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<p><P>Perfect Dark <br><br>After more delays then Rainbow Six DC, Perfect Dark (PD) has arrived and has lived up to the hype and raised the bar for FPS gaming on the Nintendo 64. With more levels, modes, and better graphics, PD is almost perfect. While the good outweighs the bad in PD, what little is wrong holds it back from a perfect ten. Just like Golden Eye, Perfect Dark does almost everything right, and since everything that is right is so good, the things that aren’t quite right stand out a little more.<br><br>Comparisons to Golden Eye are inevitable and luckily PD excels in almost every possible way. The story is James Bond meets X-Files and has a touch of comedy. Missions are fun and varied, they let you explore and find the best way through the level. unfortunately the before mission briefings are short and vague, they just don’t tell you enough about where and what you are supposed to do. This adds some frustration to an otherwise great adventure. Players may die a lot while playing a level just because they don’t have any idea where they are supposed to go. I had to restart at least six times on one level just to eliminate possible routs. Don’t get me wrong, the mission briefing problem isn’t that bad, and you’ll get used to it. Don’t buy this game and expect it to be perfect like its title implies though. The multi-player modes are arguably the best part about this game. Just like Golden Eye, you’ll have a heck of a lot of fun fraging with three other friends. All the options and some of the maps from Golden Eye’s multi-player mode are here. This coupled with the same control as Golden Eye makes PD even more accessible to Golden Eye fans. Added on to those multi-player options is a new mode, which allows players to add simulants or Ai controlled bots to the game. Although this hinders the frame rate, it’s still a fun way to add mayhem to the game. Overall anyone how has played Golden Eye will be instantly able to pick up and play PD, and since PD is more refined then Golden Eye, that isn’t a bad thing.<br><br>PD uses the Ram Pack to allow high-resolution graphics. Although the frame rate slows down quite a lot, especially when more the one enemy is on screen. I suggest setting the resolution to normal with the Ram Pack inserted. For some reason this makes the game run fairly smooth (except in Multi-Player), the game still looks great and runs a lot better the Golden Eye too. The textures are great and not as blurry as Golden Eye's, making the game look a lot more authentic. The level design is genius, and makes playing the game over again even more fun then Golden Eye. You can ride hover bikes and dress in disguises, or blast the area with a bomb. There are more then one way to complete a mission. If you enjoyed the mission based game play of Golden Eye then you’ll love playing through this game just the same. On top of all the familiar Golden Eye game play PD has much more. A very nice Cooperative mode lets 2 players play the entire game together. It’s cool when one player covers the other while he moves in closer for a headshot. Then there's a really cool Counter Espionage mode that has one player take control of all the bad guys while the other tries to compete the level. All of these extra modes make playing with a friend more then just a frag fest.<br><br>The music sounds good and is effective in setting the mood. It’s nice and goes along with the Sci Fi theme very well. But the best feature in the sound department is the voices. I don’t know how Rare fit all the dialogue in to the cart, but I’m sure glad they did. Some might say the acting is bad or the voices sound funny. But I think they fit the campy, B movie setting well. There is even a Sean Connery impersonator to add to the spy side of the game. All in all I am very happy with music and sound, although I would have like the music to be more interactive. The only bad thing about the sound isn’t really about the sound at all. It’s how the characters say their lines; they don’t move their lips. Since they talk a lot some of the feeling is lost in the emotionless faces. Maybe Resident Evil Code: Veronica jaded me, but I was expecting the best with this game. It’s not a big deal, and to be honest it doesn’t take that much away from the sound or game play.<br><br>So in closing the graphics are great, but the frame rate is disappointing. The mission briefings are short but maybe Rare intended them to be. The Sound is great and the music is fitting. The Golden Eye game play is back and this time it’s even better. With the extra modes like Co-Op mode, Counter mode, and the new simulant multi-player mode, Rare has plenty to be proud of. Perfect Dark is the best first person Shooter on the N64 and gives many of the PC‘s best a run for their money.<br></P> <br /> <P><a href="mailto:kevinb@totalvideogames.com">Kevin Berryman</a></P> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p> <p>  <br /> <br /> <br />