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In this game you play the role of a deity. You can choose to be
a good or evil god (hence the title Black & White). You also
get a creature/titan to help you out. Using either love or fear,
you are to convert villagers and establish your reign against other
gods. Not only do you have to maintain your worshippers but you
also have to train your creature to do your will. This takes a lot
of skill and effort.
Even
though you can choose to be good or evil, it really pays off to
be good. If you are evil you and your creature will scare and kill
villagers. You might even destroy a building or two. But let me
warn you. Wood is the hardest resource to maintain, so if you are
evil and destroy everything, it will be very difficult to rebuild
your villages. And that might put you at a disadvantage
The
creature is what makes the game in my opinion. It takes a lot of
work to get their behavior just right. You have to watch them and
punish/reward them within seconds so they will know what not to
do and what to do. They are very playful too. The AI is amazing.
These creatures learn fast, and they learn from you. Especially
with the learning leash on. They will learn how to cast spells,
help, hurt villagers depending on good or evil. They love attention.
My creature was playful. I often found it dancing with the villagers.
It's fun just to watch the creature sometimes.
From
a Christian perspective, this game is a little "new agey"
and simply wrong, theologically speaking. The game starts off saying
in a land of innocence a god is not needed and they are created
by praying to one. There are also some references to yin/yang which
isn't surprising given the nature of the game play.
Even
though it's "just a game," I found it awkward having the
villagers (even though they aren't real) worship me. I also don't
like the idea of sacrificing. Either you or the villagers can sacrifice
animals, food and humans to increase the deity's power.
The
last objectionable thing would be the level of violence. If you
are a bad deity or have a naughty creature it's easy to get ugly.
With the aggression leash on (you put on different leashes to get
your creature to behave in different ways), the creature will go
on a killing spree and will kill villagers by eating them or throwing
them around. It might even poop on them. Hehe.
The
game play is very fun. Once you have the villagers happy and your
creature trained to your liking you can spend time with your creature
and play with them. Like I said earlier, the creature makes the
game.
This
game took three years to make, so my expectations were high. The
graphics are beautiful and the sounds are good. The controls are
a little tricky and take some getting used to. There is no keyboard
interface since it's all mouse driven. You can rotate around, zoom
in and out all by using the mouse. It's not bad once you get the
hang of it.
The
game has multiplayer capabilities, both through a LAN and over the
Internet.
On
the downside, there are some bugs in the game. It froze up a lot.
This was a common issue with other players of the game and I am
hoping a patch will be coming out soon. It's quite likely that by
the time you read this, one will be available. If it's not, I know
they are working on one and working to enhance the game beyond the
bug fixes.
Cheryl
Final
Score
Highlights: Good
graphics, Great Artificial Intelligence.
Lowlights:
Picky villagers and creature requires a lot of maintenance.
Hints:
Play
it through with all the characters to get the full story.
Recommendation:
Anyone who likes strategy games, or tammagooci creatures will like
this game. If the thought of playing the role of a fantasy god in
a game bothers you, don't buy this game.
Also, if you don't mind putting a lot of time into baby sitting
the creature or villagers, you'll love the game.
Age Appropriateness:
Teens
13+ if mature. Otherwise 18+.
Christian
Sense (CS): 2.1
- New Age like theology, the yin/yang thing again, Human sacrificing.
Game Engine
(GE): 3.5
- A very unique engine but Square promised more than they delivered.
A Bouncer re-mixis on the drawing board, so perhaps they'll deliver
on the rest of their promises.
Game Play
(GP): 4
- The creature is what makes the game.
Overall:
3.2
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