Perfect Dark Review

<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The phenomanally action-packed king steps down to a queen<br> <br /> Action games have always been a favorite of mine. Fighters, Racers and even RPGs can take a giant leap back when it comes to action games. The pulse-pounding wit you need to terminate the enemies, the ever-changing, heart-bursting, quick thinking in every second of the game that is used along with the just as fast if not faster trigger finger, all comes together to leave anything and everything coughing and gagging in the dust behind. Er, I'm sorry, not ANY action game, THIS action game: Perfect Dark. It does to action games what Ocarina of Time did to RPGs. Never have I played such a game to where almost everything is PERFECT. For this type of game, you need time, willingness, and forgiveness. If you have time to forgive its few flaws the first few times you play, and are willing to keep at it, you too will see this game as dang near flawless.<br> GRAPHICS<br>For the Nintendo 64, Rare has sqeezed the limits out of the system once again, creating city landscapes, awesome character designs, and the awe-inspiring artillery. These weapons put any other fire power from other so-called action games seem like toys for tots. Especially when used on enemies. Enemies squirm, struggle to survive, or just plain get murdelized. The blood stains on the bodies is cool, but take a back seat compared to the blood you'll be splattering all over the walls. Enemies not only lose their lives, they'll lose there weapons as well, resulting in surrender, or a desperate act to grab a pistol. Sometimes they are so desperate they'll lunge straight for you with a kick or punch. I can't even count all of the different faces they have put in the entire game, making it so you never see the same ugly mug more than once. Rare did so well with the graphics, it is easier to tell if there is anything not going on right. The framerate for instance, drops dramatically when there are many enemies at one time. This resulted, I believe, because Rare wanted to do so much with the game inserting a very impressive multiplayer game that could've been a game all it's own. I despise this idea because making two whole different games could have made the experience much better for both parts. But, Rare are the masterminds here, maybe they felt they learned a big lesson after Akklaim didn't do to well with the sells of Turok: Rage Wars. Whatever the case, I am very happy with the graphics.<br> SOUND<br>The sound, being done by Dolby Surround Sound, has so much going for it, this is the best use of sound ever in a cartridge game. We've got great voice actors for cryin' out loud, ON A CARTRIDGE! We've got a soundtrack that could've been the next great movie theme, but we get it here, ON A CARTRIDGE! The bullet sounds, pounding into someone's body, or drilling into the walls, are so crisp you feel you should be getting locked up for all of this. The cries for mercy from the helpless foes just can't be beat, asking themselves; "Why me?" Sometimes you plain feel sympothy when the guy you piledrived with a shotgun shell to the torso cries out; "I'm too young to die!" The A.I. is so great, it doesn't cheat and get unlimited ammo, so you'll hear them complain about their "worthless" weapons. The sound, as phenomanally great as it is, seems like mere putty when compared to the gameplay.<br> GAMEPLAY<br>Difficulty levels, the levels themselves, the enemy interaction, amount of weapons, hidden characters, the variety in the levels, from beginning to end, the whole game screams variety. There is always something to do. Once you get tired of doing one thing, (not that I ever did)you can always go to another. The multiplayer boards can even be played on by just one player fighting against computer 'bots'. Remember the three difficulty levels in GoldenEye? They are back, but the hardest difficulty, 'Perfect Agent' is so much different than the easiest, you might be able to beat the game on 'Agent' before you beat the first level on 'Perfect'. It is that much harder and different, but keeps you coming back for more trying to do better each time you play. The more you play, and the better you get, the more things you'll unlock. Certain goodies are only unlocked if beating a certain level on the most difficult setting, much like in GoldenEye. All of this is just the tip of the iceburg, and we still have the whole multiplayer game. Truthfully, I was not a big fan of this, as all of my friends were. I hated the framerate fall everytime an explosion goes off or, worse yet almost everytime you see another person. And with only 1/4th of the screen I could not stand it. If it was going to go as low as 15 frames per second, I want the whole screen, to where I can see what the heck is going on. I played multiplayer for a max of 3 hours, and I just had to wait when all my friends were done to get some Perfect Dark the way it was meant to be played, playing as Joanna Dark herself.<br> LASTABILITY<br>I am still playing this mug. Ever since I bought it the day it came out, (May 22, 2000) I can't stop playing. I love it, but that is after I gave it some time. I can't believe at one time I could not stand this game. Little nit-picky things got to me more than often, such as waiting just as long in real life for an elevator. I know it is trying to be realistic, but, come on! This is an ACTION GAME, not REALISM SIMULATION. I am not sure why I kept playing it, but the more I played it, the more I fell in love. Keep this in mind if the same thing happens to you. You will not regret giving it the chance it deserves.<br><br><br><br> <br /> Comments<br>Closing, I must say that after fully appreciating this game for what it truly is, Perfect Dark is simply the best game I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Before this was Legend of Zelda, before that was Mario. I am a very big Shigeru Miyamoto fan, so I was very suprised at how much this game had to offer. Now I am growing on the Stamper Brothers. They have made every classic that is from the company Rare. I just hope maybe one day Shigeru and the brothers can get together, but I seriously doubt it. (I can see it now, though, Stamper Bros. meets the Mario Bros.!) The last thing I would want, though, is for Rare to leave Nintendo. Even though Nintendo can make great games, it is Rare in the end that keeps you coming back for more.<br><br> <br /> <p>-- <a href="mailto:">Brice J. Hagerman</a> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />