Black and White

You are a god. You've been put on an island full of villages to do as you please. What could be better? Lionhead Studio's latest release, "Black and White," sends a shock wave through the world of simulation and "god-games" with its innovative form of artificial intelligence and free-form gameplay.\nDeveloped over three years, "Black and White" gives players complete control of the game from interaction with characters to plot choice. Be it gaining power by performing miracles for a village or throwing people into the ocean, control is left to the player because the game features no preset morality standards.\nThis game is the ultimate stress reliever, often blending humorous acts with complete player control for maximum enjoyment and interactivity. The player begins by choosing a peaceful cow, a playful monkey or a wild tiger to control and later has the chance to play as other creatures such as bears, wolves, turtles and even sheep. The character will learn and develop based on the level of interaction.\nThe controls are fairly simple to learn. Players use the "hand of god" to move around the map and interact with its inhabitants. "Black and White" excels graphically as well, allowing players to observe high above the world so that townspeople are only moving specks or to zoom in so close that facial expressions are visible.\nThe AI system in "Black and White" keeps track of all actions. Players can rub a creature to reward it for a job well done or knock it to the ground with a backhand as punishment, and it will act accordingly in the future. \nThe creature's end appearance will ultimately match the personality a player has caused it to develop. It could turn out to be a rainbow-colored being of warmth and love or a dark creature decked out in spikes and fangs ready to create havoc on anything in its path.\nA little flying demon and an old man flying on a rainbow cloud act as a conscience, offering hints and trying to guide you toward the path of good or evil. After awhile I found myself wishing I could get my creature to smack these pesky critters off the screen.\nManaging a town can also be aggravating because players must assign practically everything to the townspeople to accomplish. After a while I noticed my creature was hungry, so I sent him into town and had him snack on some villagers. Two problems solved at once.\nBlending elements of strategy and real-time simulation games, along with large doses of humor, "Black and White" is both technically innovative and contains solid gameplay that is intriguing and enjoyable.