearms. They are the epitome of fun, awesome, and both combined (funsome?).  And when I heard about this game I almost shite myself three times, and then was both pleased and disappointed after playing Black.

It's a good game, there's no denying that. Your character doesn't move too slow or too fast, the guns look freakin' amazing, and the graphics (especially the guns) look great. On the M249, what appears to be a light machine gun of medium caliber (I looked and said 7.62mm immediately, but I could be wrong), the bullets on the belt actually move every step. The bullet spread is good, the uzi and the Ak47 both have different spread at different distances at different rpms (rounds per minute).  However, I was more than a little disheartened when a wee submachine has eighty bullets in what isn't even an extended clip (I'm looking at you Uzi). Of course, the telescopic sight for the Walther sniper rifle was more accurate for a military sniper rifle than just the crosshairs that are commonly seen. Another thing (and this is just the gun-freak in me speaking) that bothered me was how it classified ammunition. 'Assault Rifle Ammo' was designated to the whopping three (maybe four) assault rifles in the entire game, when the M16 runs off of 5.56mm ammunition and the AK47 operates on 7.62mm ammunition. Maybe I'm being a little too picky here, though.

What really bugs me though is how many bullets it takes to actually drop someone. I mean, if it isn't a headshot it isn't an instant kill (only the shotguns (of which there are two) and the 'magnum' (which I believe to be a Taurus Raging Bull, a very, very powerful revolver) and the sniper rifle defy this rule). Of course, eventually I became used to this and merely compensated by keeping the trigger down until I heard the click of an empty mag. Firepower doesn't seem to mean much in this game, and a beast like the M249 is often not as good as the uzi (when you have an insane rate of fire, a massive magazine, and a spread that will cover an entire hallway you basically are carrying the hand of god himself, if god's hand could shoot bullets that is) unless you have to shoot at a distance.

I never really ever did understand the story, and the little clips between each mission was painful until I learned I could skip past them. And while the missions were favorably long, there weren't enough of them. Plus, I wasn't too fond of the outdoor enviroments. This game is a corridor crawler, and should be proud of it.

All-in-all, the missions were fun. The guns look beautiful, shoot like a dream, but don't have any knock-down power against the practically superhuman enemies you face. The firefights get so hectic you can actually be pulled into them, and every well-placed grenade will give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside. I don't really use multiplayer much (unless I don't have to be on the second player's team, I generally am not too fond of multiplayer) and don't have xbox live, so the fact that there is no multiplayer didn't really bother me too much either. A good game, just not great.