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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| May 23 2006, 9:09 PM EDT (current) | xanderthemighty | 1221 words added |
| May 23 2006, 7:44 PM EDT | xanderthemighty |
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Key: Additions Deletions
Back when Rare was making games for Nintendo they made a little game called Goldeneye007. Some time after that the news came out that a new game was coming that was a "spiritual sequel" to it (it had a completely different story). That spiritual was to be called Perfect Dark. I remember a lot of contreversy over whether it would be good or not, but that all stoped when it hit shelves and people began to play it. It had a deep and engaging, albeit strange, storyline and allowed for two players to play the story mission coopperatively. Then there was the multiplayer, which was innovative and provided hours upon hours of killing goodness... the multiplayer alone is something of legend and much sought after since.
Back when the Xbox was in the golden days Rare split from Nintendo and was aquired by Microsoft. Everyone expected a new Perfect Dark game to come, alas... it did not. Months and years passed before we started to hear tale's of Perfect Dark Zero from Rare and that it would be coming out for Microsoft's newer system, the Xbox 360. Excitement rose as the launch date grew nearer, but did this game do justice to the original or is it just another of those games that we'll almost remember?
Graphics: 9/20
To me at least, the graphics are pretty good. More realistic than we've seen previously, though I know some may disagree. I guess the character models look much like we were starting to see in the original XBox and more high end computer games, but when taken as a package: the vibrent landscapes, the crystaline water, the minimally lit darkness, plus the realistic character models... this game has got what it takes to keep up with many of the others.
Sound: 7 / 10
I can't complain. Most of the time I don't pay much attention to the soundtrack unless it's either exceptionally riveting or just horrible. Most of the time, the sounds and character voices are helping to draw you into the game. Occassionally, you run into various cheesy voices or sound effects that kind of spoil the mood... but usually only for a moment.
Controls: 7 /10
Once you get the hang of the controls, they aren't too horible; although it doesn't seem as if Rare was really trying to make something accessable to players. It just takes a little getting used to and you may find yourself wishing that certain features were more easily executed, but the controls never caused me all that much grief.
Gameplay: 6 / 10
The single player and co-op modes offer you the best experience in this game. The missions are all pretty straitforward and there is a lot of room to explore. Unfortunately that comes with the downside that the levels are almost too big to navigate alone... on the plus side there are arrows that point you in the right direction if you're wondering around lost for too long. Of course, if you start to rely on them too much you might find yourself aggrivated that the arrows are taking so long to show up.
In the co-op mode, you and your partner will not always have the same goals and so there is a bit of variation there, but for the most part, playing with a partner just offers you the ability to play through a mission with another human... which is fun. It doesn't seem to get any easier with 2 people so I believe the game compensates for two players and if you get separated, a different colored set of arrows will lead you back to eachother.
The multi-player mode was the part I was most eagerly awaiting... unfortunately, I was disappointed. One of the best parts of the original Perfect Dark was setting up the multiplayer characters to look odd and bizzarre... or normal... but the point is that you got to choose what the characters would look like. In PDZ, you get to choose the team you're on and that affects how you look but you can't control much more than that.
My second favorite thing about the original game was all the bots you could have. There were different personalities the bots would have and that made it much more fun. In PDZ, you can't do anything more than choose a team for the bots and the difficulty level they are set on. In any event, bots typically just kill you and move on... even at the easiest setting, the bots aren't easy to kill. But it's not even funny when you get killed by a bot... you just stare blankly at the screen all offended until you respawn. It doesn't seem like the bots have any strategy or even are aware that you exist... they just run around and if you get in the way they'll shoot you.
In the multi-player modes, which are mostly pretty standard variations of what we expect from FPS games, it feels like something is not weighted right. You'll try to do things you think you should be able to, or that you are able to do in the single player game without issue, and you won't be able to do it. Even the weapons, which tend to be very satisfying in the single player mode, seem to not really wow one as much in the multiplayer game.
Replay value, longevity: 4 / 10
Replay value is dependant on how you play. If you only want to play through the single player campaign once on whatever difficulty, then the game will only last you probably between 10 - 15 hours depending on your proficiency. However, you might find it worthwhile to play the game a few times on different difficulties and with friends, but all this really does for you is unlock achievements for your XBox Live account. You can also unlock an even more difficult mode by beating the difficult mode, but I can't see this being a draw to any but the most hardcore of gamers. The fact that the multi-player doesn't live up to the hype hurts this games and while you may get something out of it, it isn't enough to keep this game in the system.
Overall: 6.5 / 10
In all, this game really didn't deliver all I was hoping for. Perhaps my expectations were just too high... perhaps the game Rare was aiming too make was just not up to par with the games that have been coming out recently... most likely, it's a bit of both.
The one thing I really didn't talk about was story. Perfect Dark Zero had an okay story but like many of the movies that are released anymore... the story isn't really that great. When compared with the original it just seems too bland and I'm not really sure I understood a lot of it. Though, I didn't really understand some of the story of Perfect Dark... but I was actually interested in that.
So here's the question... would I recomend this game? If you have a good source of income I think this game offers a worthwhile experience and some pretty good entertainment. If you're not as financially secure, I'd suggest doing some research on other games before deciding and maybe renting PDZ to get the experience.
Back when the Xbox was in the golden days Rare split from Nintendo and was aquired by Microsoft. Everyone expected a new Perfect Dark game to come, alas... it did not. Months and years passed before we started to hear tale's of Perfect Dark Zero from Rare and that it would be coming out for Microsoft's newer system, the Xbox 360. Excitement rose as the launch date grew nearer, but did this game do justice to the original or is it just another of those games that we'll almost remember?
Graphics: 9/20
To me at least, the graphics are pretty good. More realistic than we've seen previously, though I know some may disagree. I guess the character models look much like we were starting to see in the original XBox and more high end computer games, but when taken as a package: the vibrent landscapes, the crystaline water, the minimally lit darkness, plus the realistic character models... this game has got what it takes to keep up with many of the others.
Sound: 7 / 10
I can't complain. Most of the time I don't pay much attention to the soundtrack unless it's either exceptionally riveting or just horrible. Most of the time, the sounds and character voices are helping to draw you into the game. Occassionally, you run into various cheesy voices or sound effects that kind of spoil the mood... but usually only for a moment.
Controls: 7 /10
Once you get the hang of the controls, they aren't too horible; although it doesn't seem as if Rare was really trying to make something accessable to players. It just takes a little getting used to and you may find yourself wishing that certain features were more easily executed, but the controls never caused me all that much grief.
Gameplay: 6 / 10
The single player and co-op modes offer you the best experience in this game. The missions are all pretty straitforward and there is a lot of room to explore. Unfortunately that comes with the downside that the levels are almost too big to navigate alone... on the plus side there are arrows that point you in the right direction if you're wondering around lost for too long. Of course, if you start to rely on them too much you might find yourself aggrivated that the arrows are taking so long to show up.
In the co-op mode, you and your partner will not always have the same goals and so there is a bit of variation there, but for the most part, playing with a partner just offers you the ability to play through a mission with another human... which is fun. It doesn't seem to get any easier with 2 people so I believe the game compensates for two players and if you get separated, a different colored set of arrows will lead you back to eachother.
The multi-player mode was the part I was most eagerly awaiting... unfortunately, I was disappointed. One of the best parts of the original Perfect Dark was setting up the multiplayer characters to look odd and bizzarre... or normal... but the point is that you got to choose what the characters would look like. In PDZ, you get to choose the team you're on and that affects how you look but you can't control much more than that.
My second favorite thing about the original game was all the bots you could have. There were different personalities the bots would have and that made it much more fun. In PDZ, you can't do anything more than choose a team for the bots and the difficulty level they are set on. In any event, bots typically just kill you and move on... even at the easiest setting, the bots aren't easy to kill. But it's not even funny when you get killed by a bot... you just stare blankly at the screen all offended until you respawn. It doesn't seem like the bots have any strategy or even are aware that you exist... they just run around and if you get in the way they'll shoot you.
In the multi-player modes, which are mostly pretty standard variations of what we expect from FPS games, it feels like something is not weighted right. You'll try to do things you think you should be able to, or that you are able to do in the single player game without issue, and you won't be able to do it. Even the weapons, which tend to be very satisfying in the single player mode, seem to not really wow one as much in the multiplayer game.
Replay value, longevity: 4 / 10
Replay value is dependant on how you play. If you only want to play through the single player campaign once on whatever difficulty, then the game will only last you probably between 10 - 15 hours depending on your proficiency. However, you might find it worthwhile to play the game a few times on different difficulties and with friends, but all this really does for you is unlock achievements for your XBox Live account. You can also unlock an even more difficult mode by beating the difficult mode, but I can't see this being a draw to any but the most hardcore of gamers. The fact that the multi-player doesn't live up to the hype hurts this games and while you may get something out of it, it isn't enough to keep this game in the system.
Overall: 6.5 / 10
In all, this game really didn't deliver all I was hoping for. Perhaps my expectations were just too high... perhaps the game Rare was aiming too make was just not up to par with the games that have been coming out recently... most likely, it's a bit of both.
The one thing I really didn't talk about was story. Perfect Dark Zero had an okay story but like many of the movies that are released anymore... the story isn't really that great. When compared with the original it just seems too bland and I'm not really sure I understood a lot of it. Though, I didn't really understand some of the story of Perfect Dark... but I was actually interested in that.
So here's the question... would I recomend this game? If you have a good source of income I think this game offers a worthwhile experience and some pretty good entertainment. If you're not as financially secure, I'd suggest doing some research on other games before deciding and maybe renting PDZ to get the experience.
