Criterion's shooter "black" - impressions inside!

[Phil]

Black is a first-person shooter currently in development at UK-based Criterion, the company responsible for the outstanding Burnout series of racing games, and the purveyors of the RenderWare engine found used in everything from Burnout 2 to Grand Theft Auto III. The company has no previous experience making first-person shooters, but as design director Alex Ward explains, the company views that as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. Rather than strictly adhere to the conventions of the genre as most first-person shooters do, the makers of Black are starting at ground zero, bearing in mind a few key, detail-oriented design philosophies--namely, that the shooting aspect of a first-person shooter needs to be exceptionally intense and satisfying above all else.

But let's back up for a moment. Black is still very early in development for the PlayStation 2 (an Xbox version is also planned) and will not ship any earlier than late 2005. It will be a modern-day first-person shooter, featuring authentic weapons and locations, and its main character will be an American soldier battling other, American opponents in Eastern Europe. Alex Ward cited television shows 24 and Alias as inspiration for the game's story, which should be a gritty and plausible techno-thriller--so expect Black to be a serious, mature-themed game. Criterion didn't talk about the specific features of the game, dismissing the entire notion of early talks about multiplayer options and things like that, and instead opted to focus on the game's core look and feel.

What they actually showed us behind closed doors at E3 was basically a shooting gallery, in which we had the opportunity to test out several weapons--a pistol, an assault rifle, and a shotgun--against a few foes. No artificial intelligence had been implemented as yet, and the sequence was not predicated by any story elements. So what was so great about it? The fact that the deafeningly loud gunfire affected the environment in a manner far more spectacular than we've seen in any shooter to date. Criterion acknowledged that what the developers are attempting to do with Black is to capture the sheer, gut-wrenching drama of intense Hollywood gunfights. That means, as bullets all hit their mark, they do what you'd expect bullets to do from growing up watching action movies--cause debris, dust, and smoke to spray every which way, glass to shatter all over the place, or maybe sometimes ricochet and hit something that the player wasn't even aiming at. The logic goes like this: In Black, missing one's target ought to be as thrilling as actually hitting one's target.

At any rate, we were able to blast all the masonry off of walls, crush the letters off of large signs, blow doors off of hinges, shatter car windshields and headlights and blow their tires, ricochet bullets off of steel gratings, and more. The destruction remained; the bodies did not fade away, and shell casings littered the floor along with all the bullet holes from errant fire. And the intensity of the visuals was met if not exceeded by the sound. Gunfire was exceptionally loud and clear. The sound of bullets striking all the various types of surfaces was pronounced and realistic. After gunfire ceased, we could hear the fire echoing way off in the distance for several long moments.

The result of all this? We had more fun playing what was simply a technology demo than we've had playing most of the other games we've tried so far at E3. It's just that simple. You get the feel of the action down right, and build everything up around that. The Criterion developers take a straightforward, even humble approach when talking about this. But from seeing their technology in action, we can add one important note--their talent must be extraordinary. If other game developers could pull this type of thing off, they would.

We did notice that some of the apparently realistic physics on display in the demo were in fact scripted sequences set up to be triggered by our fire. At any rate, though, the demonstration level was still very impressive indeed. Now all Criterion has to do is build a game around it--but from what we've seen of the company's past work, we're fairly confident that they'll pull something off that's well worth playing. After all, it already is. Unfortunately, no screens or video on Black is available at this time, so you'll just have to take our word for what we've reported here (or not, if you like). But we certainly hope to bring you more on this game as it develops.

Not sure where the impressions are from... I'm guessing either Gamespot or IGN. In any case, it sounds very promising indeed....

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Another FPS with an Eastern European setting... are we considered to be so exotic or what?

 

[archie4oz]

Sounds like IGN, I think I remember reading this before...

 

[Fafalada]

Another FPS with an Eastern European setting... are we considered to be so exotic or what?

For Americans, Yurop is that place where dragons still live. So I'd assume that's pretty exotic

 

[kaching]

That's Gamespot's impressions. IGN's are similar.

 

[Legion]

Another FPS with an Eastern European setting... are we considered to be so exotic or what?

For Americans, Yurop is that place where dragons still live. So I'd assume that's pretty exotic

What exactly is that supposed to mean? Europe has carried with it a long history of fairy tales and myths which have served as the basis of conveying numerous issues. I would think the appreciation would be a compliment.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Another FPS with an Eastern European setting... are we considered to be so exotic or what?

For Americans, Yurop is that place where dragons still live. So I'd assume that's pretty exotic

You mean there are no dragons there in the US? Too bad...


But I'm really interested. Why not a game set in Germany, the UK or France? Italy?

 

[London Geezer]

Another FPS with an Eastern European setting... are we considered to be so exotic or what?

For Americans, Yurop is that place where dragons still live. So I'd assume that's pretty exotic

What exactly is that supposed to mean? Europe has carried with it a long history of fairy tales and myths which have served as the basis of conveying numerous issues. I would think the appreciation would be a compliment.

It was a joke. By the way, Europe has seen so many legends and religions and wars and whatever, we would have material for ANYTHING (be it movies, games, books) for the next millennium.

 

[Deepak]

It was a joke. By the way, Europe has seen so many legends and religions and wars and whatever, we would have material for ANYTHING (be it movies, games, books) for the next millennium.

But it pales in comparison to ASIA...

 

[Fafalada]

But I'm really interested. Why not a game set in Germany, the UK or France? Italy?

Didn't you read? It's American soldier battling American enemies. You can't have him fight allies
Eastern Europe's association with communism and thus the enemies of the free world is still strong enough - what better setting for an FPS story.
Ok ok I'll stop now

I would think the appreciation would be a compliment.

It was just a silly jest. Although it could be pointed out that modern action stories tend to 'use' certain parts of the worlds as a common source of badguys, and it'd be hard to argue that's really a compliment (not saying this game is like that mind you).

 

[Nick Laslett]

Criterion are very fortunate that "Killzone" got all the Halo beater hype.

It can only fail to live up to these expectations.

Whereas 'Black' does not have all the hype baggage.

This title will blow Killzone out of the water.

I first knew of the existance of "Black", back in September 2001, when Edge magazine visited Criterion to preview Burnout 1. They mentioned this other mysterious title Criterion were developing.

In the following years, various hints were dropped about their secret title. I was lucky enough to visit Criterion in the March '03, and they talked excitedly about this secret project, even then.

There is a lot of development time that has gone into 'Black", it's not due to arrive until autumn '05. Criterion will be pushing the PS2 technology very hard, they were one of the first Western codeshops to get development kits, they know the beast very well. Looking at what they squeezed out of the PS2 in '02 with Burnout 2, makes me very excited about what they can achieve with "Black" in '05.

For Xbox owners Fable & Halo 2 are their dream titles.

For GC, it is Zelda and Metroid Prime 2.

For me, a PS2 owner it has been "Black" for an awful long time. (Do a search on my name here and you will see in my first ever post a B3D I am talking about Archangel aka Black.)

 

[AlNom]

I await the xbox port 8)

 

[moe-mole]

Nick - do you know anything about the technology they're using to simulate such apparently general, and persistant, environment destruction? The really impressive aspect is that it sounds so so general..I can't imagine they're coming up with special case code for each type of object.

 

[marconelly!]

I await the xbox port

Fall 2005 on PS2? You might 'await' for the Xbox 2 port more likely

 

[Nick Laslett]

Criterion are very commercially astute.

They orginally offered Burnout 1 as a launch title for Xbox, but Microsoft declined to take up the offer.

The deal with Acclaim was just for marketing & distribution.

Criterion finance their software development 100% in house.

I believe that Criterion bought MathsEngine in 2002 to incoporate into Renderware. They are just trying implement the next logical step in physics and deformable environments.

 

[megateto]

Isn't this a perfect example of hype building?

Just some very short impressions (gameplay impressions, I know that it is important, with no real level), no screens, no art, no nothing.. and it is the best next thing. Can we trust those journalists?

I'm still waiting for Killzone, btw.

 

[pc999]

Just a bit...

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=55612

 

[zurich]

I thought the only reason this game was significant was because of its graphics (of which there are no screen shots).

I agree about the hype bit - almost makes me want to boycott Killzone.

 

[Deepak]

Yesterday I read about Black (in Gamespot I think), the writer compares it to HL2 and says something like it being HL2 of PS2...now that sounds too much.

 

[London Geezer]

Yesterday I read about Black (in Gamespot I think), the writer compares it to HL2 and says something like it being HL2 of PS2...now that sounds too much.

:| Jak&Daxter was supposed to be PS2's "Mario"...

Killzone is suposed to be PS2's "Halo"...

Splinter Cell was Xbox's "MGS"...

PGR was Xbox's "GT"...

They will always use that kind of hype-building expressions... I decided to ignore them a long time ago...