Black is a 2006 first person shooter for PS2 and XBox by Criterion Games, better known as the creators of the Burnout racing series and one of the developers who have worked on the Need for Speed franchise. 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:
Black uses a standard two-slot system for carrying weapons where any two different weapons can be carried by the player, as well as up to nine hand grenades. The game is chiefly distinguished by the deliberate "gun porn" approach of the developers; they claimed in interviews that other shooters did not make their weapons look or sound interesting. As a result, weapons in Black are redesigned, with the chief goal of making them interesting to look at rather than technically accurate; weapons have added or moved components and often eject to the left instead of the right. Magazine capacities are also enormously increased; the game is about the act of firing a gun, and you can't do that if you're reloading it. Unusually, reloading animations are also sped up if the player is under fire, and draw animations skip any flourishes like racking the charging handle. As a result of all this ammunition flying around, enemies are somewhat more resilient than in most modern shooters.
The game's sound design for weapons is fairly unique, and was referred to as "a chorus of gunfire." Rather than having a single sound for weapons that is randomly pitch-shifted for variety and varied according to range, each enemy weapon in a given area is assigned a "voice" with different pitch, so each one is distinct from the others. In addition, movie sound effects are often used instead of sampling real weapons, often from specific action movies.
Most weapons in the game can be fitted with suppressors, though the game has very little in the way of stealth mechanics; a suppressor also decreases the damage of the weapon it is fitted to.
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 comes with a 15-round magazine. 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.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingBeretta 92FS - 9x19mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDesert Eagle Mk XIX - .50 Action Express.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds a DC3 Elite near the start of the game's fourth level, Nazran Foundry.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe draw animation for the DC3: Kellar performs a brass check. Note that the slide surrounds the barrel as with the Beretta.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar detaches the suppressor someone foolishly attached to his DC3 Elite before the level started, showing the distinctly Desert Eagle profile of the muzzle despite the more conventional slide layout.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar reloads the DC3, showing it has some kind of laser / light module under the barrel. The entire screen except the weapon goes out of focus during reloads, though pressing any of the other face buttons except melee makes it return to normal.
Glock 19
The Glock 19 is featured in some levels as a starting sidearm, with an optional suppressor. Strangely, in a game full of comically increased magazine capacities, the Glock's 15-round magazine has been shrunk down to 12 rounds. As with the DC3, when Kellar picks it up or switches to it he'll do a brass check.
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 and the only pistol to have its own ammo type; it 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.
Black'sFN 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 and the rate of fire has been bumped up from 900rpm to 1500rpm. 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 P90's magazine is inserted correctly during the reloading animation and it actually ejects spent casings off-screen rather than just hurling them out of some non-existent side ejection port.
A heavily customised Ingram MAC-11 based on an Airsoft gun appears in the game as the "MAC-10 Elite," with rails added more or less everywhere and then some more added for good measure, and a 70-round magazine. One of the few guns in the game to have a rate of fire lower than its real-world counterpart at 750rpm instead of 1090rpm. The weapon's charging handle is shifted over to the side, extending out of an additional raised RIS system; 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 suppressor unique to it, whereas most of the other suppressor designs are shared between multiple weapons. Unlike any of the other guns, the suppressor is equipped by default when the MAC-11 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.
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, probably so it lasts more than a second since the rate of fire is an equally ridiculous 1500rpm, more than double the original 600rpm. 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.
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 a rate of fire that falls in-between different models of the gun at 750rpm, 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.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingHeckler & Koch Model 94 with telescoping stock, converted into a full auto gun for movie use (common in the 1980s) - 9x19mm. Note the one in-game is modeled with a Navy trigger group.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds a converted HK94 as he makes his way through Tivliz Asylum. This level introduces riot shield enemies, but at least nobody could say it's the wrong place for the player to go insane.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar reloads his converted HK94 as he looks over a partially dismantled aircraft in the scrapyard outside the Asylum. This is a fake aircraft, seemingly a hybrid of several Soviet designs. Note the unlugged barrel and lack of a magazine release paddle, showing this weapon was not based on a real MP5.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDraw animation: Kellar extends the stock; the two rails slide into the body of the gun rather than resting by the sides as they should. Seemingly, the (incorrect) reciprocating charging handle was interesting enough to not require the ejection port to be moved to the left as well. Note also the miscoloured fire selector; since the second setting is white instead of red, this HK94 has two "safe" settings and no semi-auto.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe HK94 is one of two weapons to use a suppressor model unique to it; here Kellar sneakily attaches it. As with all the suppressor attachment animations, he screws it to an unthreaded barrel with a sound like he's adjusting an extremely rusty pipe.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe title screen animation shows Kellar loading up the HK94 and attaching the suppressor, firing one shot, and then realising he's got a fun switch on his weapon. He apparently fired the first shot with the safety on; the two clicks to fullauto get one zoom in each.
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. The rate of fire has also seen a boost from 600rpm to 750rpm. 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. Another nice touch is that he inserts the magazine front-end first. 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, above the handguard, seems to be completely missing, replaced with tiny, useless rail mounts.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingAK47 - 7.62x39mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar uses his AK to attack the second level's Explosion Storage Depot.Error creating thumbnail: File missingReloading the AK leaves him wondering what those were doing in the chamber.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBlack's AK is apparently on loan from GoldenEye 007, featuring semi, burst and fullauto fire modes. The fire selector doesn't change position when the mode is changed; instead, Kellar mimes operating an HK-style selector mounted at the pivot of the actual one.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAttaching a suppressor to the AK shows what appears to be a taclight mounted under the barrel. The weapon correctly features a half-circle front sight, meaning it is not based on a Chinese AK clone.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe in-game ammo pickup for rifles is this AK-pattern magazine with a blue tape grip. These aren't even correct for the AK itself, since there is no tape on the magazines Kellar actually puts into the weapon. Perhaps he eats it.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe title screen version of the AK has apparently decided to steal itself the flash hider from an AK-74 or AK-101; the in-game gun does not have this.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA pile of non-ridiculous AK-pattern rifles seen in one of Black's briefings.
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.
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 glitch exists with this gun; when set to single shot, the weapon will not eject spent casings.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingHeckler & Koch G36C - 5.56mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMP5K-PDW - 9x19mm. Black's G36 uses the stock from this weapon.Error creating thumbnail: File missingOk, so the front rails are for things like taclights and lasers and the top rail is for optics, but what the hell are you supposed to do with the one under the carrying handle?Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn-world model of the G36C, showing the MP5K PDW stock and that the front rails are so huge that Kellar uses them as a grip.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar reloads the G36C, showing a three-setting fire selector on a weapon with four fire modes. Much like the AK reload, the bolt closes when the new magazine is inserted, then Kellar pulls the charging handle anyway. Note also that even the synthetic furnishings have wear marks with bare metal underneath.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar busts his way into a room, finding a suppressor for his G36 and a box of grenades. All suppressor pickups look like this, but each one only works for one specific weapon.Error creating thumbnail: File missing"Yeah, so I just decided I was going to try out being the gas tube today, boss." "The suppressor's still going on you." "Mmmmrrrphh."
Colt AR-15A2 Government Carbine
The weapon Black calls the "M16" is actually modeled on a Colt AR-15A2 Government Carbine. Like all weapons with selectable fire modes, it has both burst and full-auto 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 is shown with two forward assists, two bolt release paddles, and no magazine release. It is 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.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt AR-15A2 Government Carbine with 20-round magazine - 5.56x45mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds his AR-15A2. He'd love to swap it for the SPAS, but realises that he cannot give that order.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar uses his AR-15A2 to give a Seventh Wave terrorist on Graznei Bridge a terminal headache. Note the low front sight, curious additional rail structure mounted in front of the carrying handle, and the laser or light mounted near the front sight.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar uses the AR-15A2 to discover that cars in Black are filled with ultra-high-octane Hollywood brand atomic gasoline.Error creating thumbnail: File missingReloading the AR-15A2: note the fire selector in the "safe" position. See the forward assist on the side there? Well...Error creating thumbnail: File missing...There's one on this side, too, despite that neither is used by the reload animation. Note Kellar actually exercises trigger discipline with this weapon.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe in-world model shows the front and rear sights would be impossible to line up and gives a better view of the rail above the handguard, though it lacks the device at the front or its cable. It also shows this is not an M16 at all, note the 16 inch barrel, short handguard, and (poorly done) telescoping carbine stock.
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.
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 with a conventional rather than bullpup layout, with the 5-round magazine inserted randomly into the rear part of the handguard in front of the trigger guard, 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.
The M249 SAW is the only machinegun available during gameplay. It is shown with no stock and a 150-round solid metal ammo drum rather than the cloth or plastic drums of the real weapon; the drum looks like it would have trouble holding more the 50 rounds. The drum itself is L-shaped, partly covering the left side of the gun in a way that would be impossible on a real SAW due to the STANAG adapator; Black's SAW is thus missing this adaptor. The charging handle has been moved to the left of the weapon, and reciprocates every time the weapon fires; the fire rate is much lower than a real SAW, 500rpm instead of a selectable 750rpm and 1000rpm, to allow this. The weapon's muzzle flash is also out of synch with its rate of fire, with one muzzle flash for every half-dozen or so rounds expended while firing in fullauto. The weapon is only available in the final three levels of the game, though a cheat which calls it the "BFG" replaces the player's starting DC3 Elite with a SAW in the first level. It's one of the most powerful weapons in the game, with the longest range of any automatic weapon.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM249 Squad Automatic Weapon - 5.56mm NATO.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds a SAW as two allied soldiers hold G36Cs, one opening fire on a dangerous-looking wall.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe SAW in aim mode; as with all weapons but the WA2000 and RPG-7, this just zooms the player's view in rather than using the iron sights. Note the surprisingly detailed belt links and what appears to be an open-front flash hider.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar fires his SAW, sending brass flying up into the air; the real SAW ejects down and to the right.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar opens the top cover of his SAW during the reload animation. The belt from the old drum vanishes as it is detached at the start of this animation; Kellar then places the new drum, positions the belt and snaps down the top cover, somehow resisting the urge to rack the charging handle.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIdle animation: Kellar checks under the top cover of the SAW. Note his hand is nowhere near the latches for the cover; it seems to be held closed by the power of positive thinking.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn-world model of the M249 SAW, showing the lack of a stock and tiny solid metal drum.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA group of soldiers advance in a briefing scene, one carrying what appears to be a real M249 SAW.
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.
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.
Much rarer than the SPAS, the Remington 870 is only seen in the levels "Vratska Dockyard" and "Spetriniv Gulag." It has a larger 8-round magazine and a faster pump animation, without the mildly ridiculous recoil of the SPAS: the spread is also tighter. Kellar operates the pump by turning the weapon over so the ejection port is visible; as with the WA2000, he's probably supposed to be holding it across himself, but perspective conspires to make it look like he's trying to eject the spent casing into his eye.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingRemington 870 Police Magnum with black synthetic furniture - 12 GaugeError creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds a Remington 870 as he checks out an office in Vratska Dockyard. Note the breaking glass even though the weapon has not been fired; Black actually treats weapons as having physical length, and moving close to glass will destroy it with the weapon's muzzle.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar operates the pump of his Remington. "Ow, my eye!"Error creating thumbnail: File missingReloading the Remington. You didn't think it was going to get out of this without at least one completely useless rail mount, did you?Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn-world model of the Remington 870; this is probably the closest thing to a normal weapon the game has.
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 exaggeratedly 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.
The M203 grenade launcher is the less common of the two explosive weapons; it appears as an "armament" secret objective in the level "Nazran Town," but otherwise isn't encountered until the second-to-last level, "Graznei Bridge." It is shown fitted to a fictional stand-alone mounting with flip-up sights and a pistol grip, and uses black-and-silver grenade rounds. It is used in stand-alone configuration unless the player has unlocked Black Ops difficulty, in which case they start every level with an "M16" with a mounted M203.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM203 grenade launcher - 40mmError creating thumbnail: File missingKellar holds his M203 as he looks over the burning town near Graznei Bridge. Note the weapon apparently has a charging handle above the barrel.Error creating thumbnail: File missingFiring the M203. What looks like a flip-up charging handle (and could only really be a withered barrel latch that has decided to migrate to the front of the launcher for maximum inconvenience) is readily visible on the side of the section above the barrel, just rear of the front sight.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar reloads his M203. There is no round for the M203 which is silver with a black band, so obviously Kellar has been the victim of a vicious drive-by blinging.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDraw animation: Kellar pulls out the M203 and gives it a quick flick to raise the sights, then taps the side with his thumb like he's operating a bolt release.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIdle animation: Kellar bounces the weapon in his palm, then quickly checks the other side is still there.Error creating thumbnail: File missingKellar finds a box of ammo for his M203; note that there is no M40 round for the M203 (the HE round is M406), and the rounds appear ridiculously oversized. M40 is the official name for the grenade round used by the M41A Pulse Rifle from Aliens. The holes in the tip of the round are typical of Airsoft "grenade" rounds designed to fire multiple BBs at the same time.
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. They are thrown the instant the button is pressed and cannot be "cooked" as in some other games; however, they can be manually detonated if the player shoots them in mid-air.
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.
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.
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