Ex-Criterion staff reveal scrapped plans for Black sequel

Former staff members at Burnout developer Criterion have revealed their scrapped plans for a sequel to the studio’s first-person shooter project Black.

When Black launched in 2006 for PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox, it promised to be Criterion’s revolutionary take on the FPS genre – just as Burnout had won legions of fans for the studio’s version of racing.

The game recieved largely positive reviews, though early plans for a sequel never materialised. Some who worked on the game, including its namesake Stuart Black, later left to make Bodycount – a spiritual successor developed by Codemasters.

Now, however, in a lengthy series of interviews on the original Black and its development, several former developers have spoken to thatHITBOX of their early work on a Black sequel at Criterion.

Perhaps most notable were plans to include “network gameplay” for co-op, with a recovery system if one played was downed. The lack of multiplayer had been a criticism of the original.

“I think the subtitle was going to be ‘Rendition’,” said Ben Minto, a technical sound designer on the original Black. “The idea centred on American troops going overseas, kidnapping people and bringing them back across borders… I’m not sure that there was a fully-fledged story mapped out though.”