Perfect Dark Zero Rating:
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Concept: 6
Overall: 7
Let’s take a trip back in time. The year was 2000. The Los Angeles Lakers were still dominating the NBA, radios were pumping the funky sounds of Bootsy Collins (at least mine was), and the gaming world was blessed with one of the greatest first person shooters of all time, Perfect Dark. Any gamer with a soul thought that that it was excellent as it competed with Goldeneye and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the best game for the Nintendo 64. Shortly after its release, Rare announced that a sequel was in the making and it would be released towards the end of the N64s life-span. It got delayed, so the Gamecube became what looked like a decent home, but with the Microsoft buyout of Rare, this became an impossibility. Hype built and the game was finally released for the Xbox 360, but could it live up to the first game and the building suspense?
The story starts out with the protagonist bounty hunter, Joanna Dark and her father, Jack Dark breaking into dataDyne facilities. Some people get shot and the story goes no where until Jack has an unfortunate accident. Joanna tries to get revenge. That’s the story. Six years and they couldn’t improve on cloning presidents, aliens, and giant preying mantises. The only thing that is kept is how far-fetched it is. In one level, Joanna is in a very cold environment, but she continues to wear a belly shirt and low-rider pants. I don’t care how good your hips are, there is thing we call frost bite. It’s very painful and ugly. The game also seems to be more technologically advanced even though it’s a prequel. Are we to believe that the characters went through a process of de-evolution? Wake up Rare.
Game play is pretty good. It’s not bad. It’s not fantastic. If there’s a game that describes average, this would have to be it. You run, you kill, and you win. That sums this game up. The different environments are nice. Joanna travels from arctic weather to the jungle to laboratories to night clubs. On the other hand, the graphics aren’t very good. At least they aren’t for a 360 game. It’s obvious that the graphics were made for the Gamecube and then, polished for the 360 release.
A few other notes, the gun selection isn’t what it used to be. You can only hold so many. What made Rare first person shooters so popular is the ability to hold infinite amounts of weapons? It isn’t realistic, but its fun. Games need to find their roots. The vehicles aren’t necessary. The game is already to the point where each level is fresh enough. Adding this might have taken away from precious content. Finally, the sounds aren’t great, but the voices do match up with lips better than most games.
This conclusion is difficult to write. For every good thing there was a bad thing and vice versa. This game is the definition of average. In fact, if you look average up in the dictionary, you’ll see a screen shot from this game. The only advice I can give is to rent it first to see how you like it.
-Scizzle
Perfect Dark Zero Game Info:
Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by: Rare Ltd.
Rated: M
Genre: Action
Release Date: November 18, 2005