Black

Black is a first-person shooter for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game is notable for its heavily stylized cinema-inspired action.

The game was released on February 24, 2006 in Europe and on February 28, 2006 in the United States. A demo was released January 18, 2006. On February 11, 2008 Black was released for the Xbox 360's Xbox Originals download service.

Criterion Games have been recruiting developers to work on their next project titled Black: Second Mission, which contradicts their statement earlier that there are "no plans" for a sequel.

Story

Black takes place in Chechnya (Near Western Russia), placing the player in the shoes of a "black ops" soldier named Sergeant First Class Jack Kellar (portrayed by Marty Papazian). Kellar tells most of the story in first-person at an interrogation four days after the events in the story begin.

Kellar is an inadequately disciplined member of a CIA black ops group and a veteran of several conflicts including Guatemala, Colombia, Iran and Croatia. The unknown interrogator (portrayed by Paul Pape) questions Kellar about an arms smuggling and terrorist operation called the Seventh Wave. Seventh Wave have been responsible for a number of terrorist attacks. Kellar is told that, unless he co-operates, he and his actions will be declassified, he will be dishonorably discharged and imprisoned for life. Though initially resistant, Kellar at last agrees to tell his story.

Four days earlier, Kellar and his group were assaulting a Seventh Wave strong-hold in the city of Veblensk. Kellar kills three high-ranking members of the cell but then disobeys orders by rushing inside a terrorist controlled building, where a terrorist ambushes him. However, the man did not kill Kellar, who learns that his captor is an American, a former CIA wetworks operative, William Lennox. After faking his own death in Cairo, Lennox has apparently become the leader of Seventh Wave.

Kellar's next mission is to cross the border into Treneska and traverse the Vlodnik Canal, destroy a base and weapons cache, then meet a female black ops soldier named MacCarver (voiced by Cree Summer), the leader of black ops Team Bravo, at a farmhouse. Things did not go as planned; however, Kellar defends and clears the farmhouse and later meets MacCarver.

Kellar and MacCarver begin a mission to destroy an arms factory in the city of Naszran. To safely complete the mission they must navigate an old graveyard and town, both heavily defended. After doing so, they assault the town's iron foundry, destroying its productive capacity. The two black operatives then meet a third member of the team, Solomon.

The next operation resumes the search for the Seventh Wave leader Valencio, who has recently sheltered in an abandoned asylum. After destroying all resistance, Kellar again disobeys orders and tortures Valencio for information on Lennox.

Based on information gathered from the mission, Team Bravo has proceeded to a dockyard, cleared the area and linked up with Alpha Team. Alpha Team, however, is destroyed in an ambush while Lennox escapes. As a result, the operation is cancelled as too risky. MacCarver, however, dupes Kellar and Solomon into a continued pursuit of Lennox.

The team finds Lennox's location in an abandoned gulag. They must cross a suspension bridge littered with mines and defended by RPG- and machine gun-carrying guards. After successfully navigating the bridge, Kellar enters the gulag alone, while Solomon and MacCarver stay behind to secure the perimeter. After a surface battle, Kellar uncovers a bunker system beneath the prison. A long battle with Lennox's elite bodyguards ensues, ending with Lennox's apparent death.

The interrogator then reveals to Kellar that authorities had, in fact, always known of Lennox's involvement in Seventh Wave. Kellar had acted predictably, doing what his profile said he would, and his pursuit of Lennox was both expected and welcome - and that Lennox is not yet dead. Kellar is told that a false "death" has been arranged for him, providing cover so he can continue his pursuit. The game ends with Kellar being told to get ready for his next assignment.

Gameplay

The gameplay is essentially a straight forward first person shooter. Players can only carry two weapons at a time; therefore, strategy is needed when choosing weaponry, with weapons differing in characteristics. The player can also carry grenades, which can be thrown without switching weapons. Land mines and grenades can be detonated prematurely by shooting them.

The game is mission-based, with each mission separated by a cut scene video. On harder difficulties, there are more objectives that must be completed before the player can progress. These extra objectives involved collecting various intelligence documents, blue prints, or destroying parts of the environment. These are all indicated by the HUD cross-hair changing color when the player points at the relevant object.