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Black
Black is a 2006 first person shooter for PS2 and XBox by Criterion Games, better known as the creators of the Burnout racing series. The story is told in flashback by a former CIA black operative named Jack Kellar, recounting to an interrogator his recent actions against a shadowy terrorist group named Seventh Wave.
The following weapons appear in the video game Black:
Overview
Black is gun porn. The developers took an extremely methodical approach to this; the guns have been "Hollywoodized" during the transition to the game, and look and act as much like real guns as the average porn actress looks or acts like a real woman.
- Almost all guns have abnormally high magazine capacities. This is because Black is a game about the act of firing a gun, and you can't do that when you're reloading it.
- Some guns are shown with misplaced parts like charging handles, foward assists, fire selectors, magazine locations, and RIS rails. This is deliberate: the creators of the game commented that real guns aren't designed to look interesting to their user.
- All guns deal extremely exaggerated movie-style damage to scenery, breaking and shattering concrete and metal objects extremely easily, and frequently causing anything remotely flammable to explode in a gigantic fireball.
- Most guns are said to deal the same damage. Guns are generally distinguished more by rate of fire and accuracy.
- The game's weapon reloading system is similar to Battlefield: Bad Company, where the reload animation includes unnecessary flourishes, like slapping the magazine above the mag well before inserting the magazine into the MP5, or taking the time to check for bullets inside the magazine before loading it into the M16. These animations are sometimes skipped if the player character is in the thick of combat and doesn't have time for
foreplayadditional actions. - Gun sounds are designed from a sound rather than a realism perspective; the game is designed to alter the volume and pitch of gunshots so they sound distinct from each other. In addition, some use stock movie sound effects rather than realistic ones.
- Most rifles and sub-machine guns eject shells to the left, despite otherwise being right-handed models. This is most likely an aesthetic choice; it being visually pleasing to watch shell casings fly past when emptying an AK-47. The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl commented regarding this after criticism of the same thing in their game, saying that ejecting brass across the screen looks more "dynamic."
Handguns
"DC3 Elite"
The game's only real Frankengun, the development team have stated the DC3 Elite is a cross between the Beretta 92FS and the IMI Desert Eagle. It's the starting weapon in a few levels, including the first where it can be replaced with an assault rifle and shotgun within thirty seconds of the level loading. The weapon is apparently designed in such a way that even though the slide locks open when the magazine is released, the user still has to pull it back further to actually chamber a round. The sound effect is described by the developers as being "Jack Bauer's pistol" firing, presumably meaning the USP Compact.
Glock 19
The Glock 19 is featured in some levels as a starting sidearm, with an optional suppressor. Strangely, in a game full of overkill-inducing ammunition capacities, the 15-round Glock carries only 12 rounds.As with the DC3, when Kellar picks it up or switches to it he'll do a brass check. Unlike most shooter games of Black's time, the chamber will actually appear empty if the weapon needs reloading or if the player is carrying no pistol ammunition.
Smith & Wesson Model 629
Called the "Magnum" in game, so there was only ever one kind of Magnum it was going to be - a Smith & Wesson Model 29, or rather the stainless steel version, the Model 629. The game's version is heavily customised, resembling a Performance Center "Stealth Hunter," though with a RIS rail added to the top of the barrel and frame. The game's Magnum is seemingly single action only, with Kellar thumb-cocking the hammer after every shot. As is often the case with videogame revolvers, the range and accuracy of the weapon makes it more like a scopeless marksman's rifle than a handgun. The weapon is a rare find as a pickup, but is used extensively late in the game by riot shield enemies.
The weapon's reload uses a speedloader, which the developers seem to have confused with a moon clip; Kellar inserts the speedloader into the cylinder, but pushes it down rather than actually detaching it.
Beretta 92FS
Shown very briefly during the opening montages is this blurry image of a Beretta 92FS.
Submachine guns
FN P90
Black's FN P90 is the Triple Rail version; rather than using the weapon's distinctive translucent polycarbonate magazine, the game's version has a metallic magazine which somehow holds 100 rounds instead of 50. It also has a lot of accessory rails. As with many games, the ammo system counts "SMG" as a whole class, so the 5.7mm P90 can use the same ammo as the other subguns. Unusually for a videogame, the weapon actually ejects spent casings off-screen rather than just hurling them out of some non-existant side ejection port.
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Ingram MAC-10
A heavily customised Ingram MAC-10 appears in the game as the "MAC-10 Elite," with rails added more or less everywhere and then some more added for good measure. The weapon's charging handle is shifted over to the side, on top of a bizarre additional raised section; on this is mounted what is probably supposed to be a C-More sight but is actually a H&K-style front sight mounted on a riser. The weapon has a silencer that differs from the normal suppressor model used on most of the other guns. Unlike any of the others, the suppressor is equipped by default when the weapon is picked up or in the player's starting loadout; it even re-attaches itself if the weapon is discarded and picked up again. Its magazines are the model for submachine gun ammunition, which means that all subguns in the game are chambered for ".380 SMG", if the gun's markings mean anything.
IMI Uzi
The Uzi is a full-size model, and is used later in the game by Seventh Wave, as well as being found as an "armament" objective in the first level. It is given a charging handle on the left side. The original charging handle is still present on the top of the gun, but it is not used for anything, and indeed would be useless given the addition of an RIS rail surrounding the charging handle. It also features a fire selector with a burst mode, and a ridiculously gigantic 90-round magazine. The sound effect is, according to the developers, the sound of "Arnold Schwarzenegger firing his Uzi in True Lies." This presumably means it was sampled from the sound of the MAC-10s firing on the basis that every subgun Arnie fires is an Uzi.
Heckler & Koch HK94
A rare example of a videogame featuring a chopped and converted HK94 as an MP5; it's an HK94 since the gun lacks a paddle release for the magazine and has no lugs on the barrel. First appearing in the level "Tivliz Asylum," it's the most accurate of the submachine guns by a substantial distance. The weapon has an 80-round magazine, and the telescoping stock is shown with the two rails actually sliding into the body of the weapon rather than resting along the sides. The firing sound effect is sampled from Bruce Willis firing his converted HK94 during the movie Die Hard.
Assault rifles
AK-47
The AK-47 is the primary weapon used by Seventh Wave soldiers throughout the game, and comes with a doubled capacity of 60 rounds. Stock footage shown between levels also shows militia groups, presumably re-cast as Seventh Wave terrorists, holding AK-pattern weapons, though the shots are blurry enough to make identification of the specific type impossible. In game, shells eject from the left and the charging handle is on the same side. Along with this the bolt stays open when the last shot is fired but when Kellar slides in the magazine it closes. Then to add in a bit of reality (of a real AK-47) he slides back the charging handle to load the next round. This is useless due to the fact that the first round would have been loaded when the bolt closed after the magazine was loaded. The top of the receiver cover features some kind of mounting rail, and the rear sight is wider and shorter than it should be. The lever for detaching the gas tube and top of the handguard seems to be completely missing, replaced with tiny, useless rail mounts.
AKS-74U
One of the images used in the mission briefings shows a man in a room full of weapons and equipment, with a hard-to-discern rifle mounted on his wall and an AKS-74U in his hands.
HK G36C
The Heckler & Koch G36C is the standard-issue weapon used by all friendly NPCs, though it is only available to the player in later missions. The weapon is shown with the Choate Machine and Tool folding stock of an MP5K-PDW, and has the gas tube and barrel reversed. In addition, rather than the charging handle being mounted on the top of the frame, it is shifted to being an AK-style charger. The magazine is more than doubled, to seventy rounds. A strange graphical glitch exists with this gun; when set to single shot, the animation will not spawn brass.
"M16"
This is a hybrid M16 with features from a number of variants; like all weapons with selectable fire modes, it has both burst and fullauto capabilities, and the 20-round Colt magazine holds a staggering 95 rounds. It mounts an additional rail that runs from the carrying handle to the shortened front sight, and has some kind of electronic device near the muzzle, with a cable trailed over the weapon and down to a push-button switch mounted right underneath the fire selector. It's called the M16 in-game unless the version earned in Black Ops difficulty is being used; this has the normally stand-alone M203 attached to it, and is called the M16A2.
Enfield L85A1
The briefing for the mission "Nazran Foundry" includes a shot supposedly of defector William Lennox and some of his associates; this shows soldiers who appear to be British Special Forces of some kind, carrying hard-to-identify AR-15 platform rifles. However, in the foreground and very distinct is an Enfield L85A1.
Sniper rifle
Walther WA2000
The Walther WA 2000 is featured as the "Walther 2000." It is the game's only sniper rifle, and is portrayed extremely inaccurately; the weapon is shown as a conventional rather than bullpup layout, with the 5-round magazine inserted randomly into the rear part of the front grip, and the weapon is a straight-pull bolt-action with a lefty bolt rather than a semi-automatic. The ejection port, fitted with an M16-style dust cover, is slightly to the rear of the new magazine location, with the original ejection port now part of a large hole right through the stock; the result resembles the stock of the Accuracy International AS50. The bipod is also missing. The crosshair is a precise replica of the Soviet PSO-1 scope reticle, though with all the numbers missing, and the scope is tinted green; it features x2 and x5 zoom settings.
Kellar holds the WA2000 across his body when he isn't firing it; at least, this is probably the idea. Due to the inherent false perspective of a first-person shooter, he either has eyes just below his collarbone or is holding the rifle at arm's length and level with his nose. The idle animation has him spin the elevation turret of the scope as per FPS tradition; slightly more curiously, he then does the same with the reticle illumination control, despite the reticle never actually being illuminated.
Machine guns
M249 SAW
Often referred to as the "BFG". Most powerful weapon in the game that's not an explosive.
M60
Another briefing image shows a group of soldiers advancing through a street, mostly carrying impossible to discern assault rifles; one however is clearly carrying a support weapon with an unfolded bipod. This appears to be an M60 machine gun, given the high front sight.
Shotguns
Franchi SPAS-12
The Franchi SPAS-12 is the more common of the game's two shotguns, predictably shown as pump-action only and rather less predictably with the magazine size just six rounds; this is accurate, since it is shown as the short-barreled version. Kellar operates the pump whenever the weapon is switched to; this doesn't eject anything, or cost ammunition. The SPAS is the principle means of opening doors in the game; rather than shooting the hinges or lock, this is simply done by blasting the middle of the door with buckshot, which will rip the entire door out of its frame. This presumably means that in Black's world a deer buck is roughly the size of a tyrannosaurus and made of cement.
Remington 870
Pump-Action shotgun. Can carry 8 rounds and seems to be better than the SPAS 12. Works better in close range.
Launchers
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is Black's only rocket launcher. It fires a relatively slow-moving rocket with a thick smoke trail. In third person, the rocket is so exaggerately large and pointed that the launcher could probably be used as a lance. The RPG-7 can only be picked up from pre-determined locations; enemies with RPGs will collapse and blow themselves up with their final shot, apparently destroying the launcher in the process.
The weapon's iron sight is shifted to the side of the tube rather than being mounted on top of it, though the empty bracket for mounting the top sight is still present. This is replicated in several other first-person shooters, and appears to be a perspective issue; offsetting the tube to the right emphasises that the weapon is above the player's right shoulder rather than stuck through their torso as it might appear if the weapon were bought to the middle of the screen.
M203 Grenade Launcher
Appears in the game as a stand alone weapon with its own pistol grip, or attached to the M16 after finishing the game.
Hand grenades
Black's hand grenades seem to have a severe identity crisis; the grenade box pickup shows them as Mk 2 hand grenades, the HUD icon shows them as M67 hand grenades, and the actual model of a thrown grenade appears to be an M26 hand grenade.
Mines
Landmines are encountered during two sections of the game; a wide passage between factories in Nazran Foundry, and later hidden under and around vehicles on the Graznei Bridge. They appear to be a hybrid with the body of an anti-tank mine and the fuze assembly of a Yugoslavian PROM-1 anti-personnel mine, though with only three prongs on the sensor. The first area they are encountered, a narrow passage between industrial structures, seems to be a reference to Owen Wilson's encounter with mines in Behind Enemy Lines; the player is even told to watch out for tripwires, although the mines are only actually triggered by contact. They are also frequently triggered by each other if one detonates.
Mounted
FN M240D
During the introductory animation, a pair of US armoured vehicles are seen with a massive explosion in front of them, possibly composited into the shot. The vehicle on the right is an M1 Abrams with the FN M240D machine gun on the loader's hatch distinctly visible. It is difficult to discern if the other is an Abrams or a Bradley; regardless, the left-hand vehicle's weapons are not easily made out.
M197 Vulcan
A repeated image during the briefings is stock film of an AH-1 Supercobra attack helicopter, equipped with an M197 Vulcan.
