Rating: 
Summary: Out of this world
Review: ...This is jaw dropping good. Despite its inherent complexity, you are lead through the different aspects piecemeal - I didn't need the accompanying booklet at all. However, it would have been useful if it was documented that you can change your graphical settings using the 'setup.exe' program. Then again, fiddling with the various options did cause my game to crash the machine to reboot itself, so perhaps it was best left undisclosed to the uninitiated. However, if you are having stability problems to begin with this might actually help.Anyway, after finding your bearings and completing your first challenge, you'd soon be introduced to 3 creatures, out of which you'd have to pick one as your 'avatar'. I would strongly recommend the ape to start with unless you have an abundance of patience in supply. In any case, you'd need to have some patience with this sort of game. It isn't like anything I've ever experienced, its nothing like any of Molyneux's previous efforts - except for the god theme, the game play is unique. Black & White is not for everyone, but if your pet fish screensaver didn't belly up in the first week, this may be your cup of tea. The artificial intelligence in this game is astounding, and often humourous too: "I want to see a big creature or I won't believe in no god" - ok you take your ape there - "This it? Not very big" - ape walks away - several hours of playing later you take it back - "Gee, its still not very big" - watch your ape smack its forehead several times before walking away.
Rating: 
Summary: Outright horrible game
Review: The graphics are jerky, the interface bites and is slow, and it was one heck of a pain to get installed. I have a DELL Pentium III 650 MHz with 256 MB ram and a 16 MB video card and it performed poorly on my system so I can't imagine how it performs on the minimum requirements. Save your money and buy Sigma by Microsoft when it comes out in May.
Rating:
Summary: One word review= Overhype.
Review: ...The game looks gorgeous. There are scarcely words in my arsenal to describe how absolutly stunning the graphics are. On my pathetic little system, it still runs with all the graphics on almost seamlessly. Even though my RAM rates below recommended, I can usually still pull off 11 fps. Not great, but not noticably slow. If I cared to kick the graphics back, I'm sure I'd do even better... Innovation-wise, Black and White is right up there, in my opinion. Not to say that it's completely original ..., but it manages to pull the concept off well. Now we get to the bad stuff. The sound is passable, though it will wear on you. The constant whispers of 'death...', intended to show how poorly you're looking after your tribe, will get so annoying you'll be hurling boulders at the village (assuming that you can learn how to, that is) and drowning people for fun. Or maybe that's just me...Nonetheless, the sound is nothing great. The greatest problem with the game is not sound, nor is it lack of originality. It is control and interface, the leak that can sink a great ship. Or rather, a gaping hole in the side of said ship. The designers of the game wanted to make a menuless interface. Everything is done with the mouse. That's where they messed up, big time. My feeling is that they got so wrapped up in being 'iconoclastic' and 'genre redefining' that they forgot that 'people' would be 'playing' their game. The result, in the end, is not a wonderfully different paradigm shift in the world of strategy gaming. The result is a control interface so mind-numbingly poor that it renders the game unplayable. We're talking, here, about a camera zooming, selection, and movement system so unbelievably bad that it makes Star Wars: Force Commander's system look downright brilliant by comparison. Finding and selecting your creature is an exercise in futility itself, but that's just the beginning. In addition to that difficulty, you're faced with a selection for casting miracles or putting new "leashes" on your creature that involves performing a sequence of Nasca-like characters, all of which look exactly alike and none of which are recognized by the computer. I'm absolutely serious. There have been (I could name, if I wished, that is) at least 2 dozen incidents where something bad has happened (like: losing a battle, having my creature eat a treasure box-thing, having my creature eat a villager, etc.) because I spent five or six abortive attempts to cast a spell or change something, only to have the computer not realize what exactly I am trying to do and losing the opportunity. C'est la vie... The creature, by the way, is supposed to be the center of the game. You're supposed to teach it to do your bidding, and make it your right-hand man in ruling your little world. So the trailers say, that is. My creature is, to say the least, stupid. I tried to teach it not to throw children, for example. So, I tried focusing it on a child, happily playing. The creature picked it up. He looked at me curiously. I tried to get him to play with it, or at least set it down unharmed. He started to do the latter--then he popped it into his mouth. Kiddy-kibble, so to speak. I punished him severely. Several times. Then I tried again. Again, he took the proferred 'snack'. So I beat him again. Yet he still ate the child. So, then, I decided to leave him at throwing them--at least it doesn't always kill them, I reasoned. Except that then my creature made small children its primary food. Nothing I could do would change that. The villagers feared me, but I wanted to be a benevolent and kind god--not the avatar of Frederik Nietzche! For most of its problems, Black and White could be a stellar game. But the interface dooms it to sheer unplayability. I mean, the rest of the game is great. At times I feel as though I actually am a god, and though I started out with the intention of being ruthless, I found it increasingly difficult to kill the little people I reigned over. My benevolence was only hampered by my creature with insatiable bloodlust. By keeping it chained to a tree on the far side of the island (nothing the ASPCA would approve of, but then, the only solution I could find) I could lessen that, but inevitably I came back to having to try to navigate the game. I gave up. Not immediately, rather, after 3 days with a total accumulation of perhaps 20 hours...For once, there is a game at the core of this (by comparison, many of the games I've bought before have had no substance but a beautiful exterior--graphics, controls, things like that) but it's destroyed by...the control system. That thing, that one thing, that ONE fly in the ointment...Is a fly carrying the electronic plague. If it were somehow revised out in a new release of the game, I'd recommend this game in a heartbeat. As it is, though, I can't bring myself to subject you to it.
Rating:
Summary: A classic in the making
Review: While many games shine on the market, this is one of the brightest. The game is complex at times but features a simple interface. The game is challenging but not overly hard if you put some time in to it. Of the many things that can be done there are a few ways to do each. This open endedness is neat, you can explore and build without needing to complete certain quests in a time limit. The AI is very good. My creature got angery after it saw me do somthing I tried to teach it not to do. And it can mostly live on it's own. While you must meet the needs of the villagers and your creature in the game, beyond that they run can them selves. The cons are that the interface is simple to the point of being too little. With all that is going on in the game I often wished for something more rather than having to manualy go to a location and visualy inspect an object/place. Being based mostly on the mouse I often came short of going ware I wanted or gabbing what I wanted with out a good grip on my mouse. But isn't a huge flaw however. This game is very interesting and impressive. With nice graphics and amazing AI the game is very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a great game. I was expecting to be disappointed with all the hype surrounding it and the very long wait for its release, but I have to say I am suprised at how good this game is (so far). Right off, the graphics are excellent. Sound and tutorial are excellent, and the touches of humor in the game have made me laugh out loud. Some people have complained of difficulty running the game, but I had no difficulty installing or running Black and White so far. I consider my PC only modest (550mHz, Geforce2) but I am very pleasantly suprised how well it runs and how playable this game is on my system (and grateful too, because I would upgrade for this game). Some have also complained about the unintuitive camera control. I disagree. The default setup is to promote the feeling that you are a god looking into and manipulating this world, and that the cursor (a hand) is actually your hand in which you interact with the computer world. For instance, to move the view, your hand grabs the ground (complete with little puffs of dirt) and drags the view forward as you pull the mouse down. It works well. And if this doesn't work for you, you can always use the keyboard and hotkeys anyway. It feels like this is the culmination of all of Bullfrog's/Peter Molyneux's "god" games...and that this is the final evolution of Populous, Dungeon Keeper, etc. All the good things are kept, and features that were not feasable previously are here. I have not got very far in the game, and even so I am very impressed. The interactivity with the game world is amazing. One of the first things I did was pick up a villager and accidentally threw him. He little kicking body flew out over the village and disappeared in the distance. Then far out a tree shuddered and slowly toppled. WOW! I bust out laughing, my 4 year old started laughing, kicked me off the computer and started trying to grab every villager he could while they started scattering.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this game. Now.
Review: You have no choice in the matter. This game ROCKS. Just for the "play god" value alone. You have no idea how much fun it is to be a god. This game offers no benefits for being "good" or "evil" - you decide the right way to go about something. If you think, say, that some people building a boat are getting a bit greedy after they have already gotten food and wood to build it, then destroy their boat! Don't put up with it - you're a god. You can do whatever you want. Being a good god gets boring after a while, anyway.. Enough of my raving about my ego trips.. The graphics in this game are amazing. I have a geForce2 Pro, so most likely that helps.. but even with all detail turned off it's still great-looking. The first time you walk into your temple, turn all the detail settings on - it's incredible. Pools of water reflect everything above them and add ripples - the attention to detail is amazing. It's a bit buggy at times, such as problems where if you're going through a quest for a sick person, and pick them up and drop them in front of the person looking for them - then pick them back up again (it takes a few seconds to recognize that you completed the Challenge) and the game stops. Doesn't lock up, but the guy's too busy quivering in your hand to talk to her. Your Creature is also a very nice addition to the game. You can train a creature to be your proxy in the game. It imitates you and learns from you, so if you cast a Miracle enough, it'll learn to cast it as well. It'll use it in certain situations depending on how you used it. I'd give this game a 5/5 .. the sound is really good, but you can turn it off if you get tired of the "deeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaatttttttthhhhhhh" sound or your villagers begging for more houses.
Rating: 
Summary: Prototype of the future
Review: 4 out of 5 stars for BLACK & WHITE?! Yep. Although everybody seems to go totally nuts about this extreamly hyped game, I still found it a slight dissapointment. This is mainly because it's a GAME. You can't have total freedom cuz' it's programmed. The AI isn't perfect cuz' computers aren't. Lots of people (influenced by the press) didn't want to see this as a game anymore but as another, perfect world. I myself went with the hype and that's why I'm a little dissapointed. I've got absolutely nothing to complain about the graphics. They're in one word stunning. Highly detailed and the level of zooming is almost scary! Sound is also right all along. The devil with a 'New York cabdriveraccent' and the saint with the very brittish accent... the music also changes when your more evil or less evil. And then the game itself... it's just not all that fun. You just have to convert vilages over and over again. The so-called great submissions just really have 2 options (and not 20 like those gamemags say): helping the villager (9 out of 10 times by finding something) or killing him. You'll only really use the titan for converting and helping villages. Also it's very (too) easy to learn 'em things and he doesn't really do much unexpected things. The AI is to blame for that. Not that it's bad, not at all, but we human beings aren't capable, yet, of programming humanlike AI. And that's what bothers me most. I want the game to be more. But it simply isn't.
Rating:
Summary: Do NOT buy this game. The good and bad of Black and White
Review: While Black and White stunned me visually right off the bat, Within a 24 hour period my friends and I were already through with it. Amazing graphics weren't enough to hold us in. The problem with Black and White is that they try and cram TOO much stuff in the game. You have a pokemon effect with your monster. Always having to try and teach it, feed it, poop it and so forth...but you also have to find a balance between your villagers breeding, and building houses for them. Not only do you have to supply EVERYTHING these lemming villagers need to live (such as their food, and tons of wood) so that they stop whining and complaining (not to mention so they still believe in you), you have to take care of your monster, as well as try and get the enemys villages to believe in you...which is no easy task. There is also the tasks of the silver scrolls. Which are optional, and just for rewards. While it may not seem like all that much to do written here, you will soon go mad in the game trying to get it all done. The game just stopped being fun, and becoming more of a chore. Again, the graphics are so dazzling that it draws you back into the game, the play is so bad that you quickly remember how much pain rather than fun playing it is.
Rating:
Summary: Wow. Just... Wow.
Review: I picked up this game 3 days ago, and I have already spent at least 24 hours playing it. B&W is simply the most incredible game that I've ever played. To try and explain it on its own terms (if you haven't played it already) would be fruitless, and to try and explain it by comparing it to other games... well, here's an attempt: The Sims - B&W is called a "real-time strategy" game, but it is much more of a simulation than an RTS. And you fall in love with your Creature. Populous - One of the first, and best "god games". You really feel as though these people exist to serve you. Emphasis on "exist". Myst - The sheer beauty of the graphics in Myst made the game one of the most popular ever. The graphics in B&W are top-notch, especially the creature. Also, one of the easiest user interfaces ever. Age of Empires - Perhaps the ultimate resource management game. Keeping track of the materials (and people) you need to have a thriving community is only part of the challenge. There's a very good reason that Populous is on the list. Peter Molyneux, the creator of Black & White, also created Populous, when he worked for Bullfrog Studios. He's taken the original ideas of Populous, and turned it into something that can best be described as a living, breathing world. The game contains some of the most complex AI I've ever experienced. For example, my Creature learned how to dance. _I_ never showed him how... he learned it from watching the villagers. And when I rubbed his tummy to show him that I was pleased, he called all the villagers around him, and threw a dance party, breakdancing while they chanted and danced around him. And if all this weren't enough... your Creature gets to eat, drink, play, fight, grow, bruise, get tattoo'd... and yes, even poop when he needs to. And even _that_ is cute. In short... buy this game. Live this game. Love this game. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Triumph
Review: Black & White is a wonderful creation that is sure to appeal to most anyone with the time to sit and learn it. This is PC Gaming at its best.
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