Rating: Summary: Disappointing ... Review: Well, I ordered Black & White very early and received it a few days after its release and I must say I am VERY disappointed with it. OK, the idea and game concept look very interesting and indeed they are, however what is bad about this game is that it is lacking features that were promised to be included. In addition to that, the gameplay gets very tedious once you advance to level 2 (Feed the villages, get wood, feed the villagers, get wood ...) and the story comes a little too short as well. Add that to lots of technical problems like bugs that cause the game to crash and hang (very frustrating) and quite lousy technical support (no patch, no response to very specific questions, ...) and you have a potentially great game gone gone wrong. (The somewhat uninspiring multiplayer mode doesn't really save it either) All in all it's a nice game and once Lionhead has managed to patch out the bugs it might be good to entertain you a few hours. But it definitely doesn't live up to the hype that surrounded it during its 3 years of development.
Rating: Summary: The game is ok, but the way they handle it is BAD!! Review: Ok, you have to like this kind of game, but when you do... it's good. I love the gameplay, the creature, the miracles, the creature (yep, it's an important one), etc. But, i (and many with me) disagree with the way we are treated. The game is buggy, crashes a lot, you do not want to enter land 5 and your creature forgets miracles. Lionhead and EA refuse to give any information on a patch, and when they do (they gave us a release date), they do not keep their promises. This is why i rate this game bad. Don't buy it until you find a patch, because you'll get really upset at reinstalling and beginning the game all over again after 10 times.
Rating: Summary: If I am God, why am I forced into a Script? Review: This game is beautiful to look at but frustrating to play. I'm currently in level 2 and have lost all intentions of playing it anymore due to the sheer difficulty in getting anywhere, moving around, having to micro-micro manage everything and everyone (including the creature) and not doing what I REALLY want to do instead of having to follow the script. This the the biggest flaw of this game...instead of actually being able to influence my world and surroundings (like The Sims, which I also played for a while then got terribly bored with), I am actually at the mercy of a script that wants me to do certain things in a certain timeframe. Things go wrong and you can't figure out how to fix: My poor tiger creature is always overheated, but I don't know why (despite it drinking water). The graphics are lovely. I like the touches of night and day, and the changing 'scenery' but simple things like being able to exit or save require so much maneovering and back bending it just does not make for a very elegant game. Getting anywhere or even getting used to it requires so much of my too little precious time that it is not worth it. Maybe I'm biased against true RTS (Age of Empires/Age of Kings is the best thing since sliced bread, IMO...its executional elegance makes you appreciate it more) but things don't have to be this overly structured, overly constrained and overly difficult for gaming. If you have tons of time to waste and/or like to look at pretty pictures, then get the game; if you want truly want to be in control and be God, then run away from this game as fast as you can.
Rating: Summary: prepare for maximum fustration Review: Cool idea, but the creatures and villagers have sniffed too much glue or someting-they are completely idiotic. And the gameplay itself is slllooowwww and choppy, which negates any movements you are attempting to make and makes casting spells impossible. I can't even begin to descibe the feeling when "god" tries to zoom in on a specific locale to complete a lame and boring task, only to have the efforts totally ruined by the chopiness. Now that I think about it, why did I give it a 3? Oh yeah, I meant negative three--that's way more accurate. A complete and utter waste of time and money. Spare yourself--trust me on this one.
Rating: Summary: Best game i've played since Deus Ex Review: This game is awesome. Technically, this game is incredibly complex. But in actual game play, you could literally do it with one hand tied behind your back. Buy this game. C'mon! what other game allows you to grab rocks and hurl them at villagers. Or just hurl villagers.
Rating: Summary: quit reading, buy this now Review: nothing i can say can possibly describe this game. it's unlike anythign you've ever played before. it's VERY interactive, VERY involving. I would compare it to crack cocaine in computer game format: more addictive than anythign in the world. let me put all the fun this way: you're a god. you get to do whatever the hell you want. and no matter what path (black or white) is your thing, you'll be blown away. the key factor to five stars is production: brilliant EVERYTHING. I have no idea how they do it, but I want to know. Amazing visuals, tied in with brilliant dynamic sound, with great and fast gameplay that doesn't seem to get old. Furthermore, the integrated storyline is (in my humble opinion) brilliant! The integration of stroy elements touches you lightly, but it fits, and everything inside the game makes you want to play it more and more. You might hate this, because you're allergic to fun. You might dislike it because you're playing it wrong. But this isn't Sim City! This isn't Civilisation, either. It's funny, it's 'cute' it's 'scary' it's FUN... I would like to bring up one negative quality to the game, and I can't think of one! oh, here's something negative: when you save your game inside your temple and your creature is on the leash, there is a little bug that makes the leash dissapear so you have to cast leash all over again. if you can bare with that, you will enjoy the game.
Rating: Summary: B&W Review: an awsome sweet game! loads of laughs(espacially throwing villagers around) i highly reccomend it. not very violent, no gore(so far) smooth game play really fun somewhat time consuming teach creeature lots of suff Be Good. Be Evil. Be a God.
Rating: Summary: R U Kidding!!!! this game is the ultimate god game! Review: I have no idea why everyone thinks black and white is so bad. The ability to be a god in this game brings the genre up a few notches (about 7). The only problem is you need a lot of memory, and a good 3d chip. Lag in this game is very rare. The best part of this game is the ability to be evil. The game just rules!
Rating: Summary: You want to know if you should buy it? Review: That's exactly the question I asked about 4 days before I bought it (the day I found out about it.) I was pretty skeptical at first with all those reviews that said, "I've played this game for 60 hours and I decided I hate it." What kind of person would play a game for 60 hours and THEN decide they hate it? I'm pretty sure that's what most of the reviews said. Personally, I've played the game for about 45 hours. I checked with the timer in the game in the save game room. My computer meets the game specifications recommendations EXACTLY except for the CD drive speed (mine is a little faster.) The game does have a little stuttering every now and then but it doesn't ruin any of the game play. I've heard that a lot of people haven't been able to play it on their machines but maybe you should check the minimum spec.s BEFORE buying it! Honestly, this game is pretty adictive. It doesn't seem like it but when you are playing you just don't want to stop. There is no such thing as 'a good place to save'. I have still not finished playing the game after 45 hours and there is still going to be more features as the patch comes out shortly. I seriously recommend this game. The game looks great and it has a very nice tutorial when you start the game so you know exactly how to play. The tutorial at the beginning was just amazing. I've talked to other people who love this game too. They also like first person shooters such as Unreal Tournament which used to be my favorite game (before I got B&W.) I don't know why that is but if you liked UT you'll probably like B&W. Hope this helped
Rating: Summary: The Devil is in the details..... Review: ...and the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions! That sort of sums up the ambitious "Black & White", Peter Molyneux's extraordinary and ambitious God simulator. You go through the game literally as a hand in the sky reaching out and manipulating the world under your command. Think of the Star Trek episode featuring Apollo, and you've got the idea. Another trend B&W has in common with that episode is that it revolves around the concept that a god exists and is only as strong as the number of people that give him worship. In battling against other gods, the stakes aren't just worshippers but the gods very existence! The game world is intense, using a graphics engine that allows you to zoom in and out, to and fro across a continent. People, buildings, trees, rocks, and everything in the world are yours to command however you see fit. The best aspect of the game, and the most difficult, is the addition of an avatar - a creature demigod who is your tool to train and send out to spread the word. It is an advanced form of Tomogochi, but given its role in the scope of a war between the gods, the simple training of a creature becomes a compelling aspect. This review is not nearly as detailed as it could be, and that's because I'm not looking to sell you on the 1001 little things you'll find in there. In fact, it's the 1001 little things that make the game such an frustrating experience. Although the game is replete with grandeur and depth, there is no degree of modification or in-game advancement you can make to tailor your people or how you run things. The villagers require a very high degree of maintenance on your part, and for the length of the game, they will require that amount of attention. Although you can train the creature to do certain things, I found in my experience that the creature is too inconsistent in providing those services and again, you are reduced to having to handle those needs yourself. The effect of this is like receiving a phone call that drags you away from the computer. After a while, and remember this game is real-time, it truly jars your concentration. "Black & White" alternates between its glorious acheivements and ambitious short-comings. It is, at this stage, only for the most hard-core of gamers. A casual gamer will only be left disillusioned by the tiring aspect of the micromanaging. One warning, though, this review is based on the original game only. I haven't seen any of the patches or expansions, which may easily address the problems raised above. If so, then the game easily becomes a recommendation for any and all. It is a unique experience and I applaud Peter Molyneux for his willingness to create on such a grand scale.
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