Gorgeous visuals marred by dreary gameplay

Play The Black Death at playinghistory.eu.

It was a time of darkness. The bony hand of the Grim Reaper himself came from the East and clutched his fist around Europe. The bubonic plague, or The Black Death, spread like wildfire sparing no one. Sinner or saint not even God was able to save his children from certain damnation. It was indeed, The Dark Ages.

Set in 14th century Florence, The Black Death tells the story of a little boy, Marchione and his quest to save his family. Scouring all of Florence, you’ll meet noble and peasant alike suffering horrendously due to the disease. Gorgeous backgrounds and funny conversations keep the game light yet it never strays form its grave topic. Interesting though the character may be, the game loses its charm with no hurdles to impede your progress, changing you from a young man on a quest to a simple run of the mill errand boy.

Your father, a barber surgeon, is grieving over your mothers recent illness, keeping him at home. With the Black Death infecting every corner of the city, it seems all too clear what the fate of your Mother will be. Desperate, he sends his only son, you, to find out as much information on the disease as possible, hopefully leading to a cure. There are doctors in the city but doctors cost money and none are greedy enough to come close to anyone with the disease.

It’s up to you to brave rat infested streets, applying leeches to boils and find a sure way to save your family.

The Black Plague does an outstanding job setting up atmosphere. With gorgeous visual style and immersive audio, TBP sets up the mood perfectly.

Even from the very start, it’s apparent how much work was put into the backgrounds and overall ambience of each stage. Simply designed, the backgrounds are far from crude; rich colors and splendid lighting draw the player into the world, captivating their attention. The addition of ambient noises like pigeons cooing softly or a soft fire crackling serve only to strengthen the illusion even further, fully immersing you in the world. The fact that all the backgrounds are painted and not 3D is a testament to the art teams vision.

Though the backgrounds are done in 2D with a few 3D elements, all character models are done in 3D. They blend together seamlessly, a great patch job by talented seamstresses. The models do feel however, too simplistic even for cartoony characters. Their expressionless faces and blocky hands stand out sharply against the rich environments. Despite this, talking with NPC’s is lively albeit brief. What they lack in visual detail they make up for in personality; hobos with riddles, vendors that rhyme and fanatic flagellants push their way out of their simple models with charming dialogue, breathing life into what would otherwise be virtual zombies.

Like the historical facts that can be found throughout the game, dialogue with other characters feels too brief. Answers and descriptions are usually limited to one sentence, two if your lucky, teaching only the most basic of facts about the Black Death. It’s a great starting point for any little kid who wants to study about an era full of disease, death, and despair but if you’re older than 10, you’ll definitely want to go somewhere else for even a little information. You’ll find more parking on a Saturday night downtown then you’ll find knowledge in this game.

 TBP's dreadfully dull gameplay can quickly make you forget about how good the game looks.

TBD’s gameplay does little to alleviate the situation. Running around from NPC to NPC is something that nearly all games require. It’s nothing new. The problem comes when going back and forth to each person is just going back and forth to each person; it’s boring. There are a few mini games you must complete in order to progress but these are far and few between. More times than not, you’ll find yourself running along the streets delivering a package or a message to someone across town, only to find that you have to run another errand in order to get what you want. You do have to constantly avoid the rats that have invaded the city as they take your health away whenever you’re near them but they pose no real danger to you at all.

With its slick background and colorful characters TBD is a great game for young kids but nothing really special. Its character models could use some refinement but its gameplay is really what holds it down.

Though the backgrounds do wonders for the game, it’s not enough to make it worthwhile for people outside the classroom, or outside elementary school, to play. You may get a kick out of the art but if you’re looking for fun, stick to your Xbox or PS3. They may not be educational but neither is this game and at least you’ll have some fun. --Review by Craig

score
  out of 5

Art:Solid backgrounds set the mood. Cute character designs too simple. Great voice acting brings life to characters

overall
4

Gameplay:A bit tedious for recreation, perfect for classroom. Mini games easy to beat, still serves up some education.

Design:Educates about more than just physical effects of plague. Quizzes and such integrated seamlessly into gameplay. Perfect for little kids.