Perfect Dark

Yeah, you are right. Perfect Dark IS modeled right after GoldenEye (though the rights for the James Bond games were swiped by EA at this time). However, the elements of GoldenEye still belong to Rareware, since EA hasn't even dreamed of recreating the original GoldenEye (though they are releasing their own version of the game next month; now they're buying up most GoldenEye knock-offs, like TimeSplitters).

GRAPHICS: Not really improved since GoldenEye's reign of terror, but there are some add-ons, such as how every gun has its own reload animation and now you can see your hand as you're holding the gun (unlike GoldenEye, where you could only see your hand on handguns. With bigger guns, you could only see the gun). Other than that, same stuff. Environments are pretty big, especially in the multiplayer levels.

SOUND: Improved over GoldenEye, but only slightly. At least this time you can hear your footsteps as you walk around. An amusing thing about the sound is how you can hear the simulants in the combat arena shooting at each other in the distance, letting you know there must be one heck of a blazefest going on across the building. The music is also gloomy and a little Gothic, but it's necessary. I think there's a function that changes music pace as tension changes, but that's an Expansion Pak extra. It wasn't built into the cartridge itself. I had to play without the Pak, so I'm missing all the yummy-ness the game was supposed to be built with.

GAMEPLAY: Again, same as GoldenEye, except this time, the Deathmatch multiplayer allows one player to pit themselves with or against teams of computer-generated beings called simulants. You can have up to 8 simulants, but in order to get that 8, you must work for it (preferably in the Challenges). The only gripe I have is how unfair challenges seem to be after a while, like this one I'm stuck on where I have a simulant to work with against one enemy simulant, and there are one-hit kills. That simulant seems to have a really big shield, but it can cap both of us easily. Also, you need the Expansion Pak for the N64 in order to live the entire Perfect Dark experience. Without that Pak, you can only do Challenges and Deathmatches. This is probably because there was enough information already on the cartridge, and everything else had to be loaded in through a different resource. Hey...that's why cartridges suck.

BOTTOM LINE: Though this is a LITTLE better than GoldenEye, I wouldn't say too much. It was modeled after it but it still feels a little...misplaced. Overall, you can check it out and see how nice it is, and it should be real easy to get used to if you've played GoldenEye before this. 8.5/10.

The year 2000 will always be remembered for the Y2K scare and the Sydney Olympics. But I'd like to look back at a game that pushed the N64 to it's limits. That game was Perfect Dark, from the makers of Goldeneye comes a game that some would call a sequel, but I wouldn't. it's a game that uses the same engine, and the same shell of a story, but instead, the hero has 2 Perky boobs on her chest instead of hair.

Joanna Dark is a 23 year old Secret agent on a mission to rescue an AI named Dr. Carroll. But what starts as a rescue mission for a Flying computer (literally) unfolds into a much bigger story, taking Joanna to a private villa where her boss lives, Chicago, Area 51, and outer space.

For the N64, The game was amazing when it came out. if you were a fan of goldeneye at the time, you knew PD was going to rock your socks off. the Single player mode was a vast improvement; the Guards would conversate and yell taunts while shooting at you, and their guns would sometimes Jam. They would get scared, and some would scream when they got shot. in goldeneye, all they did was groan when they were shot, and scream when you ran them over with a tank (And Goldeneye was rated T for teen. wonder where good ol' Jack Thompson was then.) Also, you don't just read the in-game Dialogue, The characters actually Speak! On top of that, there was a language filter, but it was more of a joke than anything, cause all it did was cut out the dialogue that had words like Hell and Damn in them, and sometimes that would cut out important dialogue to move the story along.

Multiplayer was probably the biggest improvement. In goldeneye the multiplayer was revolutionary, but in PD the Multiplayer was Amazing. if you didn't have friends, that's OK, PD had Bots! you could have up to 12 people (thats if you had 4 controllers and 4 players) and 8 computers running around killing each other. and unlike goldeneye, you could actually customize Weapon Sets, Character bodies and heads, and music! all in All, Perfect Dark on the N64 was probably it's best title.

Now, for the Xbox 360 Remake.

What can I say about this one? Well, it's not so much a vast improvement, although the 60 Framerate Per Second improvement was the best part.

As for the characters, they certainly made the jump. Their voices are much clearer and their looks are too. Joanna looks downright sexy and so do the female staff at carrington institute. One drawback? the distinct faces are gone. the weird databank guy in the one room? his face is as stock as the rest of the institute's male employees. Cassandra De Vries doesn't look so old anymore. Elvis lost his cuteness (I kinda thought he was) now he just looks ugly.

A few more add-ons; Achievements (shooting all of Daniel Carrington's wine bottles in the villa gives you the "Act your age, Joanna" achievement.) and the addition of online play. I haven't experimented with it yet, so i can't comment whether it's good or not, but i'm expecting it to be good.

Bottom line, I'm proud that Rare created this gem, and I only wish that they could release a good new PD game.

Make Joanna's Fans happy, Rare.

10/10

I am addicted to this game. After beating it (completing everything, cheats, levels and the thirty horrible hard multiplayer levels - damn proud) I have gone into some sort of dvala, just waiting for Perfect Dark 2. I do have a life (gotta check, to be sure... yes I DO have a life, phew) but this game is simply something amazing!

10 of 10.

Special Agent Joanna Dark works with the Carrington Institute. When the Institute recieves a distress signal from Dr Caroll, Joanna is sent into the headquaters of sinister corporation DataDyne Inc to rescue him. With him in tow they find that DataDyne has made deadly connections with an alien race that seeks to bring it's rule to earth. With the lives of earth and other planets in the balance Joanna works to stop the alliance.

This "sequel" to Goldeneye uses the same engine to drive it and looks similar in style - the controls being identical in fact. However the graphics are considerably better, everything moves much faster, speech is involved in both the game and the cut sequences and the cinema scenes are longer. The game isn't just a shoot 'em up - it's not just a matter of shooting constantly. Some levels are, but the majority require some thought and plenty of stealth tactics. In some levels silencers must be used to avoid setting off the alarm, while in others you must capture staff alive in order to complete your objectives. With three difficulty levels on each stage (not only increasing the ability of your opponents but adding more objectives) and a range of challenges on each this will last you for a long time. Some of the levels are really difficult and you almost need to slowly work your way through by stealth. Even when you finish the level - for many if you complete it within a set time then you get a cheat (some of these are really hard).

Outside of the game you have the traditional multi player game. The degree to which you can tweak this is astonishing - you can set all types of weapons, all types of games (combat, king of the hill etc - not just games where you shoot everything in sight), time, scores and a set of 30 challenges to play against. This will keep the game alive for long after you finish the main game and, unlike Goldeneye - you can still play it even if you're alone!

The game has a gradual learning curve in both the game and the challenges, meaning that you will occassionally get stuck but not to the point of frustration.

Overall this is a perfect game - I'm sure the graphics etc will be superseeded with time, but the heart of the game is strong.

"Goldeneye" was one of the first games released for the N64 and was a huge success. Many gamers still consider it one of the finest first person shooters ever made. The success of the game was mimicked in the years to come with more and more Bond games emerging, but none of them lived up to the originality and intense gameplay of "Goldeneye." But in 2000, Rareware (the makers of Goldeneye) announced plans for a sequel of sorts named "Perfect Dark" - based on almost identical gameplay, it would be about a female secret agent/spy, and when the game was released it was an instant success (it was also one of the first games to make use of the "Rumble Pak").

"Perfect Dark" is a brilliant FPS and very unique. It mixes different genre staples - spies, aliens, UFOs, puzzles, everything. The sequel is coming out soon for XBox 360 and I'm thinking of purchasing an XBox platform just to play the sequel - that's how impressed I was with the original "Perfect Dark" video game.