BLACKWOOD

Some games hook you with their premise alone. BLACKWOOD is one of those games. By day, protagonist Anton Blackwood runs a small DVD shop in 2012 New York; after dark, he finds himself drawn into the criminal underworld. The result is a rather unusual blend of slice of life simulation, crime drama, and cinematic action.

That premise is initially what makes BLACKWOOD stand out. You lead a perfectly ordinary social life during the day, only to shift into a completely different side of Anton’s existence. The developers sought to capture the duality of human nature that moment at night when you hear screams or commotion outside your apartment, yet calling the police isn't even an option. Unlike the rest of us, however, the game’s hero doesn't stay safely indoors; he steps out into the darkness.

It is a good thing the developers didn't try to turn New York into yet another massive sandbox. Here, the sense of a specific time and place matters far more. The DVD shop, the city streets, the mundane daily routines, and the criminal underworld gradually come together to form a unique portrait of New York in the early 2010s.

The contrast between quiet moments and high tension missions works particularly well. After an intense mission, it’s refreshing to return to Anton’s more grounded life. It is in these moments that BLACKWOOD feels most distinctive. It is a shame, however, that this concept isn't explored as deeply as one might hope. The shop and daily activities sometimes feel more like an interesting add on to the main game rather than a fully realized second half of the project. Recent reviews have echoed this sentiment: the potential of this unique concept far exceeds its current execution. The action is arguably the only reason to play, yet even that is broken.

Setting aside its unusual premise, BLACKWOOD is first and foremost a dynamic third person action game. And this is where the project truly shows its character. Great emphasis is placed on cinematic presentation: character movements, flashy moves, fluid transitions between actions, and the staging of specific scenes create the feel of an interactive action movie. It is in these moments that the game evokes the films and titles that clearly inspired its creators. However, the intriguing "double life" concept is undermined by poor execution, tedious video rental store management, abysmal melee combat physics, and terrible vehicle handling that leads to accidental failures.

It seems the developers tried to do too much at once. Instead of focusing on gunfights, combat sequences, and a streamlined plot, they threw in DVD collection management, genre based shelf sorting, a GTA IV style web browser, and a surprisingly detailed weapon customization system. Further issues include buggy graphics and performance problems, as well as an archaic save system that wipes a full day's progress if you quit the game in the middle of a mission.