It should be no secret to our regular fanbase (hahaha!) that we’ve been on a break from posting here. That is explained by our lack of motivation and time. Sean and I are both busy busy bodies (what with girlfriends and World of Warcraft) and we’ve ramped down on our webdev projects lately. We’re both working our way back in, and soon we’ll have more site content to post up. Currently we’re hashing out an SNN redesign to fully incorporate the whole “network hub” ideal into the layout. SNN Core has always been intended to be a central processor of sorts for all of our various projects (what we dubbed the Sean and Nick Network). The site was originally intended to be the central link between all of our sites and projects, but has never truly been that. The new design will make it just that by including feeds from our sites and journals, and links to our most prominent features (i.e., Sean’s music and my comics). So, stick around for those upcoming changes and more!!

We have once again upgraded our Wordpress content management system! The folks over at WP are constantly pumping out new versions of the platform, and we aren’t always on top of things, seeing as to how Sean and I don’t really post to the site that often. Recently I got the time and motivation to finally try and improve the site, so *voila!* New and improved Wordpress 2.0.3! The site looks a little barebone at the time, but I will be spending the next week or so reformatting the style sheets to accommodate the new version so that our previous themes will work with this build. We will also be making other improvements, and will hopefully get around to adding some more content (i.e., more In the Now’s and Gamer Logs).

Oh, another thing! With this new version of Wordpress comes an improved comment-spam-blocking functionality, which will prevent our past spamming epidemics (the reason we had previously permanently disabled comments). In light of this, comments will once again be enabled! So, comment away!

Criterion, now eternally famous for their work with the Burnout series, recently released their prized FPS dubbed by many in the industry as “gun porn”.

Black offers up a healthy dosage of action that, in my best attempts at finding an appropriate simile, is like being in the Diehard movies..

My first impressions of Black were that of “oooh” and “aaaah!”. The graphics are tight, weapon models are gorgeous, levels are decently designed, and the level of action is pretty damn solid.. but every game is bound to have it’s problems.. so let’s get the nasties out of the way first, shall we?

Nasties

Too short!! I won’t give you any indication of how many levels there are (you can find that spoiler info elsewhere), but let’s just say the game is short enough to beat, on normal mode, in a solid day’s worth of playing.. maybe less (so a weekend for the casual gamer).

No Multiplayer!! With such a beautiful game, crisp visuals, and great action.. I’m extremely disappointed that there isn’t even split-screen action let alone internet play.

Okay.. now that that’s out of the way.. the counter point to Black being a short game is that the replay-value is somewhat decent. Beating the game on each difficulty setting requires meeting a set number of ‘objectives’, which are mostly just destroy or collect certain generic items in the game. Completing each mode also unlocks classes of weapon modifiers to make replay very action run-and-gun oriented.

Speaking of run-and-gun, one of Black’s high points is the sheer fun of balls-deep action with tons of enemies around you. It keeps you on your toes and forces you to find appropriate cover, keep moving, use grenades appropriately, and..

There are plenty of items that explode when you shoot at ‘em.. so looking at your surroundings and seeing when to blow something up is a key point to shrink the enemy pool and help stay alive.

Visual effects are top-notch, with particle effects, breakable objects, and explodable objects all looking drippingly sweet. Pair that with the incredible sounds and Black satisfies a media overload.

I must say that while the Normal mode is quite easy for a sesoned gamer.. the Hard mode will most certainly keep you on edge.. There’s also a “Black Ops” mode, which I’m sure is the equivalent to Halo’s Legendary mode in some respects (I have yet to invest the time).

So even though Black is short, it’s worth a play, and a replay.. and maybe a replay after that.

Overall.. I give black a 7.5 out of 10.