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Joanna Dark’s anticipated sequel finally sees the light of day. Perfect Dark Zero has been anticipated ever since Rare finished Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. Originally scheduled for the Nintendo 64, then moved to the Xbox when Rare was purchased, the game has finally made an appearance for the Xbox 360’s launch. Initially disappointing critics when the game was shown at E3, Perfect Dark Zero has come together to become one of the most compelling titles on the Xbox 360 launch lineup.
The game’s story essentially involves a businessman whose search for power leads him to try to find an artifact. Since this is a sequel to the Nintendo 64, you’ll also have some time with Joanna’s father. Though the story doesn’t feel forced and has a few twists along the way, it could have been better. It manages to keep you playing, though that largely has to do with the solid gameplay rather than wanting to find out what will happen next.
Perfect Dark Zero boasts a single-player mode that spans twelve missions that can be played with another player through the game’s cooperative mode. The actual single player missions are fun with plenty of variety. The game has some stealth elements, including the ability to hack and lock pick. You’ll have to choose your weapons at the beginning of each mission, though some let you find alongside AI characters. For a chance of pace, some of the missions include short vehicular sequences with a hovercraft of jetpack. The cooperative component can be played either online or in split screen. The mode is a little different than expected since it doesn’t just drop two characters at the same location to take on the mission. Instead, player two will begin in a different area with different obstacles to overcome that are separate from the main single player objectives. Both of you will eventually meet up but it’s nice to see that Rare felt free to tweak the expected formula a bit.
The game’s gameplay should be familiar to Perfect Dark fans, though it is more polished now than it was then. Your character’s health regenerates like in Halo, but it never regenerates back to its maximum. Each shot reduces the maximum amount of health you can have, so late in a mission, even if you regenerate fully you may only get half the health back. The game only lets you have up to four small weapons at once, though some of the larger weapons take up multiple slots. This adds some depth and complexity to the game. You’ll find a number of weapons like pistols, rifles and assault rifles and these have unique abilities. A pistol can be used to cause your enemy to go insane or a submachine gun can be used to display a holographic image of you to distract the enemy. Most of the weapons have scopes and you can usually wield the smaller weapons in pairs. If you’re ever in need a weapon you can always try to steal your opponent’s weapon because the game lets you rip weapons right off your enemies’ hands. Aside from simply shooting, the game includes an intuitive cover system where you’ll automatically peek from your cover and can roll out of the way.
Perfect Dark Zero boasts a complete multiplayer package with support for up to 32 players. The game includes the expected killcount (deathmatch), team killcount, capture-the-flag modes and also includes territorial gains, where you need to control a certain part of the map. These modes are actually part of the “deathmatch” subset of the multiplayer and let you play with bots. The other modes are part of the “dark-ops” subset. Bots cannot be used in the dark-ops multiplayer modes. For these modes, you’ll earn money which you can spend on armor and weapons between rounds. This subset includes onslaught, where a team needs to buy weapons to defend a position while another needs to overtake it without the ability to buy weapons, eradication, where one team has to fight the other, infected, in which players have the ability to buy weapons against infected players who do not, and sabotage, where the offense needs to destroy as much of the environment as possible while the defense stops this.
The game’s graphics are impressive. The game’s many weapons adorn the screen constantly but they thankfully look excellent. Even the sci-fi weapons are made believable. The characters in the game have top-notch animation with realistic reactions to shots. It’s a graphic game, with plenty of blood spurting blood after a headshot. The environments are very detailed and varied since you’ll visit anywhere from a city to a jungle. The game’s lighting is superb adding to the next-generation feel. The graphics in Perfect Dark Zero aren’t drastically different than an excellent-looking Xbox game at first glance but it’s the small details in the environments and characters hat really give is it a next-generation look. The game looks even better when played in 720p mode. There are some framerate drops, particularly in multiplayer, but for the most part the game performs well.
The audio is just as impressive. The sound effects are mostly made up of weapon sounds which sound incredibly authentic and really add oomph to the game. Likewise, the soundtrack made up of rock and electronic music fits the game’s atmosphere perfectly. You can import your own music using the Xbox 360’s custom soundtrack capabilities, which is especially useful in multiplayer since none exists. The voice acting in the game is passable though it doesn’t really elevate the stagnant story.
Perfect Dark Zero doesn’t revolutionize the genre and fans of the previous Perfect Dark game may remark that both are pretty similar but that doesn’t stop it from delivering in the gameplay department. Though some current-generation roots come through in the form of graphical oddities, this is one of the most solid games available on the Xbox 360’s launch lineup.
-- Adam Nunez & -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Dec 11, 2005
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