Sergeant J. Keller is a Black Ops operative who has just failed his mission, and failed it badly. Captured, he is imprisoned and interrogated in order to reveal the details of the operation and uncover what went wrong. The player relives Keller’s failed mission across eight different areas, fighting enemy soldiers while trying to stay alive. The game features both primary and secondary objectives, such as reaching a rendezvous point or collecting intelligence.

Black is a classic first-person shooter featuring a wide variety of weapons and interactive, destructible environments. Enemies can be taken out by blowing up nearby fuel tanks, for example, and weak cover such as wooden fences can be shot apart to expose opposing forces.

The game offers four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Black Ops. On Easy, only the primary objective is required. On Normal and Hard, some secondary objectives must also be completed. Black Ops mode, which is unlocked after finishing the game on Hard, requires all objectives to be completed. New weapons are unlocked as levels are completed.