The makers of the fantastic "Burnout" series are venturing into new territory, embarking on a journey to the realm of first person shooters. Criterion has developed an ambitious new title simply called "Black." Their mission was to create an exciting experience akin to shootouts you would typically find in Hollywood blockbusters. Criterion is heavily influenced by some of these movies, including "The Matrix", "Die Hard", and "True Lies." Though they’ve described the game as "gun porn," this game has nothing to do with firearms into unmentionable recesses of the human body. Black seems like it’s going to be an action extravaganza.

The game is set in modern day Eastern Europe and you play as black ops agent The story is told through a series of flashbacks experienced by main character Jack Kellar, who’s being interrogated after he was caught during a mission. His memories make up the games levels. Gunfights, explosions, and destruction are the order of the day, and will be accomplished by a wide array of weapons-- all the traditional FPS accoutrements will be here, including grenades, handguns, machineguns, and bazookas were displayed in the gameplay demos. During one such demo, an enemy had taken advantage of some high ground in a dilapidated building of the city and had our main character pinned down. However, a well placed grenade brought down about three stories of the building onto the gunman’s head. Although his demise was unconfirmed, it seemed safe to score it as a kill. Obviously, the game’s interactive environments bring an added dimension to the experience. Black promises few pauses in the action, so just about every couple seconds you’ll be engaging a new threat.

Sadly, it appears that there will be no multiplayer for this game. An FPS with this much to offer in the realm of gameplay would be an exceptional experience during a multiplayer bonanza; Black doesn’t even have a cooperative mode. The good news is, this seems to be the one downer for a game that looks otherwise fantastic. Fans of high intensity action and first person shooters would be wise to keep an eye on this one. Black hits store shelves on February 28th.