Okay, where do I start? This game has been at the centre of hype for almost two years now. Developed by Criterion, the geniuses who revolutionised the arcade racing genre with their Burnout series, gamers have long had their AKs crossed in the hope that Black would do the same for first person shooters. Long story short; it has.

Black is a constant barrage of in-your-face shooting, destruction and absolute fun. This game never, ever has a dull moment. The straight-up, no-holds-barred action is the best I've seen on a current generation console to date. The only factors that let it down are its very short campaign and lack of multiplayer.

The game's story is presented in brief cut scenes with actual actors rather than CG animation, something rarely done in a console game. While the acting obviously isn't Hollywood-quality and there isn't any actual action in the cut scenes, they work very well and are interesting enough while being short and sweet so that players can get back down to the action quickly. You play elite soldier Jack Keller and the game starts off with Jack being interrogated by some sort of government official. As Jack reveals the story of his mission to take out a terrorist syndicate known as Seventh Wave and its leader, Lennox, the game presents you with flashbacks set from Jack's point of view - these flashbacks act as Black's levels. Overall, there isn't a whole lot to the story, as the game's focus is more on action after all, but a little more substance would have been good - especially for the game's almost painfully brief ending.

That aside, the meat of the game of course lies in the shooting, and Black delivers exceptionally on nearly all fronts. This is a game that strays indefinitely from the often-used duck-and-shoot mechanics of today's shooters, instead opting for a more frantic shoot-all-that-moves experience. That's not to say that cover isn't important, because it definitely is. Wherever you are, you're going to want some sort of cover, even if only from one side, because the moment you're in plain sight you are going to be shot at. Though the enemy AI is a bit iffy at times, with enemies sometimes running into oncoming fire, taking cover in odd places, or simply just standing in one spot, there will never be a moment in Black where you won't be hit, it's that simple. So to reduce the number of times you're shot, hiding behind things like crates, cars or pillars is a must. Cover is there to be utilised for as long as it's still standing.

Which brings me to Black's big selling point: the destructibility of the environment. Wherever you are in the game, things will blow up, things will fall down and enemies will die as a result. A large portion of the objects scattered around Black's levels are either destructible or combustible, allowing for some very exciting firefights, with many options available for wasting your opponents. Enemy behind a crate? Shoot it to pieces. Enemy a behind car? Blow it up. Enemy firing rockets at you from a fifth story window? Blow up the air conditioning unit under him and watch him fly out of the window as his ammo explodes. There isn't an experience like this to be found on any other console shooter. And thanks to a relatively vast amount of spare ammunition lying around and dropped by enemies, you'll never have to worry much about conserving bullets, meaning that you're free to unload just as many bullets on the environment as you do on your enemies.

These explosive moments aren't just scattered sparingly around Black's eight levels, either. They're everywhere. From start to finish, the shooting action comes hard and fast, with absolutely no pointless filler. The only level that has any slower-paced moments is the second level, the Treneska Border Crossing, which begins in a forest area and is relatively sparse in terms of firefights, but Criterion is forgiven for that one, because it's just as much fun as the others, thanks to a great atmosphere and an eventual lead up to lots more action! The only apparent problem with the constant amount of great action going on in Black is that there aren't really any standout moments; it's all pretty much perfect, so there's nothing that will really make you go "Whoa! That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" after you've been playing for around half an hour.

Another great thing about the destructiblity of the environments is that there are always multiple ways to tackle a level, be it hidden buildings that contain extra supplies or even a completely different route through an area. For example, in the Treneska Border Crossing, there are caves on both sides of the level, each containing extra ammo, health and enemies. One even leads you past a section of the forest and closer to your target. Another example is the Nazran Foundry mission, where at one point you're presented with two options; take the left path and shoot your way through the first floor of a building, or take the ramp straight to the second floor. The latter would seem like the better option, until you notice the number of enemies and lack of cover. Never fear, though, as shooting down a shelving unit nearby causes a number of cylinders to roll down and crush a few of your enemies, making the path all the much more manageable. The variety of weapons is also great, with numerous forms of SMG, assault rifle and handgun, plus sniper rifles, grenades and the all-important RPG. Each gun has its own range, power and amount of recoil, and given the ability to hold two guns with which to switch to at will, you'll always be well equipped in any given situation.

Things like this help to extend the game's replay value, as you're not likely to see absolutely everything on your first play through and replay value is something that is very necessary, due to Black's campaign only lasting around five to six hours, and a complete lack of multiplayer. That's right, this is an FPS with absolutely no form of multiplayer! No deathmatch, no co-op, nothing. But you know what? That's all right with me, because it keeps the focus on the great single player action, which was obviously Criterion's intention. Though a couple more levels and perhaps some sort of co-operative play would have heightened Black's appeal, it's honestly just fine the way it is, especially when you consider that Black manages to pack more action into six hours than most game manage in double that. Besides, it leaves plenty of possibilities for Black 2!

One thing Black does have in spades is visual appeal. From the detailed and expansive environments to the absolutely spectacular explosions, everything looks top notch. Black utilises a fairly impressive physics engine for a console game - explosions send objects and bodies flying in every direction, complete with full ragdoll physics. Destruction looks brilliant, with chunks being taken out of pillars and walls being blown to pieces. Effects like light bloom and volumetric lighting, though not in full swing due to the restricted power of current-gen consoles, help to create a perfect atmosphere and add greatly to the eye candy. The particle effects are without a doubt the most impressive aspect; there's nothing like the experience of a virtual firefight where sparks and dust fly into the air as a result of every single bullet fired at any time. The pure visual joy of numerous awesome explosions and environmental substance filling the air for every living moment is unmatched on any other console game. Period. Another thing to be noted is the guns, which look terrific. Gun models are extravagantly detailed and reload animations are perfect, with a cool focal blur effect happening with each reload, just to put focus on the gun itself.

Most astoundingly, all of this is achieved with very little noticeable slowdown and when it does happen, the game actually adopts a sort of slow-motion effect rather than the framerate simply throwing a fit, which definitely helps. The Xbox version of Black also fares a little better than the PS2 version in this respect.

Just as impressive as the visual aspect of Black is the audio. The soundtrack has to be one of the best in a game to date and custom soundtracks are also supported. The sound effects, meanwhile, simply outdo anything on the Xbox thus far. Each weapon sounds fantastically realistic and various effects like ricochets and impacts have more than one effect associated with them, making sure that nothing sounds repetitive. Voice acting, though infrequent, is great and never detracts from the experience. Black begs to be played in surround sound, thanks to the Xbox's 5.1 capabilities - there's just nothing like it! One final aspect that must be mentioned is Black's controls, which are wonderful; they're simple enough to make the game very accessible while still being functional and tight. The Xbox controller was made for this game, no two ways about it.

Black is something that should not be missed; its shortcomings are overwhelmed entirely by pure, unrelenting fun from beginning to end, with enough multiple routes on the levels to warrant at least a couple of plays through. I won't spoil the ending, save to say that there has to be a sequel in the works. Looking at how much Criterion has managed to improve the Burnout formula over the years, I for one can't wait!

Reviewed by Kieron Bosveld for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).