Michael AgiusCIS 587 – Fall 2001September 25, 2001Game ReviewDeveloped By Lionhead StudiosPublished by Electronic ArtsGame Title: Black & WhiteDeveloper: Lionhead StudiosPublisher: Electronic ArtsGenre: Strategy / SimulationEst. Price: $29.99 - $44.99Minimum specifications for Black & White are:- Windows 95/98/2000/ME (Windows NT is not supported)- Intel Pentium II 350MHz Intel Pentium- 64MB RAM- 600MB free hard disk space (plus space for saved games)- 4x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive- 8MB PCI or AGP 3D accelerator card with full Direct3D driver support- DirectX 7.0a compliant sound card- DirectX 7.0a (supplied on CD)- Keyboard, MouseThe recommended specifications for Black & White are:- Intel Pentium III processor or faster- 128MB RAM- 750MB hard disk space- 16MB 3D Hardware Accelerator Card with full Direct3D driver supportThe Online Requirements for Black & White are:- Internet features require a TCP/IP Internet connection using a 56.6Kbps or faster modem or Internet access via a LANBrief OverviewThe game takes place in the Land of Eden where everything is just perfect until a monumental event occurs which changes everything...you arrive. As stated in the opening movie of the game, Gods are created whenever people call to the heavens for help. As a child is caught swimming in a lagoon filled with sharks, his parents call to the heavens, and that’s when you are created. You shoot from the cosmos and sweep up the toddler, delivering him to the grateful parents. You have no choice in this matter, but that is pretty much the last time events are beyond your control. From there, you can choose to be a benevolent god, or an evil one, thus altering your world accordingly. Afteran excellent tutorial that teaches you how to move, how to gather objects, and how to rotate the camera, you are on your way to godhood.There to help/hinder you are the two elements of your conscience:a bearded elderly man representingyour good side (WHITE)a devilish character representingyour dark side (BLACK)Each one offers you advice on how to handle any situation you face, and will lead you down either the black or the white path.Player’s RoleYou play the role of a god, represented by a large hand that you move about the game with. You get to choose your own symbol, which will be displayed ata totem in the center of the town where your followers go to worship you and seek guidance. Each action you make affects both the village you control andthe look of your hand, depicting you as good, evil, or, more likely, in between. Your first task is to get your people to recognize you by building up belief points. This is pretty much set for you with the first village, though there is another village nearby that you need to prove your existence to. The more of a presenceyou show, the more they will believe in you. Once you have their belief, you can then set tasks for all the villagers and get the villages thriving. All of this builds your power, and makes you a greater force when dealing with rival gods.InstallationGame installation is quite simple. The auto-run feature will suffice for most user installations. Installation requires about 600MB of available hard drive space to install. The most recent version of direct-x (7.0 at the time of release) is included on the CD. There weren’t any inherent issues with the installation, although Lionhead’s website states there is some compatibility issues with certain CD-ROM drives because the gameuses the Safedisk copy protection scheme but I encountered no such problems.Game playYou start by impressing the villagers in an attempt to persuadethem to worship you. Once they have become your loyal followers,they can be used to perform vital functions. By summoning themto your Temple, you can have them perform worship rituals in yourhonor. As they dance around the Temple worship site praising yourname, they are generating prayer power which is the essentialingredient for the miracles you create.Miracles can be used however you desire. They can be used anywherefrom pure good to pure evil and everything in between. The choice of which miracles you want to use is entirely up to you. If you tend towards evil (using destructive, fear-invoking miracles), your homelandsand Temple will physically alter in accordance with this. But if you are kind towards your subjects, feed and protect them, your Temple will gradually come to resemble a fairytale palace, with the surrounding lands bright and colorful.Early on in the game you will receive a pet: a cow, or an ape, or a lion to start off with, while more creatures become available later in the game. As the pet of a god, the creature goes through a specialtransformation. Like a child, it begins togrow. It grows and it grows…really big.By the time it reaches adulthood, it is agargantuan creature towering above thevillagers, able to flatten a building with asingle footstep. Exactly how it conductsitself as it roams the countryside willdepend on how you have raised it. As you may choose to be a good or evilgod, you may also raise your giant petsimilarly. You must do this in trainingsessions while the game progresses. Asyou might (or might not) with a growingchild, you punish it when it doesanything wrong and reward it when itacts correctly. For example, let’s say the creature is hungry and stuffs its mouth full of villagers. If these are a rival god's villagers you will probably reward it. If they are your own people, you will punish it. Gradually the creature will learn what it may and may not do.User InterfaceThe user interface in Black & White, to me is really impressive. The entire game can be played solely with the mouse and no keyboard interaction. For the best experience a two-button mouse with scroll wheel is the perfect combination. As stated before you interact with your world through a giant hand. This hand can be made left or right handed as to accommodate both righties and lefties. To move around the world you place your hand where you want to go, click with the mouse button and pull the mouse towards you to drag the world closer or move the mouse away to push the world away from you. Also, since the world you are in is 3-dimensional you need a mechanism to adjust your rotation and pitch. When you move the mouse around the game screen you are presented with the possible movement icons and the appropriate mouse button to execute them.Rotate Move PitchMovement IconsAlso, the scroll wheel on the mouse
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