Black & White is an almost impossible game to describe. Where do you start with a game that enables you to control a god who battles not in blood and gore, but who attempts to convert 'worshipers' and villagers to 'believe' in you? There are so many elements that combine to make this game such an addictive and extraordinary experience that they cannot all be described in a few paragraphs. At times, so many things occur at once in Black & White that it seems overwhelming. Nevertheless, as a reviewer I have to describe it as best as I can, and all reviews have to start somewhere.
Black & White's basic premise involves a new-born god who has come to a world known simply as Eden. This god arrives on Eden as result of a mother and father begging for a higher power to save their drowning son. You arrive and in time to change their son's doomed fate. The trio then lead you to their village and ask that you watch over them. (This is where you come in.) As this god, it is up to you to expand the people's belief in you. To do this, you must use your abilities as a god to influence the life of these humble villagers and others.
But there are other gods out there who are reaching for the same goal as you, some being your allies while others are your enemies. You must overcome the enemy gods and help your allies overcome their struggles. No matter what, you must do whatever is necessary to have more worshippers invest faith in you. You can do this in two ways: acting as good or evil. If you choose good, by giving into the people's needs and wants, your worshippers will accept you and worship you out of kindness. Although, if you decide to take the path to the dark side, by literally making the villager's lives complete hell, your avid-followers will only bow down to you out of fear. The choice is yours and that's what makes you feel as if you actually have a part in something and you're not just proceeding through the game as the developers intended for you to.
Luckily, you're not alone in this challenge. Early in the game you gain the help of a 'creature'. Your creature is basically the physical form of yourself and is influenced by your actions. (It can also go toe-to-toe against other creatures.) If you do something, it will too. Other than learning from what you do, your creature will mold its behavior on what you intend for it. If your creature eats a certain type of food and you slap it, your creature will eat that food less. On the other hand, if you kindly play with the creature, it will learn to eat the food more often. You are also given three leashes at the start of the game. The leashes enable you to gain direct control over your creatures and allow you to attach it to a tree like a dog tied to a spike in the ground. Your creature also ages and in time grows to an enormous size.
Where would a god be without his magical powers? There are spells in the game known as 'miracles'. These miracles come in many variations and are used to gain beliefs. There are the one-shot miracles, which are essentially one-time use only, and there are the standard miracles, which you gain by having your villagers worship you at your worship site. A way to use these miracles is by Black & White's "gesture system". Basically a gesture is a symbol you perform with the mouse control. You look in the corner and get a summary of what spell corresponds to what symbol and you move your mouse in relation to the symbol. It's a nice shortcut from having to go back to your town center every time you want to use a miracle.
In every game there has to be a way to push the story along. In the world of Black & White, you'll find gold scrolls and silver 'reward' scrolls. The gold scrolls continue the story and basically serve as your objectives through the game. Completing these gold scrolls pulls you further along. Then there are the silver reward scrolls. These are basically optional objectives, which when complete, give you a reward as the name implies. The rewards are usually just one-shot miracles and, most of the time, are not worth the task required to claim them. On the other hand, some of the silver scroll can be pretty fun and worthwhile tasks to embark on.
Other than the basics, there are some really amazing features that don't directly involve gameplay that you can take advantage of along the way. You can turn on an option so that Eden's weather reflects your weather conditons. Meaning, if it's raining outside, it's raining in game. There is also another cool thing you can enable which lets Black & White take your Outlook Express address book and automatically name your villagers after your contacts. If you get an e-mail from one of these people, a text box will pop up over said villager and it will display the message. Small details like this are what puts Black & White's innovativeness and creativity over the edge and beyond your normal PC game.
Unfortunately, the multiplayer is lacking. While it is nice to play against real people, usually there are not many multiplayer games in play. If you do get into one, multiplayer can be a long, tedious, and sometimes downright boring affair. Without the story and gold/silver scrolls to push it along, it just doesn't seem to work. Single-player is definitely the preferred method of play.
Black & White's visuals are amazing and will really push your new video card to the extreme. Even with the best newfangled video card, the graphics sometimes stutter. Although they require some raw power, they're still simply amazing. You can zoom out and look at Eden above the clouds and zoom back in to see the grains of sand on a beach in a fraction of a second. The audio is also in place. Everything sounds right and the music doesn't become too annoying.
All in all, Black & White provides for an amazing experience. So many elements combine to make it what it is. Back & White involves strategy, resource management, RPG qualities, virtual pet elements, and even a skimmed down fighting engine. If this game even seems mildly interesting to you, I urge you to go out there and play, to experience, the addictiveness of Black & White for yourself. Three years in the making really did pay off.
-Sam
Create an Account
Member Login
