Games you've recently finished

I completed Black, and not but a day after I bought it, and feel it worthy of review.

The premise isn't really any different from most other first person shooters since the guts of the game lay in killing endless numbers of soldiers with a plethora of weapons, so Black is far from revolutionizing the genre. The story isn't the game's strong point since it is told in snippets between each mission, performed with live actors with obviously subbed voices. Still, it is enough to leave you with a sense of purpose to continue the game to it's abrupt end. Sgt. Keller, one of an elite force "working" for the government, is given the job to hunt down a traitor who has been leading terrorist attacks across the globe.

Graphics - B+
Black makes a good first impression with having strong detail in your environments and the events occuring around you. Explosions, debris thrown up from gun battles, all look very nice. The weapons are exceptionally detailed, hence some people saying this game is like porn for gun enthusiests. However, the enemies and few allies you see aren't as detailed or unique, but are passabe since you don't ever need to focus on them unless you're aiming to kill.

Music - B-
Nothing stunning here. A good arrangement of brass and string instruments to lend a sense of urgency when needed and to enhance the mood when slaughtering the masses.

Story - C-
Since we're only given a bare bones plot to follow during the course of the game, it's easy to completely forget it between missions. Since the action is all in fighting, clearly it isn't meant to be our priority when getting this game.

Controls - A
The controls are very simple and easy to remember, never forcing you to hesitate longer than half a second to perform an action.

Replayability - D
Since the game offers no multiplayer feature and no online play, there is only the missions you completed to play again on different levels of difficulty. You can unlock silver versions of your guns for unlimited ammo, but that's hardly a reason to play through the game more than twice. Once the initial awe wears out, it's nothing special to play.

End Result - B
It is an above-par shooter and certainly isn't bogged down by any technical problems or details, yet it isn't quite worth the forty bucks it sells for. Either rent it if you want the experience, or wait until it goes classic and snatch it for twenty bucks, assuming it ever gets there.

Jam it back in, in the dark.