Complete links at Bottom.
BLACK and WHITE
Optycal Illusion
Blysster Rate 5
This is the coolest God game I have EVER had the pleasure of playing.
Not only do you have complete freedom and control over the game and movements,
but you get to control a PET too! Do you like the "Sims" games? Like
being able to control the surroundings and everyday life of your "Sims"?
Well, have you ever had the urge to throw your "Sims" into the water,
smash them with a rock, or light them on fire? In Black and White you
are given that chance!
In Black and White YOU are god (or Goddess, in my case!) You are
a disembodied hand, floating around the isle wreaking havoc or creating
miracles. Your main goal is to rule over your villages in any way you see
fit, be it with kindness and a gentle touch or more like me and create
nightmares for your villagers! You are reponsible for the upkeep
and maintenance of your villages and the acquisition of new ones (and incidentally
new types of people) as you move along in the game. The villagers need your
guidance and depend on you to provide them with the basics of life. You
must make disciples to work for you and believe in you. The more belief
you have, the more powerful you are!
INSTALL/SETUP: Installation is
exceedingly simple, you insert the disk and click install. That's it! The
setup program guides you through each step. There will be no way anyone
could get confused with this, well perhaps if you are a chimpanzee, but
I have faith even the slowest Chimp will eventually get it.
GETTING STARTED: The movie in
the beginning is really cool watch it at least once. You begin as a baby
God; you know nothing about the world on which you've landed. Lucky for
you, your conscience is there to guide you! They can get REALLY irritating
but just bare with them. Once you have completed the tutorial portion of
the game at least one time you are able to skip the whole introduction and
tutorial (THANK YOU LIONHEAD!) but you have to
download the patch
for that, which I HIGHLY recommend.
Your conscience consists of one Evil and one Good spirit. Follow
the advice of whichever suits you, or make your own choices. There are
no rules as far as how bad or good you can be. I prefer the side of evil
because quite frankly it's just too much fun to torment the villagers!
The Evil advisor and Good, I think the evil guy is
actually wearing a thong!
After you have mastered that, they'll tell you how to interact with
things on the island. Then you'll be set lose to try things out for yourself.
I suggest getting a villager and tossing him/her around a bit. Practice
zooming in and get REAL close to watch the work. You can even zoom into
the houses to watch them do their thing. With another patch you will be
able to hear your villagers talk about you. Knock on the roof and when they
come out the door they’ll comment about your rule, it’s not always flattering!
In any event, you'll eventually want to go to the main gate and click the
Story Scroll to see what happens.
You'll be given a task (three actually) in order to get your pet.
Do it ANY way you please and you'll be able to choose from THREE species:
Tiger, Cow and Ape. You'll go through a creature tutorial once you finish
the first task, and then you're on your own. I advise staying on land
one (the beginner land) for a LONG time to get the hang of everything.
LEARNING CURVE and GAME PLAY:
The Spirits will guide you through the learning process, 15 minutes
of tutorial and hard-core practice to learn the movements is all it takes.
I don't like to use the mouse much so most of MY movements are done with
the keyboard, but when I need to zoom in or do really touchy sensitive
moving (which you WILL need to do) I use the scroll wheel on my mouse.
You have absolute freedom in the land of Eden. You're able to look up,
down, side to side, move at an angle.... anything you could do in real
life you'll be able to do in BW.
You can be good or evil or somewhere in between. Your hand will begin
to change color and shape depending on your tendencies. So while you begin
the game with a nice fleshy colored hand with well trimmed nails, if
you're anything like me you'll end up with a blood red and cracked hand
in a rather claw-like grip and lengthened black nails. Your temple will
also reflect your alignment, shouting to the world if you're angelic and
loving or an evil merciless god.
In addition to the changes on you and your temple, you'll notice
your pet will begin to change as well. Chances are very good your pet
will mimic your alignment (since you'll be sending it to do lots of your
dirty work) but I have had several pets actually turn GOOD on me while
I remain 100% evil. As the pet becomes more "good” he’ll turn lighter colored
and eventually have shiny sparkles floating off of him and rainbow tracers.
If evil is your pet's thing he'll turn darker, possibly all black and sinister
putrid smoke will radiate from him. The face of your creature will change
dramatically as well, I suggest taking screen shots at each birthday your
pet has and then compare them later to see his natural progression towards
the dark side or the light. I especially like the face of the tiger creature
as he becomes increasingly evil. The fangs elongate and the eyes sink deep
in his skull, his scars from battle show more spectacularly.
Possibly the most impressive part of the game, your pet is an extension
of yourself. You get to stroke him or beat him down, feed him and watch
him grow. You teach him to cast spells (miracles) and must train him to
do your bidding. I spend hours attending to my creatures’ every need, meticulously
training them to be killing machines.
You are in control of such simple things as what he eats, how much
he consumes and where he can poop. That's right, I said poop. You have
to potty train your pet. You can teach him to poop by rocks and trees,
or be like me and teach him to poop on sleeping villagers! I actually taught
my creatures to eat their own feces, I can be so cruel. I allow my pet to
eat old people and young children, but never the breeder disciples; it's
all up to YOU what your pet can do. You stroke him if he's done something
good, and smack him around if he's bad. He'll remember how you treated him
after each thing he's done, watch the bottom of the screen for hints on
what he's thinking. These titans have such unique personalities, none of
them will react the same.
You teach him how to cast spells, and where he is allowed to cast
them. Teach him to fish, so he can feed himself when you're busy elsewhere.
He can learn from watching the villagers or other creatures you come across,
so make sure you keep an eye on him when he's young, old habits are hard
to break!
Reward him for sleeping at night; punish him for sleeping in the
daytime. You want him to only sleep in his pen? Reward him when he's
there and smack him when he sleeps on the beach. You want him to eat only
grain from the fields? Show him how to pick up a handful and eat it, then
stroke his tummy to let him know he's a good boy. If you want him to help
with population control in your villages, teach him to eat old people!
You also get to tattoo your pet! Go to the creature cave and select
the tattoos and colors you like. You can change his tattoos as many times
as you like or even leave him without a mark at all.
GRAPHICS: The scenery in Black
and White is astounding. You can see the leaves on all the branches and
the ripples in the water. The fish swimming in the ocean glisten and move
as you scan the area. If you tap the water with your hand the fish will
scatter! So much effort and work went into making this game nice to look
at, it is obvious the designers and artists are passionate about it. You
can witness things growing right before your eyes, like trees and crops.
You have control over the environment and the landscape as far as building
where you want and planting or clearing trees. Most of the environment
is interactive and you can pick it up, throw it, move it, break it.
Movements of the Villagers is very realistic, their faces could use
some work but overall they really are impressive. The most stunning thing
about them is their eyes; they even have pupils! When the villagers move
around they swing their arms and legs just like you or I would. They step
one foot at a time and even change their posture when they run in fear
from Blysster. They have realistic movements for dancing where they sway
their arms back and forth, do a pelvic thrust and clap their hands. The
villagers even hug and kiss like real people! You can zoom in close to watch
them pray and worship, hunt and gather or just sit around and do nothing
all day.
When it comes to your creature you’ll be amazed at how realistic
he is. Each thing he does is just astounding, from the mundane tasks like
eating to the more impressive like casting miracles. When he’s upset he’ll
cry and cover his face, or slump his shoulders in shame. He will wave and
whistle to get your attention and he can even dance! I am enraptured with
his face. The expressions he is capable of are mind blowing. Zoom in close
to see him smile at you, make faces, get angry and be playful. You can tell
what he is thinking just by watching his face and his actions.
There are other things going on in this new world too. It’s not just
your creature and the villagers. You have flocks of birds flying in the
air, herds of cattle and groups of pigs and sheep. You can interact with
those things as well. Teach your creature to pick up and stroke the animals
or throw them in the water to watch them drown.
SOUND and MUSIC: Usually you’ll
find music in games to be too much. It’s loud and distracting and ends
up being shut off. In Black and White the designers were very careful
to make the music subtle and easy to get used to. It’s not disrupting
to the game and actually lends a bit of ambiance to the scene.
As for sounds, the villagers are a hoot. Even without the “Villager
Banter” patch you can hear them talk to each other and comment on things.
They give you hints on what they need like “We need homes!” or “We need
offspring!” They also will speak to you to hand out quests or ask for assistance.
The creatures have their own sounds too. The cow sounds just like
a cow, the Ape like an ape and the tiger just like a tiger. Each one has
a range of sounds it can use to communicate different feelings and will
use them often. The Tiger has a GREAT purr when you pet it.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I enjoy this
game more than any other game I have. It has endless replay value and such
great graphics and sound. I like to raise the pets on "Sandbox Maps" (Player-made
skirmish maps you can download from many places) and train each one to
be a certain way. As it stands I have about 20 pets on a couple different
computers.
If you purchase the expansion pack “Creature Isle” you will be able
to do so much more with your creatures. You can change them at will from
one species to the next. Choices like Lion, Turtle, Gorilla, Bear, Goat,
and Crocodile to name a few. The difference with Creature Isle is that
you STAY on that island. Instead of losing your villages you worked so hard
to build, you keep them and just stay on this island for the entire game,
working to win the favor of Eve the one and only female creature. At the
end of Creature Isle your creature gets to hook up with eve and have a baby
for you to raise!
This is one of those games that use Touch Sense Technology.
A special mouse will allow you to actually FEEL the game. You can feel
your creature’s fur as you stroke him, the wiggling and struggling of frightened
villagers as you pick them up and hold them in your hand and the feel
of the miracles charging up in your palm.
There is so much to say about Black and White that I could go on
for days, but I think you get the picture! If you have any specific questions,
visit my message board or email me directly, I’ll respond to everyone.
RECOMMENDED: A MUST HAVE for
all gamers. Novice and advanced players will enjoy this if you like the idea
of playing with a creature pet and ruling over other worlds. I have a bit
of a God-Complex I suppose, but I know I’m not the only one! Absolutely
go out and get this game.
Blysster.com Home
Email the Webmistress
Forum
