A Criterion Games FPS pushing PS2's technical limits. Pyrotechnic effects and destructive weapons are spectacular. The short but intense campaign remains one of the console's most visually impressive experiences. Essential for FPS fans.
Your verdict
Category
First-Person Shooter1 player16+
Description
A 2006 FPS by Criterion, famous for its uncommonly violent sound design and the heavy destructibility of its environments. With gunfights choreographed like an action movie and weapons that hit with real weight, it set an impressive technical bar for the late-stage PS2.
Black review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Every weapon hits hard, every wall crumbles, every firefight blows the scenery into a thousand pieces: this FPS bets everything on the raw sensation of shooting and gleeful destruction. The noise, the impact and the crash create an instant, almost cinematic rush. Short, intense and spectacular, a blow-off built for fans of muscular gunfights.
The Korean version of Black, Criterion's first-person shooter that turned scenery destruction and the roar of weapons into spectacle, released at the very end of the PS2's life. Coming late to a Korean market already turning to the next generation, its local pressing was brief. Desirability rests on the game's cult technical reputation and on the scarcity of an end-of-cycle edition lightly produced in the territory.
Is Black still worth playing in 2026?
A shooter from Criterion, Black bets everything on the feel of destruction, where every weapon tears chunks out of the scenery in a deluge of shards, smoke and explosions, turning every clash into a pyrotechnic spectacle. The punchy gunplay, the readability of the firefights and the raw joy of pulverising everything still appeal to fans of snappy FPS. The absence of multiplayer and a short campaign weigh a little. A good shooter for fans of spectacular FPS and old fashioned sensational gunplay.
