black and white review

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Average Ratings

Addiction Level	8.9/10
Graphics	9/10
Value for Money	7.1/10
Reviewer Rating	7.9/10
Overall Rating	8.1/10

78% Recommended7 out of 9 Reviews

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By Ian Lynch on 6th May 2004

Ian Lynch's Ratings

Addiction Level	10/10
Graphics	9/10
Multi-player	Yes
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	10/10
Ian Lynch's recommendation

Good Points

1.Excellent Graphics. 2.Totally original and simply addictive gameplay. 3.Everything else that makes this game awsome.

Bad Points

1. Unskippable cut-scene at start (Not a problem for first time playing though) 2.Occasional frustrating creature learning. 3.Occasional lock-ups.

General Comments

You know the feeling, you wish for just one chance to have magic powers, to be all powerful, to 'blow stuff up' or 'Create world peace.' Well the time is now! Play 'Black and White.'
As the name states the game revolves around good and evil, and quite simply, you're a God, you take the form of a giant 'hand' in which you move around the world and do your 'Godly thing'. Choose to be evil, or be good and watch the world change to your will. Firstly I should mention graphics, visually stunning, the amount of detail in the game is mind-blowing from small dust plumes as your creature stomps across the land, rolling thunderclouds casting a shadow and rippling rain across the landscape, as well as awesome lighting effects and shadows sent out by an immense variety of sources. All in a totally 3D world, pan, pitch and move in any direction, zoom out until your land is a small blip in the ocean below, complete with the different storm systems, that from above look awesome. Or zoom in to see the individual expressions on each villagers face, and everything in between. I could go on about graphics for a long time, but there's so much more! The storyline in Black and White is an original drama of tense Godly rivalries, Fate, and unseeming plot twists that keep the player enthralled in this totally none-linear plot. The story takes place in the land of Eden, and by completing 'Gold Story Scrolls' which can be activated at any time to allow the player to go at their own pace are what advances the game forward, but also littered across each island are 'Silver Quest Scrolls' these are optional side quests, but grant very useful things such as new miracles and creatures (More on those later)With all this choice its hard to remember the other responsibilities, being a God aint' easy. Black and White really brings out your true inner self. I've always been a 'Good Guy' and so set off playing as a kind, good God. My first task was to find followers, this can be done by impressing towns and getting them to believe, and therefore worship you. As I was a 'Kind God' I helped out by aiding them with harvesting, supplying food to the store, casting showers upon there fields, and healing the sick. The amount of choice of how to play is breathtaking right from the start and really presents loads of replay value. Once I had enough belief from my village, they built a temple, the source of the Godly power, when villagers worship here you gain power, with this power you can cast lots of lovely miracles, hundreds of miracles are at your disposal, each with 3 levels of intensity. There is no 'Right way' to play Black and White, anything goes. To my horror when some of my friends played, instead of gaining belief through charitable means, they simply rained fireballs from the sky, ripped trees from the ground and knocked down buildings, created storms across the land, ripped rocks from mountain peaks, and rolled them into the village centre. As you play and your True self is shown, your world, creature and temple change accordingly, after a month of playing my land was a shining glimmer of beauty, Rainbows and doves flocked around my temple, night came very rarely, and my creature was a sparkling beauty. On my friends user the total opposite was present, his land was a dark charred red, darkness was always present, his temple was a spiky dark haven of evil, Lightning ripped through the sky, and his creature was a clawed vision of murder. I should explain about creatures. When you start you get the choice of three creatures, a Cow, Chimp, and a Tiger. They start very small, and act like their animal counter-parts. But with your training you can make them become evil, or good. I started with the chimp, he was a disgusting little deep red fur ball, that pooped, ate and slept. It took me a while to realise that the AI in the game is so immensely in depth. Your creature learns from you. It copies what you do, and by giving it a quick slap or stroke accordingly, it will know what you like such as not eating villagers, pooping in certain areas, casting its own miracles (it IS a Gods creature after all) such as food and wood miracles to help out towns or if you want an evil creature you could have it eat first born sons, take food from the store, throw fireballs around etc. The creativity is wonderful, but it can't just do simple tasks, it can even manage complex situations. My Chimp would water small trees only, and take large ones to the store, it would catch thrown rocks, and later even fireballs and dispose of them out of the village, and they grow. They start, small but grow VERY big, and change with your alignment, although there are 16 different creatures throughout the game, I have always stuck to the chimp, and now he is a glowing yellowy orange, smart, helpful creature that is very angelic in nature. Your not alone either, there are many rival Gods, some allies, some enemies, all striving for the towns and worship, intense godly battles follow, watch the sky fill ablaze with Godly miracles, its awe inspiring. Watch each of Gods creature battle it out, with you directing its hits, blocks and miracles. Which leaves me and my friend, Good and Evil, Black and White. Very happy to see a LAN and Internet play option, both started it up, and played, the ultimate vision of Ying and Yang. So what can I say, if you want to see who you really are, and don't mind loosing a few months...years...etc...of your life, then Black and White is a fantastic bundle of wonderful Graphics, Gameplay, and Originality.

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