Black and White (PC)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * * * )

What has been one of the most hyped-up computer games of all time has finally landed, and it has lived up to expectations.

Black and White is a five-star game that will become a long-term tenant on it purchasers' hard drives. It's the brainchild of Peter Molyneux, creator of one of the best-known god games ever, Populous.

And Black and White is a god game with a touch of the devil in it, for you can choose to be good, or evil, hence the title.

You start out as newly created deity and have to find a village to worship you.

Here you make your first choice, and one that will set the course of what could be a very long game.

You can take the quick and easy way to godhood, by terrorising the villagers into worshipping you by doing evil deeds such as casting fireballs at their homes. Not surprisingly, they'll soon worship you — those who are left standing, anyway.

Take the more conventional, but slower, route by doing good deeds and performing minor miracles and you'll end with a more efficient economic unit better able to worship you

Black and White is lots of fun — as having almost unlimited power should be.

The basic story is that the Black and White world is inhabited by eight tribes — Aztec, Indian, Celtic, Japanese, Egyptian, Greek, Norse and Tibetan — and you are one of the gods competing to become their deity of choice.

It's a competitive game, in which you have to eventually fight your rivals, but that takes place late in the game and combat plays a small part until then.

Most of the game is spent building up a sphere of religious influence, and having fun with your devotees — or at their expense.

To help you control and convert them, you get a Creature, a magical beast there to do your bidding. These have their own personalities — a good god's Creature might do bad things, for example. Proper training is essential, and you get to stroke or slap him depending on what he's done.

If that sounds a bit like Dungeon Keeper, there's a bit of this as well as Populous in the game — both were Peter Molyneux creations — but Black and White is much, much better than either. It's a big game, which combines a god sim with strategy into a brilliantly playable experience.

A Pentium 11 350 is required, while a Pentium 111 500 is recommended.

Mature adult (15+)

Peter Eley e-mail: petereley@nzherald.co.nz